Introducing Report Elements

Let’s review the core components of a report’s layout.

• Row fields​ determine the rows in a report. For example, in an Order Summary by Cost Center report, each unique cost center becomes its own row.​
• Column fields dictate the columns in a report. Using Ordered Date (Year) as an example, the years 2015 and 2016 each become a column.​
• Page fields​ act as filters on the other fields. You can use page fields to constrain the report’s data or drag them into the report to become a row or column field.

Measures contain numerical data values that can be calculated, such as contract amounts or the number of bids submitted.​

Measures can represent ​amounts or counts. Examples of amount-type measures include Spend Amount, Estimated Savings Amount, Total Contract Spend, Purchase Order Spend, and Received Amount. Examples of count-type measures include Workspace Count, Count of Projects, Invoice Count, and Exception Count.

Hierarchies in dimensions structure data from broad to specific.​ For example, a date hierarchy could contain levels for year, quarter, month, and week.

The Date Hierarchy Example image shows a report of purchase order spending broken down by year, quarter, and month.​​​ The layout is a pivot outline, which emphasizes the hierarchy.

The UNSPC Hierarchy Example image shows spend that's segmented by the commodity code's multiple levels. Each expanded Commodity category is indented, indicating the hierarchy.