Running Reports

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to run reports in SAP SuccessFactors Canvas Reports.

Canvas Report Execution

To view or generate the result of the reports that is created in Report Center, you must run a report.

Choose Run under the Action column OR the report name for the report that you want to generate.

Under the Action column, choose Run.

Reports with runtime (user prompted) filters or date options will prompt the report consumer to make filter selections before displaying results. The report consumer will see a popup on top of the report page with filter criteria before seeing report results.

List Report Filters allows you to filter the report on the available analysis filters, for example, Department, Division, and Gender.

The Runtime Filters popup is shown.

Create a custom filter to ensure filter values automatically update if they meet the selected criteria. To do this, complete the following steps.

  1. Select the Filter Field to use for the filtering.
  2. (If required) Select Custom filter.
  3. Select the comparison operator.
  4. Enter the value.
  5. Click Select to make the value the active selection.
  6. Click OK.
List Report filters screen controls, as listed in the preceding text.

Hint

Text entry is case-sensitive.

Hint

In some cases, you can use a dynamic variable, which will vary depending upon the field that is the selected data type.

Use value filters to provide specific values, either by entering the values or selecting from existing values in the system. To do this, complete the following steps.

  1. Select the Filter Field to use for the filtering.
  2. (If required) Select Report values.
  3. Select to include or exclude the selected values.
  4. Choose to either enter values OR select from available values in a searchable list. Not all fields will include the ability to enter values.
  5. Select one or more values and click select.
  6. Click OK.
List Report filters screen controls, as listed in the preceding text

Date option filters allow filtering results on date fields. You can use a specific date or a range of dates.

  • An As Of date option allows you to choose a single date to filter the report. Only valid records as of the chosen date will be shown in the report.
  • A Date Range date option allows you to choose a date range to filter the report. All records valid on the chosen dates will be shown in the report.
Date Options, as described in the preceding text.

In either case, you can use static dates that you enter, or you can use SAP SuccessFactors defined dynamic dates.

Tip: You can use the dynamic As of Date option 'Last Successful Run Date' to get all the new records since the last time the report was run.

Date Options, as described in the preceding text.

To edit the columns, complete the following steps.

  1. Schedule the list to excel / CSV formats which are accessed in the View Schedules location of the Report Scheduler in Report Center.
  2. Schedule the list to the Report Distributor (if you have permissions).
  3. Navigate the pages of the list.
  4. Open the View Panel.
  5. Show / Hide columns in the list.
  6. Change the order of the columns in the list.
  7. Change the Sort order of the list.
  8. Add / remove columns used in sorting the list.
  9. Reset the list back to the default view.
Column editing options, as listed in the preceding text.

Report Content Export

Choose the appropriate icon as explained in the text.

When the reports are published or previewed, report consumers have three options for exporting reports. By choosing the appropriate icon, they can export one of the following:

  1. The entire report page into PDF, Word, or PowerPoint: Choose the appropriate icon at the top right corner of the page.
  2. A single list report or pivot table component into Excel or CSV format: Choose the Excel icon at the top-left corner of the list report
  3. A single list report or pivot table component for an offline run: Choose the blue envelope icon at the top of the list report and select Export in the background.
Use one of the methods to export a list report, as explained in the text.

When a user exports a list report, there are two export methods that are supported:

  1. Export in the background (accessed in Report Scheduler).
  2. Export using Report Distributor bundle.

You are not able to export where the output launches immediately.

XLS, XLSX, and CSV options on screen

Actionable Analytics

When report consumers run a report online, they can take action right from the report. In the example shown, a user can view things like employment details or update employment records just by right-clicking on the card beside "wsown1."

This enables users to make immediate changes if they see anything that needs adjustment while reviewing a report. Depending on the type of data users are viewing, the available options will vary.

From the report, you can right click the card to review information such as Employee Details.

Note

Actionable analytics are only available for reports that include certain fields, such as the User Sys ID or form IDs.

Report Distributor

Note

This section discusses the functionality of the Report Distributor. Report Center has its own report scheduler. For more details on the Report Center scheduler, review the Report Center section of the document.

Report distributor is a legacy tool to help automate report distribution. With the release of Report Center, access to report distributor has been provided while functionality is migrated to report center scheduling.

With the report distributor, reports can be delivered by SFTP, run offline, or sent by email. The report distributor can output data to PDF, Word, Excel, or PowerPoint formats. Tables and reports are collected into bundles, and then the bundles can be scheduled to run at a set time, or be run manually.

The report distributor provides many benefits, including:

  • Simplify integrations using SFTP.
  • Burst Reports to Managers inboxes as file attachments.
  • Users are able to continue using the application while a report is running offline by scheduling the report offline.
The Report Distributor, as outlined in the preceding text.

Note

The most common use of the Report Distributor is to email reports to recipients since that functionality is not yet available in Report Center’s Scheduler.

Note

You can only select email recipients that have a valid accessed Report Center at least once.

Note

Users who want to distribute reports using the Report Distributor need to have the Report Distributor permission enabled.

First, you need to create bundles containing the necessary reports. Then, you can select the output format, the items to distribute, the destination, the recipients, and the schedule.

Navigation to Report Distributor

To launch Report Distributor, complete the following steps.

  1. Log in to SAP SuccessFactors.
  2. Navigate to HomeReportingReport Center.
  3. Select View Schedules.
  4. Select Switch to the legacy Report Distributor Tool.
  5. The Report Distributor screen opens.
Select Switch to the legacy Report Distributor Tool.

Bundle

As an administrator, you will create a new bundle when you wish to distribute one or more reports to users on a regular basis. When you create a new bundle, you must specify several criteria:

  • Bundle name
  • Page size
  • Export format
  • Report/tables to include in the bundle
  • Destination (e-mail, SFTP, run offline)
  • Users to receive the report (if destination is e-mail)
  • Schedule to run the bundle (Optional)

You can add a maximum of 10 reports to a report bundle when scheduling reports with the report distributor tool. This limit is set to optimize system performance and prevent overloading. If you need to include more than 10 reports in a single distribution, you can create additional bundles as needed.

Creating a Bundle for Email Distribution

To create and schedule a bundle to be sent via email:

  1. Go to the Menu box and click New Bundle.
  2. Create a Bundle Name and click OK.
  3. Select the bundle name.
  4. From the Items tab, click Add Item. Then, click Add Report or Excel Table.
  5. Once the report or table is added you will see it listed in the Items tab.
  6. To email the data from the selected report bundle from the Destination tab, select the e-mail radio button, and click Edit Recipients to set up specific users to receive the report bundle.
  7. Click Add Recipients.
  8. Select the users and click Add. All email addresses added must be associated with a user in the system. You CANNOT add freeform email addresses. Click close when finished. To have the report sent at a specific time, click ScheduleAdd.
  9. Enter the required information in the Scheduler box and click OK.
Add Users to Bundle, as outlined in the preceding text.

Note

If the total attachment size on a Report Distributor email exceeds 13MB, the attachments are zipped. If the zipped size still exceeds 13MB, attachments are discarded and a message is included in the email to notify the recipient.

Summary