Report Pages (2.4)

Creating and Managing Report Pages (2.4)

Create a multi-tab interactive presentation with titles & annotations

Relates to version 2.4 only; from version 2.5 Report pages are referred to as Tabs.

Any combination of views, settings, filters, titles and annotations can be saved as a persistent Report Pages that display on tabs across the top of the Main Toolbar. Tab names can also be displayed as buttons from the Sidebar Reports panel. Any number of different Report tabs can be configured, with individual or groups of Report Page tabs (sections) addressing the needs of different audiences among the users of your files.

If you close and save an Omniscope file displaying a configured Report Page tab, this file will open next time displaying the same tab. Users of the file need simply page through the interactive Report Page tabs just as they would a presentation slide show. If displayed, page through their Report page tabs using the forward and back screen arrows in the lower left corner hover Reports Navigator (emulating PowerPoint) or use the right and left keyboard arrow keys (e.g. for live presentations).

Below is a high-level introduction to Report Page tabs; how they are created, modified and navigated. More detailed documentation of the commands related to creating and managing Report Page tabs is available under the Main Toolbar Reports and Page menu commands.

Creating Report Pages

To create a Reports pages, click on Reports on the Main Toolbar and choose one of the three options available under the Create Page heading:

If you are currently displaying a combination of views, queries, variable settings, etc. that you would like to make persistent, choose From current Omniscope configuration.

You will enter Reports Mode and all your current settings will be copied to create a new Report page tab. In Reports Mode, any further changes you make will apply only to the open Report Page, and all subsequent changes must be Committed to become persistent (see below).

If you choose Text only, you will presented with a dialog to create a typical formatted text presentation page, with up to 3 different images embedded. Note: embedding a centre image will move your text field to the bottom.

If you choose From image or PowerPoint, a file browse dialog will open to select either a large image file (for example a JPG screenshot file exported from another Omniscope file) or an existing PowerPoint file, from which you can select slides to import as Report pages.

If you choose to create the new page from the current Omniscope configuration, the Create New Page wizard will display like this:

Page name: this name appears on a report tab at the top of the display, or a button on the Sidebar Reports Panel if you provide access to Report pages there.
This page will capture:
Query State- preserves all filter settings and exclusions as persistent settings for the page
View and layout configuration- preserves the open views and layout
Variable states- if you have defined one or more assumption variables as part of formulae, this preserves the current value(s) of those variables as the opening value(s) for the page.
Page layout:

Title: the title text that will appear at the top of the page...you can edit this at any time
Annotation: explanatory text you enter that can be edited on the page at any time.
Header or Background Image- enables you to add logos and image backgrounds

Apply default report layout: If you leave this box ticked, Omniscope will hide the View Toolbars and increase the margins around the views for a cleaner display. If you wish to preserve the existing settings, untick this box.

Once configured and named, each pre-defined, persistent Report page appears anytime the user clicks on the top report tab, or the button next to the Report page name in the Sidebar Reports Panel, or uses the Reports Navigator menu, which appears faintly in the bottom left corner of the display in Reports Mode (see Using the Reports Navigator below).

Configure Report Pages

The Main Toolbar Page menu commands provide many options useful for creating self-explanatory Report Pages. The commands on this menu can be used to configure many aspects of the current display, whether that display will eventually be converted to a persistent Report Page or not. If you make changes to the current view using Page menu commands, then close and save the file, it will next open with those changes preserved in the current display.

Page > menu commands can be used to:
Reset layout- returns the current page layout to the default
Remove all views- closes all views on the current page
Page margin- sets the width of the space that is used to display titles, header images, annotation text etc. around the views on the page
Add Background, Header and Centre images- allows you to add images, includeing faded background images to provide more beranding and identity to your file
Add, style or remove a Title- creates and styles an optional free text title at the top of the page in the margin
Add, style or remove an Annotation- creates and styles an optional free text field that displays at the bottom of the view, unusually conveying the main message of each Report Page.

You can also tick/untick the options to display or hide the Main Toolbar and the View Toolbars on open views of the page. Toolbars are usually hidden if Report Page users are not expected to access the options available on them. Even when hidden, the Main Toolbar comes back into view whenever the user hovers the mouse near the top of the display.

