Custom Report Creator

Owned by Former user (Deleted)
Last updated: Dec 17, 2021 by Andrea Boehm
8 min read

The Custom Report Creator option allows for dynamic reporting of all data objects in USPS-R.  It allows the user to filter the data using advanced search criteria, determine which columns to include on the report and the order of the columns, and do control breaks with totals.  The user can output to a variety of formats including text, pdf, excel, and csv format, along with other lesser known formats, and select page size and orientation.  The report definitions can be saved under a given name under 'Save Report'. Once a report definition is saved it will appear on the Report Manager grid as well as in the 'Restore' drop-down in the 'Custom Report Creator' menu option. If the report definition is selected from the restore drop-down  or viewed in the Report Manager all report criteria will be restored as defaults and can then be overridden as needed before generating the report. The user may wish to view a listing of saved reports which can be done by clicking on the . This will then take them into the Report Manager.

'Select Object' or choose a saved report from the 'Restore' drop down.  A file can be imported by using the 'Import Report' option:

The 'Report Manager' option gives you a listing of all report definitions saved from the detail report view:

SSDT Reports Definitions

SSDT has provided several template reports (listed above).  All SSDT created reports are displayed with the username 'SSDT'.  You won't be able to change the report name, delete or have the ability to share the reports with users with a specific role because these reports are available to everyone The list of SSDT created reports will continue growing as we add more template report definitions.

Generate New Custom Report

  1. From the Report menu select 'Custom Report Creator' 

  2. Select Object 

    1. Available Objects are listed in the Select Object Drop-down

    Select Properties  

    1. Report-able properties are available for nearly all possible related data types.  The properties within those related data types are represented in an expandable tree format. Properties are selected by either double clicking on the properties on the left or drag and drop them into the box on the right.  Once the user has selected the desired properties, they can order them in the box on the right as they wish the columns to appear on the report by drag and drop. Properties may be removed by clicking on the beside the property. Within the properties selected, the user will need to determine how to sort the report. Sorting is accomplished by choosing a number under the Sort Priority column. In order to control break or page break by a property it must first be assigned a sort priority.

      To search for Properties, click on to open up all properties to view. Use the Ctrl + F (Find) to search for the property names you would like to include in your report. Example:

  3. Customize Properties  

    1. For each property, the user may customize the following:

      1. Suppressed: the property will not appear on the report. This is useful if the user selects a property for control break purposes but does not want it to appear on each detail line of the report.

      2. Sort Priority: the order in which the report will be sorted

      3. Sort Order: sort the property in ascending (lowest to highest) or descending order

      4. Suppress Repeating: If the same value appears on consecutive detail lines, suppress the repeating value. Example: This may be useful if the user were creating a listing of employee checks.  They may want the employee number and name to print on the first line, but not print again until the employee changes.

      5. Control Break: if the property changes, it will bold the change. For example if you run a budget report and sort/control break on the fund every time there is a new fund it will bold the fund number.  

        If the user wants to 'Control Break' by a particular property it must be included in the 'Sort Priority' column.

      6. Page Break: advance to the next page when the property value changes

      7. Function: available on a numeric property which will allow the user to get Sum (subtotals), Average, Min or Max

      8. The  option, sets extended properties for the each of the column fields.  
        1. For Example, using the Check Number field, click on to open the Properties for :number:


          1. Alignment- able to change the alignment of the data within the columns.
            1. Left
            2. Center
            3. Right
            4. Justified
            1. Before the adjustment of 'Center' was added in the Alignment option:


            3. After selecting 'Center' Alignment for the Numbers column:



          2. Column Title will allow the creator to change the Column Title header name in the report


          3. Control Footer and/or Header Only - if checked: Only will show the Transaction Type and no check number



          4. Detail Header Only- If checked: Shows both the Check Number and PayrollCheck or DeductionCheck under 'Transaction Type' column




          5. Width will allow the creator to adjust the Width of the columns in the report.  The size is measured in EM units.  Default of 0 will cause column to be evenly sized with other columns.   

  2. Configure Filters   

      • Allows the user to include or exclude specific properties within the object.  For example when selecting the 'Last Paid' and the user only wants to see the employees Paid from 01/01/2017 and after, they can use the configure filter screen to include only employees Last Paid Greater than 01/01/2017. Please refer to the Grid section of the Navigation chapter for more information on how to use the advanced search.

