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Create Reports Using Report Designer

Report Designer lets you create a wide variety of reports and on the current data available in your data models. You can create report templates for frequently used reports and you can export reports to the CSV and HTML formats. You can create report solutions and include multiple report templates.

You cannot reuse the .ERP reports that were created using Report Template Builder, because the metamodel objects are changed. You must recreate the reports in Report Designer.

Several sample reports are included with the application and they are available in the following location:

%Installdir%\ CA\ERwin Data Modeler r9\BackupFiles\Report Solutions 

Also at the following location:

Windows XP

C:\Documents and Settings\All users\Application Data\CA\ERwin Data Modeler\9.5\Configuration\Report Solutions\

Windows 7

C:\ProgramData\CA\ERwin Data Modeler\9.5\Configuration\Report Solutions\

Note: The sample reports are created using a Logical-Physical model. If you use the sample reports with a Logical-only or a Physical-only model, it may result in inappropriate results.

Follow these steps:

1. Click Tools, Report Designer. The ERwin Report Designer window opens.
2. To create a report solution, click Create new solution for reports on the toolbar.

   If the current report solution is not saved already, you are prompted to save it. A new blank workspace appears.

3. To create a report template, follow these steps:
   1. Click Create a Report on the toolbar. The Report Editor dialog appears.
   2. Enter a name for the report.
   3. Select the model type that you want to report on. The items in the Select Report Subject pane change according to the Report Type that you select.
   4. In the Select Report Subject pane, select the item on which you want to generate the report.
   5. In the Select Report Fields pane, select the fields that you want to include in the report.
   6. To include a specific set of objects in the report, use the Filter by option. This option is available only for entities, tables, attributes, columns, subject areas, and indexes.
   7. Click Run Report. The report appears in the ERwin Report Designer window.
   8. (Optional) Click the Clear data in data grid icon to clear the results in the grid.
4. To configure report preferences, follow these steps:
   1. Click Edit, Preferences. The Report Designer Preferences dialog appears.
   2. Complete the following fields and click OK:

      Add object type as prefix for the properties 'Name' and 'Physical Name'

      Prefixes the object type to only the Name and Physical Name columns. For example, you are generating a report on entities and the corresponding attribute names and data types. The column names in the report are displayed as Entity Name, Attribute Name, and Attribute Logical Data Type.

      Add object type as prefix for all other properties

      Prefixes the object type to all columns.

      Note: These options work only when they are selected at the time of creating a report. If these options are selected at the time of modifying an existing report, they do not work.

      Apply optimization mode if row count is more than

      Specifies the number of rows at which the computer resources are optimized to display the report. If the row count in your report exceeds the number that you specify here, the report is displayed in optimization mode. In this mode, the group and sort options are not available in the result grid. If no value is entered, the row count for optimization mode is considered as equal to the total row count of a report.

      Number of top rows to display

      Specifies the number of top rows that you want to display. This option displays the first few rows that match a report criteria, when the result contains more rows than the number specified here.

5. To generate a report from an existing report template, select the template, right-click, and click Run.
6. To modify an existing report template, select the template, right-click and then click Properties. After you finish modifying, click Run Report.

   Note: When you modify an existing report template and select more properties for the existing report subject, the selections are retained. If you select a different report subject, the previous report subject and its properties are not included in the report.

7. To export a report solution to HTML, follow these steps:
   • Right-click the report solution and click Export All to HTML. The Report Export dialog appears.
   • Click Browse and select the folder to which you want to export the report.
   • Go to the HTML tab and add the title in the Solution Title in HTML field.
   • Click OK. The report is generated in the specified folder.
8. To export a report to HTML, follow these steps:
   1. Click the Clear data in data grid icon and clear the result grid.

      This is a best practice and helps the application export the report without consuming much of the computer resources.

   2. Right-click the report and click Export to HTML. The Report Export dialog appears.
   3. Click Browse and select the folder to which you want to export the report.
   4. Go to the HTML tab and complete the following fields:

      Select the template for exporting to HTML

      Specifies the templates that you want to use with the HTML report. You can use customized templates, provided the formatting is similar to the default templates. The default templates are available in the following folder:

      C:\Program Files\CA\ERwin Data Modeler r9\Report\Template\Template-Default

      Solution Title in HTML

      Specifies the title for the entire report solution.

      Report Header in HTML

      Specifies the text that appears between the report title and the first line of the report.

      Report Footer in HTML

      Specifies the text that appears at the bottom of the report.

   5. Click OK. The report is generated in the specified folder.
9. To view the HTML report on a different computer, include the computer name in the path to the filename. For example, if you have published the report to c:\erwin\reports folder on a computer named Comp001, use the following path to access it:

   \\comp001\erwin\reports\index.htm
   

   Note: The computer from which you are accessing the report must be in the same domain as the one in which the report is published. In addition, the user who is accessing the report must have at least the read-only privileges on the corresponding folder.

