Building Reports

Reports allow users to display their data using widgets informing the reader simply and objectively about all relevant issues, summarizing the key points of data analysis across a series of pages. Reports can be then exported as PDF files, making them simple to distribute and share.

To start customizing their reports, users need to select the Reports tabs located in the stage left panel. The exporting operation of a PDF report can be performed by using the Report event type linked to a widget.

Warning

Please bear in mind that only Plots, Table, Gauges, Images and Graphics widgets can be included in reports. Otherwise, your report won’t be exported.

To create a report and add a page to it, read the following prerequisites and follow these instructions below:

Prerequisites

Procedure

  1. Select the Reports tab.

  2. Click on the plus icon in the top-right corner of the Reports panel to create a new report in the view.

  3. Click the Add page icon in the reports toolbar to add a new page.

Note

Please note that, when users right-click in a page of a report, the page context menu will show only one option: Paste.

Report Auto-sizing

In Rulex Studio reports, the distance between widgets is maintained in proportion to the dimensions of the page when exporting the report, and this concept is known as relative distance. For example, if two plots are placed side by side on a report page, they will preserve their original relative distance in the exported report.

For more information on resizing widgets within a report, please click here.

Note

Please note that, initially, the table can appear with specific dimensions on the report page, but these dimensions may differ in the exported report. Since the exported PDF report does not include scrollbars, the table will automatically extend to display all available rows. This behavior applies only to Table widgets when exporting reports.

Just like other widgets, tables respect the relative distance mechanism. Therefore, any widget placed below a table will be repositioned in the exported PDF according to its original relative distance from the table.

Warning

If your table contains many columns that cannot be fully displayed on the report page, they won’t be fully visible in the exported PDF either. Please note that table widths in reports are fixed and cannot be adjusted.

Reports Toolbar

Located at the top of the report stage, the toolbar displays essential buttons for managing key report operations, as listed below:

  • backward Previous page: it navigates back to the previous page of the selected report.

  • forward Next page: it moves forward to the next page of the selected report.

  • zoomout Zoom out: it decreases the zoom level of the selected report page.

  • zoomin Zoom in: it increases the zoom level of the selected report page.

  • add Add page: it adds a blank page to the selected report.

  • delete Delete page: it deletes the selected page of the report.

  • preferences Preferences: it opens the report layout preferences, where the layout preferences of your report can be set.

Note

When users add a first page to a report, only the following icons are active: Zoom out, Zoom in, Add page, Delete page, and Preferences. All other icons will appear greyed out and cannot be selected. Additionally, when no pages have been added to a report, only the Add page and Preferences icons are visible.

Report layout preferences

The Report layout preferences window contains options enabling users to set their preferred layout settings for the selected report.

  • Page format: from this drop-down list users can choose the report format they wish. Possible options are:

    • A4 (default)

    • A3

    • Letter

    • Slide 16:9

    • Slide 4:3

  • Orientation: it defines the orientation of the current report. Possible values of the orientation are:

    • Landscape

    • Portrait (default)

  • Scale content if dimension change: if selected, this option resizes the content on the report pages to fit the new page format and orientation.

  • Show grid: if selected, gridlines are displayed in all pages of the selected report.

  • Snap to grid: if selected, reports will be moved following the lines of the underlying grid and users will be able to line up the widgets within their reports.

  • X axis step: it sets the width of columns on the report grid.

  • Y axis step: it sets the height of rows on the report grid.

  • Show guided lines: if selected, guided lines are displayed to help users position and align widgets in their reports.

Interactions in Reports Panel

The interactions within the Reports panel fall into two main categories: those that are available when right-clicking on a specific report and those that involve individual pages within the current report.

Reports Context Menu

By right-clicking any entry of the report list, a dedicated context menu appears, showing a list of possible operations on reports. In particular, the context menu contains the following entries:

  • Rename report: it renames the selected report.

  • Add new report: it adds a new report in the panel.

  • Open report layout: it opens the Report layout preferences window, where users can set their layout preferences for the current report.

  • Copy report: it copies the selected report.

  • Paste report: it pastes the selected report.

  • Delete report: it deletes the selected report.

  • Add new page: it adds a new page to the report.

Pages Interactions

To reach the list of operations available for pages within a report, users need to click the expand icon next to the corresponding report. This will display a list of all available pages within the selected report. By right-clicking on any page within the selected report, users can access the following options:

  • Copy page: it copies the selected page.

  • Paste page: it pastes the selected page.

  • Delete page: it deletes the selected page.

Note

Please note that the Paste page option can also be accessed via the reports context menu.