Operation is a process or validation to determine a particular presence or quantity:

      • Equals - equal
      • One of - list of possible values; must be separated by commas
      • Not equals - not equal
      • Like - begins with
      • Contains -  consists of
        • Positions example: "positionDescription.contains sub" will search for Positions with the word "sub" anywhere in the Position Description field.
      • Between - range; values must be separated by commas
        • Payments/Payroll:"paymentTransactions.payment.number.between 10247,10273" will search for Payroll numbers between 10247 and 10273
      • is Null() - blank
      • Not Null() - not blank
      • Greater than- greater than
      • Greater or equal - greater than or equal to
      • Less than- less than
      • Less or equal- less than or equal to
      • Not one of - exclude list of possible values; must be separated by commas
      • sort - to place in order; always places in ascending order only 
        • attendance example: "activityDate.sort" will sort attendance by activity date
      • Type - See Property Fields below

    •  Filter Value - is a value entered by the user based on what they are searching for and the property field type; for some operations this may be a list or range with the values separated by commas
    • Examples of parameter values: param("xxxxx"),param("xxxxx")
      • param("startDate"),param("endDate")
      • param("startDate"),param("stopDate")
      • param("startDate")
      • param("endDate")
      • param("startDate","m"),param("endDate","h")
      • param("startDate","Y"),param("endDate","R")
      • param("beginningEffectiveDate"),param("endingEffectiveDate")
      • param("employeeNumber")
      • param("jobStatus",,"Job Status (Active, Inactive, Deceased, Terminated)")
      • param("apptType",,"Appointment Type (Certificated, Classified)")
      • param("type",,"Type (Attendance, Absence)")
      • param("archived",,"Archived (True, False)")
      • param("payGroup")
      • param("posEMIS","","Position EMIS Flag (true/false)")
      • param("username")
      • param("buildingCode")
      • param("payGroups",")
      • param("fund")
      • param("object")
      • param("function")
      • param("SCC")
      • param("subject")
      • param("operationalUnit")
      • param("instructionalLevel")
      • param("job")

    • Remove  is used to delete a property field

    • Click on Show Expert Query  at the end of the selection box to open up the detail Query list:



  • Users have the ability to Save their current query and Load any previously saved queries from the advanced search . Any saved queries for that object will appear in a drop-down, the query will be applied immediately upon selecting that option from the drop-down. 

Generate Report

    • Report Options - choose the desired options from the drop-downs

      • Format the report can be saved as: 
        • PDF (download),
        • Comma Separated Values
        • Comma Separated Values - Field Names
        • Tab Separated Values
        • Excel, View (html)
        • Plain Text
        • XML
        • Jasper Report Design
        • Excel-Data
        • Excel-FieldNames
          •  This will create an Excel file you can now edit and then Save As a csv file and then can be used to import data using the Utilities/Mass Load option.
      • Page Size options: 
        • Letter
        • Legal
        • Halfletter
        • Note
        • Ledger
      • Orientation options:
        • Portrait
        • Landscape
      • Name: Enter the name to be displayed on the top of the report
      • Summary Report
      • Show Report Options: Will show what Posting Period you are currently in during the run of the report in the top left hand corner of each page of the report: 
    • Save Report: To save the report settings to be restored later, enter a name in the save as box and click on Save Report 
    • Query Parameters are created by entering Filter Values on the Configure Filters option
    • Click on 'Generate Report' to create the report using the format specified


Restore Custom Report

Previously Saved Reports may be restored to be generated again or to make changes and generate a new report. 

  1. From the Report menu select 'Custom Report Creator'
  2. Select the desired Report Name from the Restore drop-down 
    1. Report definitions will be applied immediately upon selecting the report name from the drop-down
  3.  Make any desired changes and create the report by clicking the tabs  to select and customize properties, configure filters and generate the report. 

Import Report

Users can download their own previously saved report definitions via the Saved Reports and share them with others. For example a saved report may be downloaded by a user and then emailed to another. In order to generate a report definition that has been shared by a different user it has to be imported into the custom report option.

  1. From the Report menu select 'Report Manager'
  2. Click on 
  3. Browse to find the desired report and once it has either been double clicked or selected and open clicked in the browser pop-up window the report definition is applied immediately.
  4. Make any desired changes and create the report by clicking the tabs  to select and customize properties, configure filters and generate the report. 

Save Custom Report

Users can save report definitions. Previously saved reports are managed in the Report Manager

  1. From the Report menu select 'Custom Report Creator'
  2. Make desired report selections
  3. Enter in a Report Name in the box beside the Save Report button 
  4. Click on 

View Saved Reports

Users may view saved reports via the Report Manager.

  1. From the Report menu select 'Report Manager'.  This will take a user to the Report Manager grid.

Tags for a Report

Tags can be created by the user.  Tags are user-defined words that mean something to the user to help categorize report definitions. For example, a tag could be 'YEAREND' or 'MONTHLY' reports.  Then they can use these tags for several other reports , enabling them to search for them easily.