Reports window

The Reports section allows the user to design and print or export Reports for Songs, Links, Schedules and Notes. Existing Report formats are listed in the Shared Reports tab of this Reports window. In this window, the user can access, create, edit and delete existing Report formats. The other Report windows allow the user to specify content and layout options, by defining filter and configuration options. When a Report is constructed, the user will specify fields in the GSelector database, along with text captions, to display information in those fields that are specific to the area they are working in. The report results are subject to filter and sorting options. The user can design as many Reports as they wish.

Accessing this window

Features in this window

Working in this window 

See also the notes on specifying Content in the Filter tab, Adding fields in the Columns window, Grouping Report content, Previewing in the View window, Laying out formats in the Editor window, and Report Settings and Appearances

Accessing this window

Click the Reports tab to access a window similar to this illustration.

Click any area in the image for help

Click any area in the image for help

Features in this window

Toolbar

Selected Report name

Shared Reports

Add Report to Favorites button

Favorites

Manage Favorites button

Manage Favorites window

Export Option buttons

Preview pane

Report types: the Reports list

Toolbar

From this Toolbar, common to all Reports windows, the user can Add, Rename and Delete Reports, Save changes, modify existing Reports to Save as New Reports, define Page Setup, and Import and Export Report Formats. Not all of these functions are available in all Reports tab windows. Toolbar buttons may vary in color based on the Appearance Style selected.

Selected Report name

The name of the selected Report (selected in the Reports list) is shown at top right of the pane in every Reports window.

Shared Reports

The Shared Reports tab shows all the Shared Reports available in GSelector for Songs, Links, Schedules and Notes. Existing Report formats are listed in this default main Shared Reports tab. Use the Export buttons to export the selected report to file. Use the Add Report to Favorites button to open the Manage Favorites window.

Add Report to Favorites button

The Add Report to Favorites button opens the Manage Favorites window allowing the user to add the report selected in the Report list to the Favorites tab.

Favorites

The Favorites tab shows the Favorite reports that users have added to Favorite Reports in the Manage Favorites window. Use the Export buttons to export the selected report to file. Use the Manage Favorites button to open the Manage Favorites window. These Favorites are visible for all users with security rights to Reports.

Manage Favorites button

The Manage Favorites button opens the Manage Favorites window.

Export Option buttons

Immediately below the Shared Reports and Favorite Reports tab are, two export buttons. These buttons allow the user to Export the report to PDF or Excel format. Clicking either button allows the user to save the report to a file. Once the file is saved the report will open in the corresponding software. To change this View Report Setting so the report does not open after it is saved, select the Settings button and uncheck the View report after Saving option.

Report Type and the Reports list

Immediately below the Toolbar is the Reports list pane. In this pane, select Reports to modify, copy, delete, view or generate.

GSelector groups reports by type under Songs, Links, Schedule, and Notes. Click any node to access Reports for that Report Type. Click the opened node again to close the list of Report Formats for that Report Type. When GSelector is install, pre-designed Report templates for Songs, Links, Schedule, and Notes (where a Note report has nodes) reports are included. When the Reports window is first accessed, there is no Notes node. As soon as Note report is added, the Notes node is displayed in the Report types pane. Additional Reports can be created, start by Adding a Report Name in the New Reports window. To view details for any Report, select the Report format in this window by clicking on it, then select any of the Reports tabs to work on that Report.

TIP: Notes Report types are only displayed if a Note report has been designed. Links Report types are only displayed if Linker is licensed.

Preview Illustration

Where a Report Format has been defined, the Preview Pane will display a sample image. You cannot edit the report from this image.

Working in this window

Adding a blank Report

Creating a Report

Generating a designed Report

Naming a Report

Deleting a Report

Add Report to Favorites

Saving an existing Format as a New Report Format

Saving a Report Format

Importing and Exporting Layouts

Retrieving a default Report format

Exporting a Report to PDF or Excel formats

Printing a Log

Add a blank Report

1. In the Toolbar for any Reports window, click the Add button to open the New Report window.
   
2. Select the Report Type heading: Songs Links, Schedule or Notes
3. Then enter a Report Name.
4. Click the OK button to go to the Columns window to specify the Report Type Columns to use in this report.
5. When the Reports window is first accessed, there is no Notes node. As soon as Note report is added, the Notes node is displayed in the Report types pane.

