Creating Table Reports

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to create SAP SuccessFactors Table Reports.

Introduction

This lesson includes many details about creating Table Reports. Here’s what you can expect to experience as you make your way through the lesson.

  1. First, you will cover some key concepts on utilizing table reports.
  2. Then, you’ll cover how to plan a Table Report.
  3. Next, you’ll learn how to create a new Table Report.
  4. After that, you’ll see how to define configurations on Table Reports.
  5. Lastly, you’ll get some practice creating a Table Report.

Keep in mind that no one expects you to memorize all the details. The intent is for you to get a lay of the land when it comes to creating Table Reports and feel comfortable to refer to this part of the course in the future as you build these reports.

Key Concepts for Table Reports

Reporting Domains

Reporting Domains highlighted.

Reporting domains (also called subdomain schemas) define table fields used in reporting. The reporting domain name is typically the same as the product name, but some products might have more than one reporting domain available for the purpose to query different parts of the module or application. Most domains are available across Table Reports and Canvas Reports and Tiles.

When you use a Reporting Domain, you are indicating the high-level data in the system on which you would like to report.

For example, to run a report on a certain year's goals, you start by using the Goal Management Reporting Domain.

Note: The current list of possible available reporting domains can be viewed on the Help portal: Available Product Schemas for Live Data | SAP Help Portal. Domains available in your system will vary by configuration and permissions.

Report Type

Report Type options highlighted.

The first decision you need to make when creating a Table Report is its type. There are three possible report types:

  1. Single Domain (default)
  2. CrossDomain
  3. Multi-Dataset

Single Domain allows you to query data from one reporting domain and is the default report type option.

Note

Most of the concepts in this course are applicable to all report types, except where noted.

Multi-Dataset Reports and Cross Domain Reports allow you to query data from two or more reporting domains.

  • Multi-Dataset Reports do NOT join data together. The report results from each selected reporting domain will appear on separate tabs in the output. There are separate tabs in the output which exports as an Excel spreadsheet and cannot be a CSV file.
  • Cross Domain Reports join data in the query from multiple Reporting Domains. This information is displayed in one output list. When you create a cross-domain report, there are two options to join the domains: Inner Join, Left Outer Join.
Cross Domain Join Example shown.

Cross Domain is a query that contains multiple domains in a single list report. This implies linking data into a single record. In the example, Employee Profile details are listed in the Cross Domain Table Report along with their Compensation details and Performance ratings. When you are creating a Cross Domain Report, you have several unique options.

Report Planning

Before you run a Table Report, you’ll need to do a bit of planning first. Consider the following points before creating a new Table Report:

People

Who will be running the report?

Who is the audience for the report?

Columns

What information do I need to be displayed in my report?

Is there specific information that will be needed for future analysis?

Is there a preferred order of the information?

How does data from different modules fit together, if applicable?

Filters

Is there a specific characteristic to the data I need?

Do I need to further refine based on business need?

How will the information be presented?

Sort

Will there be easier ways to review and interpret the report based on the organization of the data?

Create a New Table Report

Now that you’ve done some planning, you’re ready to create a new report. Creating a new report launches the Report Builder to guide the user through a series of steps. The Report Center calls this process 'creating a new table'.

Select the type of report you want to create.

You can start the Table Report Builder by completing the following steps:

  1. In the Report Center, choose New.
  2. Select the table and choose Select.
  3. Select the Report Type.
  4. Select a Reporting Domain.
  5. Choose Select.
  6. The rest of the steps are common to creating an Table Report with Table Report Builder.

Table Report General Information

Screenshot of the General Info tab.

When you select the reporting domain, you will be taken to the General Info page. On this page, you enter the Report Name and Description. You also have the ability to set high, medium, or low priority per report to specify the order in which the reports are run. You can enable Remove Styling for Excel reports. This will significantly improve performance, but does not work for any report that includes a field with date/time data.

Hint

When entering a Report Name and Description, you should be clear about the content of the report so that it is easy to select this report for use in the future. It is important to be very clear if you plan to share this report with others.

Additional Reporting Domains

Select a domain from the list.

Note

This setting applies to Cross Domain or Multi-Dataset reports.

The Add Domain button is used to add additional reporting domains to the report.

For Cross Domain, the only domains supported through the Cross Domain functionality (based on the current domain selected in the report) will be available.

For Multi-Dataset, you can select any additional domains.

Next, you’ll learn about limiting the output to certain individuals.

Summary

Learning

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