Creating documents from reports

You can quickly and easily create a document from an existing report. The report is added as a Grid/Graph (an object that acts like a standard MicroStrategy report) in the Detail Header section of a document. The Grid/Graph reflects the definition of the report as closely as possible, as described below:

• The Grid/Graph uses the same definition as the report, although all embedded objects and derived metrics are removed from the Grid/Graph.

  The current view of the report is used as the definition of the Grid/Graph in the document. For example, an attribute that is in the Report Objects pane but not on the report grid is not included in the Grid/Graph, although it is included as a dataset object.

  Training metrics, used for Data Mining Services, will create predictive metrics when the document is executed, if they are included on the Grid/Graph and defined to automatically create predictive metrics. For background information about Data Mining Services, see Using Data Mining Services. For instructions to create training metrics, see Training Metric Wizard.

• The View mode of the Grid/Graph is the same as the report-viewing mode for the report. That is, a graph report creates a Grid/Graph that displays as a graph, and a grid report creates a Grid/Graph that displays as a grid.

• All report formatting is duplicated in the Grid/Graph.

• If the report has a view filter, it is applied to the Grid/Graph.

• Any prompt answers that are stored in the report are copied to the document.

  For more information on prompts in reports, see About prompts.

• If page-by is applied to the report:

• The page fields are added as grouping fields on the document.

• A group header and footer or each page-by field are added to the document.

Prerequisites

• See the prerequisites to work with MicroStrategy Report Services documents.

• This procedure assumes that the report already exists. For instructions on creating reports, see Designing a report.

To create a document from a report

1. Do one of the following:

   • To create a document from a saved report in MicroStrategy Developer, right-click the report to convert, and then select Create document.

     The new document opens in Design View in the Document Editor, with the report displayed as a Grid/Graph in the Detail Header.

   • To create a multi-layout document from multiple saved reports, select the reports in MicroStrategy Developer, right-click the reports, and select Create document.
     

     The new document opens in Design View in the Document Editor, with a separate layout for each report. Each report is displayed as a Grid/Graph in its own layout.

   • To create a document from a report that is being edited, select Create document from the File menu. If you have made changes to the data definition, such as modifying the report filter or adding new objects to the report, you are prompted to save the report. You should select Yes, because the changes may be lost otherwise.

     The new document opens in Design View in the Document Editor, with the report displayed as a Grid/Graph in the Detail Header. The current view of the report is used as the definition of the Grid/Graph.

   • To create a document from a report that is being viewed, select Create document from the File menu. If you have made changes to the data definition, such as modifying the report filter or adding new objects to the report, you are prompted to save the report. You should select Yes, because the changes may be lost otherwise.

     The new document opens in PDF View in the Document Editor, with the report displayed as a Grid/Graph. The current view of the report is used as the definition of the Grid/Graph. To edit the document, click the Design View icon on the toolbar.

2. Format or edit the Grid/Graph. For more information, see Displaying reports in documents: Grid/Graphs.

3. Format or edit the rest of the document. A few suggestions are listed below:

   • Select additional data for the document. Add data fields, auto text codes, text labels, and images, and then arrange them as you like. For more information, see Designing documents.

   • Group and sort the data. For more information, see Grouping records in a document and Sorting a document.

   • Add totals, if desired. For instructions, see Calculating totals and summary metrics in documents.

   • Select an Autostyle formatting for the document. For more information, see Formatting documents.

4. Save the document by selecting Save from the File menu.

5. You can execute and view the document. To do this, from the View menu, select PDF.

Related Topics

•  Adding text and data to documents

•  Adding lines to documents

•  Adding rectangles to documents

•  Adding images to documents

• Aligning controls on documents

• Distributing controls on documents

• Moving controls on documents

• Ordering controls on documents

• Sizing controls on documents

• Formatting documents

• Adding Grid/Graphs to documents

• Calculating totals in documents

• Creating documents

• Getting started with documents