6.2. Creating Templates

1. Click on the My Folder template folder where you want the template to be saved.

2. Click on Create a new Template for this folder.

3. You can now see the template creating interface. This page has three sections:

• • • The upper portion is for the name and description of the template
    • The middle portion is for selecting the fields to use in the template
    • The lower portion displays the fields and filters used in the template

4. Start by providing the Name and Description for your template following NC Cardinal's suggested naming guidelines. Names must be unique. Descriptions should include information about the fields and filters applied. Return to the description section after selecting your fields and filters to fill this section out if you need to.

5. The three columns below the template name and description are for selecting your fields. The columns are:

• • • database source table

    • fields in the selected table

    • available transforms for the selected field

Choosing Report Fields

The key to creating a report template is in selecting the appropriate fields to collect the information you are looking for in your report. This is done in the three field selection panes in the middle of the page.

The following steps provide an example for creating a standard Circulation Report.

Core Sources Pane

The top left hand pane contains the database Core Sources drop-down list. This is the list of tables available as a starting point for your template. Commonly used sources are:

• Circulation (contains circulation records that may be used for circulation statistics and overdue reports)
• ILS User (contains patron records that may be used for patron reports)
• Item (contains copy records that may be used for reports on collection or items with special status)

Note: The Enable source nullability checkbox below the sources list is for advanced reporting and should be left unchecked by default.

Select the source you plan to use from the drop down menu. In this example, we will be creating a circulation report. To do this, we will select Circulation in the Sources dropdown menu. Note that the Core Sources for reporting are listed first, however it is possible to access all available sources at the bottom of this dropdown menu. You may only specify one source per template.

After selecting your source, a tree menu will populate underneath the drop down menu. In our example, we will click on the top option in this menu, Circulation.

Field Name Pane

Clicking on Circulation will retrieve all the field names in the middle column. The icon in front of each option on that list indicates the data type of the value in the field. To finish creating your field, select the specific field you are interested in adding to your report from the middle Field Name pane. To make this circulation report, we will select Circ ID.

Field Transform Pane

Selecting the field name will populate a list of available transform options for that field in the Field Transform pane. This is where you choose how to manipulate the data from the selected fields. For the circulation report we're creating, we want to count the number of circulations, so we will select Count from the Transforms list.

Field Transforms have either an Aggregate or Non-Aggregate output type. See the section called Field Transforms for more about Count, Count Distinct, and other transform options.

Adding Your Field

After you have selected your field and the appropriate Transform, you need to add it to your report. To do this, click the Add Fields button located above the bottom pane of the page. Your newly selected field will populate in the Display Fields list.

Selected Fields and Filters 

Selected displayed fields and filters. You can rename default display names to something more meaningful. Select the field whose column names you want to change. It will highlight. Then select Change Column Label from the Actions drop down menu.

A pop up box will appear and you can rename your field (or "Column"). For our example template, we will change the column label to Circ Count.

Continue to build your template

Add other data to your report by going back to the Sources pane and selecting the desired fields. In this example, we are going to add Circulating Item → Shelving Location to further refine the circulation report.

Adding a new field

Shelving Location is listed in the Circulation table. To access it, click on the arrow next to Circulation in the Core Source pane This will expand the tree.

Note: When you are creating a template take the shortest path to the field you need in the left hand Sources pane. Sometimes it is possible to find the same field name further in the file structure, but the shortest path is the most efficient.

When we select Shelving Location from the tree menu, it will populate a list of field names related to Shelving Locations. For this report template, we really just want to know the number of circulations for each shelving location, so this field exists to tell us the shelving location names. So let's select "Name" from the list of available fields.

For this field, we want the literal value of each shelving location name. So, in the upper right Field Transform pane, select Raw Data.

Then click the Add Fields button to add the Shelving Location Name field to our report template.

Re-Labeling the column

Change the Column Label to "Shelving Location" in the pop up box.

Changing column order

The order of rows (top to bottom) will correspond to the order of columns (left to right) on the final report. In our report, we want to see the Shelving locations first and then the count for all circulations from that shelving location in the next column. To change this order, click on Shelving Location to highlight it and select Move Field Up from the Actions menu.

Adding dates

When you run a report, you will have the opportunity to set the date frame contained in the report. However, if you want to add the specific dates as a field that will be visible in your report output, you can add it just like any other field.

For this example report, we specifically want to add the circulation date. Return to the Sources pane and click Circulation to populate the Fields pane with those same original Field options we saw when we selected Circ ID for our first field. This time, select Check Out Date/Time from the middle Field Name pane.

In the Transform pane, you will see a very long list of options. Many of them are date related. The one you choose will be dependent on the purpose of your report. For this report, we don't want to get too granular by looking at the individual dates. Since we are looking for a count of circulation by shelving location, an aggregation of that count by month and year will work. Let's select Year + Month from the list of options.

Click the Add Fields button to add the date column to our report template.

1. Month/Year of checkout
2. Shelving location (alphabetically by name)
3. Number of circulations for shelving location in each month included in the report