Creating a Report

1. First Add a blank Report.
2. Then follow the design steps in the Columns, Groups, Editor, and Filter windows.
3. Apply Appearances if required.
4. Then return to this window, open a Reports List Node and click on the Report Format name.

Generating a Report

1. In the Reports window, select a Report: open a Reports List Node and click on the Report Format name.
2. Click the Reports View tab.
3. If required for Schedule Reports or Song and Link Reports which use Spins and Date Stamps fields, specify a Date and Time range.
4. Follow the steps to Print or Export.

Renaming a Report

1. In the Toolbar, click the Rename button at any time to rename a Report.
2. This opens a Rename Report window.
3. This is similar to the Add Reports window, but the Report Type field, while displayed, cannot be edited.
4. The existing name is displayed, and can be edited or changed.
5. Click OK to close this window.
6. After renaming the Report, click the Save button to save the changes.

Delete Reports

The user can delete any format, either original or modified, for a clearer and simpler report display.

1. In the Reports window, select a Report in the Report types pane.
2. Click the Delete toolbar button or press Del on the keyboard.

TIP: Original default formats are not permanently deleted from GSelector. Any original format can be retrieved using the Import button.

Save as New

After modifying an existing Report, click this Toolbar button to open the Save Report As... window. This option allows the user to use existing reports as templates for new reports, which can speed up the time taken to design a new Report format.

Saving changes

If any changes are made to any field, the Save button in the Toolbar is activated. Click to save to save the changes. The user will be prompted to save any changes when they leave the window, if this button has not been clicked.

Page Setup

Click the Page Setup Toolbar button, where accessible, to open the Report Settings window. This button is available in the Groups, Columns and Editor windows. Where it is not available, it is grayed out. The Report Settings window has four separate areas, each offering a different utility, accessed by the buttons at right.

Importing and Exporting Report Layouts

Default formats supplied in the GSelector reports section cannot be directly edited. To modify a format, it must be saved as a new format. Any Saved format can be exported and saved. Equally, a Saved Format can be imported for use elsewhere.

To Export a Report Layout:

1. Save and Name the completed format.
2. Click the Export Format button to open the Export Report Layout window.
3. Navigate to the folder where the Export Report Layout will be saved. Default is C:\Program Files\RCS\GSelector\Client\Reports
4. Enter a File name and click the Save button.

To Import a Report Layout:

1. Select a Report Type heading by opening the desired node in the Reports list.
2. Click the Import button to open the Import Report Layouts window.
3. Navigate to the Report Layouts folder if necessary.
4. Select a Report Layout filename.
5. Click the Open button.
6. The Report filename is displayed in the Report Types pane, and all Tabs will display the selected layout.

GSelector provides a default folder, shown here, which automatically stores Report formats. It can be used as a source folder when importing Reports. Its path, on any GSelector machine, is C:\Program Files\RCS\GSelector\Client\Reports.

Retrieving a deleted Report format

GSelector provides a range of default formats for convenience. As formats can be deleted for display purposes, it may sometimes necessary to retrieve the original formats using the import window.

Exporting a Report to Adobe PDF or Excel format

Once the report is designed, select either the PDF or Excel toolbar buttons to save the currently selected report in either format. Once the file is saved the report will open in the corresponding software. To change this View Report Setting so the report does not open after it is saved, select the Settings button and uncheck the View report after Saving option.

Printing a Page per Hour Log

The instructions given here cover one of the most common tasks: configuring a report so it can print a log displaying a page per hour.

1. In your selected station, click on the Reports tab.
2. Open an existing Schedule (Log) report. See the notes above on Report types.
3. Or create a new Schedule report if desired.
4. Navigate to the Groups window.
5. In this window, select the DateAndHour field in the Available Fields list.
6. Add this field to the groups by clicking the Add button.
7. Set Pagination to "Page Break" for this DateAndHour field.
8. Save the changes.