Page > menu commands apply to each Report page individually, and any changes must be Committed to become a persistent change, or Reverted to return the Report page to its default configuration/layout. For options covering aspects of the look and feel of Report pages that apply to more then one page, see the introduction to the Appearance command menu.

Using the Reports Navigator

The Reports Navigator menu appears in the lower left-hand corner of the display whenever Omniscope is in Reports Mode, meaning displaying a persistent Report Page. The Reports Navigator is faint until you mouse over it, at which point it appears clearly, with forward and back arrows pointing to either side of a reports document icon. Clicking on the forward or back arrows cycles through all the Report Pages already configured in the file. The same list as can be seen in the Side Bar Reports (or some other name if you have renamed the Reports heading) panel and under the Main Toolbar Reports Navigation section.

Clicking on the Reports Navigator document icon at lower left reveals a menu listing a number of report navigation, creation, layout and reset options.

Start; Next; Previous; Go to page...used to cycle through the Reports Pages already configured in the file.
Administer all pages sub-menu:
Commit all modified pages- makes all changes which you have made to your Report Pages persistent
Revert all modified pages- returns all Reports Pages to their last persistent configuration
Delete all pages- deletes all Report Pages currently configured

If the Commit and Revert modifications commands are solid, rather than greyed-out, it means that you have modified the current Report Page and must now either overwrite the previous settings with the new ones (Commit) or return the report to its original look, leaving the original settings unchanged (Revert). If the name of the Report Page is showing in red on the top report tab, this also means that you should either Commit or Revert your changes. If you have chosen to show the Side Bar Reports panel, these buttons also show in the Side Bar under the current Report Page whenever changes have been made to the current page, and the report titles will show in red until changes are either Committed or Reverted.

Tools sub-menu: Tick or un-tick to Show or Hide various toolbars. Note that these changes apply to the current Report Page only, and only if the modifications are Committed to make them persistent.
Show/Hide main toolbar-same as above
Show/Hide view toolbars-same as above
Show/Hide unused options-used to simplify the display of certain view menus
Show/Hide right/left side bars- same as above

Reset Layout - returns the layout of the current Report Page to the default, with all the optional Show/Hide settings set to Show

Save file as... opens the Export file wizard with the tab set to .IOK/.IOM files.

Exit Report: - exits from Reports Mode and the Report Navigator menu disappears. Remember that it is usually better to Exit Reports Mode if not modifying existing Reports Pages. You can also Exit Reports Mode from the Main Toolbar Reports menu (see below) or from the Side Bar Reports Panel if you are displaying reports there.

Managing Report Pages

Commands required to manage all configured Report pages are available from the Main Toolbar Reports menu. In addition to many of the same commands as are available on the Reports Navigator menu, the Main Toolbar Reports menu includes commands such as Commit and Revert all modified pages that operate on all Report Pages simultaneously. When the Reports menu is opened, the title of the current Report Page is shown at the top in bold italics.

For more detail, see the sections documenting the Main Toolbar Reports and Page command menus

Organising Report Pages

This refers to the functionality allowing Report pages to be organised into named sections (or "groups"). To date, Report page organisation has been implemented only in the Sidebar Reports panel. To show the Reports panel, the right-hand Sidebar must be showing. However, the Sidebar Reports panel is not displayed by default.

Use the Sidebar button on the Main Toolbar to change this. Then, ensure the Reports Panel is ticked for display using the Devices drop-down on the Sidebar toolbar. When the Sidebar Reports Panel is displayed, the Report page tabs across the top of the display will disappear unless they have been explicitly shown. You can explicitly hide/show the Report Page tabs using Main Toolbar: Tab > Tab settings > Tab bar option. For more information, see the Appearance menu commands.

Adding and administering report sections

The Sidebar Reports Panel must be expanded to show the Create new button at the bottom of the panel. Expand/collapse each device by clicking its title. Click Create new, choose Section and enter the section name when prompted. Drag the sections and Report Page titles around to achieve the desired structure.

To manage existing section titles, click the black triangle on the right to show a drop-down menu, allowing you to rename or delete each section grouping.

Knowledge Base