10. To export a report or a report solution to CSV, follow these steps:
    1. Right-click the report and click Export to CSV. Or, right-click the report solution and click Export All to CSV. The Report Export dialog appears.
    2. Click Browse and select the folder to which you want to export the report.
    3. Go to the TEXT tab and select the following options:

       Format

       Specifies whether you want to include the first-level object names multiple times. For example, you have included entity names and attribute names in your report and you have selected No Duplicates. The entity name appears only once for all the corresponding attribute names. If you have selected Duplicates, the entity name appears as many times as the corresponding attribute names appear.

       Text Qualifier

       Specifies the symbol that you want to use to indicate the column headers.

       Delimiters

       Specifies how you want to separate two columns in the exported report. The option Comma Delimited creates a .CSV file and the remaining options create .TXT files.

    4. Click OK. The report is generated in the specified folder.
11. To add a report from another report solution, follow these steps:
    • In the Report Designer dialog, right-click the template name and click Add Report.
    • Select the report that you want to include (.erpt file) and click OK.
    • Save the report solution.

The Filter By Option

Report Designer includes the Filter By option that lets you generate drill-down reports. Some of the drill-down reports that you can generate are as follows:

Entity/Table level reports

• Entities and tables in the current Subject Area
• Entities and tables that are selected in the current diagram

Attribute/Column level reports

• Migrated attributes and columns
• Owned attributes and columns
• Role-named attributes and columns
• Foreign (FK) Key groups and indexes
• Generated indexes
• Nonunique (IE) Key groups and indexes
• Primary (PK) Key groups and indexes
• Unique (AK) Key groups and indexes

Subject Area reports:

• All entities and tables in the current subject area
• Members of the current diagram
• Members of all the diagrams in the current Subject Area
• Members of all the diagrams in the Main Subject Area, that is, the members of all diagrams at the model level
• Members of the diagrams that are specified at run time

You can use the Graphical Member option for diagrams and can view the images of diagrams.

The filters for Entity/Table and Key Group/Index are available when you select the members of a diagram or a Subject Area.

Attributes and columns can be displayed the following order:

• Alphabetic
• Attribute (the order in which attributes appear on the logical model)
• Column (the order in which columns appear on the physical model)
• Physical (the order in which columns appear in the DDL after Forward Engineering)
• Reverse Alphabetic

Report Designer Features

Report Designer includes the following features:

Report Explorer Features

Move child nodes: To move the child nodes up or down within a parent node, right-click the node and click Move Up or Move Down. This option is to move child nodes within a parent node and not to move parent nodes in a report.

Result Grid Features

• Drag-and-drop: To change the order of columns, drag-and-drop the report node to the desired position in the Report Explorer pane. Select the report template and click Run current report on the toolbar.
• Sort: To sort the report results on a specific column, click the column header. The default sort order is the order in which you have created the objects in the model.
• Hide a column: To hide a column, click the column header and drag it away from the report until you see the cross mark. To display a hidden column, right-click a column header, click Columns, and then select the column that you want to display.

  Note: Hidden columns are included when you export a report to CSV or HTML.

• Group the report result by a column: To group the report result by a column, click the column header and drag it to the Drag a column header here to group by that column section. The following illustration shows a report that is grouped by two columns:

  

• Rename a column: To rename a column, right-click the corresponding node in the Report Explorer and click Properties. Enter a new name in the Node Name field and click OK. Select the report template and click Run current report on the toolbar.
• Configure the look and feel of each column: To configure the look and feel of each column, right-click the corresponding node in the Report Explorer and click Properties. Complete the fields in the Customize report style section. Be aware that the styles applied to a parent node are not applied to child nodes automatically.
• Clear grid: To clear the data displayed in the result grid, click View, Clear gird. Clearing the result grid is a best practice when exporting a large or a complex report to HTML.
• Export to HTML, CSV and TXT: To export a report or a Report Solution, right-click it and click Export to HTML or Export to CSV. When you export a report to CSV, select the delimiter as Comma Delimited to view the report in CSV format.

Subject Area Reports

By design, a model is considered as the main Subject Area. Therefore, when you create a generic report on Subject Area and include its properties such as Name, the model is also displayed in the list of Subject Areas. However, the model name is not included when you generate a report on specific Subject Areas. You can generate a report on specific Subject Areas by selecting the Specify Diagrams at Run Time option.

The following diagram shows a generic report of Subject Area:

In the previous report, <model> is the model and the remaining entries are Subject Areas.

Change the Logo on the HTML Report

By default, CA logo is displayed on HTML reports and the logo is linked to the CA website. You can change the logo and link it to a website of your choice.

Follow these steps:

1. Open the folder where CA ERwin Data Modeler is installed.
2. Navigate to the \Report\Template\Template-Default\_images folder.
3. Replace the image in the logo.png file.
4. Navigate to the \Report\Template\Template-Default folder.
5. Open the list.htm file in an HTML editor.
6. Replace http://www.ca.com with the required URL, as shown in the following image:

   

7. Restart the application.

   The logo and the link to the website are changed when you generate a report the next time.