Creating a Custom Report

FlexNet Manager Suite 2019 R2 (On-Premises Edition)

Creating a custom report consists of these three steps: Configuring the report; previewing and applying filters; and then saving the report. This task describes these steps using the creation of a custom report that shows Microsoft Licenses consumed by installations at a particular location. Custom reports are created by selecting a data table and then creating joins from related tables (contained in the FlexNet Manager Suite database) for additional information. This way, custom report creation in FlexNet Manager Suite acts like a user-friendly front end for creating SQL queries.

Note: Before you begin creating your report, you should determine the information your want to include in the report and, if required, create a folder where the new report will be saved.

To create a custom report:

  1. Click the Reports button located above the top modal menu.
    The Reports Index page displays.
  2. Click the Create a report icon located on the top right corner of the table.
    The Report Builder page displays.
  3. Complete the Configure section as follows:
    1. Select a value (database object) that you want to add to the report from the drop-down list and click Add.
      For this example, select License.
      The selected object and its basic properties are added to the Report Builder. For this example, the basic properties of the License object (Edition, Name, and Version) are added. In addition, one or more tab(s) display to the right. The first tab lists the additional properties of the added object, while the additional tabs (if any) list objects related to the added object. These secondary tabs can be expanded to view the properties of these related objects, or they can be selected from the new drop-down box.
    2. Click a tab to view the related properties.
    3. Click the Add icon beside a property to add it to the report.
      The selected property is added to the Report Builder. If the property belongs to the object that was added to the Report Builder (for example License) it will be added to the list of license properties. If however it belongs to one of the related groups (Manager, Parent license, Publisher and Version), it is listed as a sub-group of the object. For example, if you add the Account property from the Manager tab, then Manager will become a sub-group within the Licenses group.
    4. Add additional objects and related properties as required.
      For example, to view installations for licenses, select Installations from the second drop-down list and click Add.
    5. Remove existing objects and properties from the report design as follows:
      • Click the Delete icon beside a property to remove it from the report and return it to the list of properties for the related object.
      • Click the Delete icon in the header row of the most recently added object to remove it and all associated properties.
      • Click the Delete icon beside all properties within an object group to remove the object and all associated properties.
        Note: The object header row still displays on the Configure page, however it is removed when you advance to the preview and filter step.
    6. Clear or select the Include in search check box below a property to choose which properties are available in the report search tool.
    7. Once you have added your data, click Preview and filter.
      The Preview and Filter section displays.
  4. In the Preview and Filter section, drag the report columns into the desired order.
    Note: The order of columns cannot be modified in the published report.
    1. Click Add Filter and apply one or more filters.
      Because the final report can contain up to a maximum of 1 million rows, this is useful to limit results and focus the purpose of the report. If you require data of more than 1 million rows, create multiple reports filtering the total data in a certain manner, such as filtering by location or device type. For more information on applying filters, see the topics under Using Filters to Limit Data Size.
      Note: These filters cannot be removed in the saved report, however additional filters can be applied to a saved report to further refine your results.
  5. The following pathways are now available.
    • Click Save as to save the report.
    • Click Create to return to the Configure page. Repeat from step 3.
  6. In the Save As section, complete the following details:
    1. In the Title field, enter a title for the report.
    2. In the Description field, optionally enter a description for the report. A meaningful description to assist others (and possibly yourself) to understand the purpose of this report in the future.
    3. At the Access to view field, choose the default option of Private (just me) to only allow yourself (the current operator) to view the report, or select Public to allow all operators to view the report.
    4. In the Save to group, navigate to and select the existing folder where you want to save this report.
  7. The following pathways are now available.
    • Click Save to save the report within the selected folder of the Report Index and proceed to the new report page.
    • Click Preview and filter to return to the Preview and filter page. Repeat from step 4.
  8. On the [REPORT NAME] page, Click Run report.
    The report results display.
  9. Review the results to ensure you are satisfied. If not, refine the report using one of these methods:
    • If you are dissatisfied with the information included in the report, and wish to add and delete the selected objects and/or properties, you can reconfigure the current report as follows:
      1. Click the Edit link to return to the Configure section.
      2. Modify the report by repeating above process from step 3 onwards.
        Note: On the Save Report As page, use the same report title to override the last saved version of this report or change the title to create a new report.
    • If you are satisfied with the information included in the report, but want to reorganize the information, you can do this as follows:
      1. Apply filters and reorder the report columns to reorganize the current report information.
      2. Repeat the above process by step onward.
        Note: On the Save Report As page, use the same report title to override the report or change the title to create a new report.