How to generate an instance of a report

This article describes how to generate instances of the same report in an application.

A report instance is a copy of an existing report with an optional name change and preselected parameters.

Making an instance can be useful in these scenarios:

• You can change the report name that will be seen by your users.
• Default preselected or hidden parameters to speed-up customer experience.
• For automatic email submission. (Read more).
• To export reports to CSV or PDF format. (Read more).

Note: For in-depth report modifications check how to make a copy of a report in Site Admin.

Steps to generate an instance of a report

1. Go to Reports > Manage reports

2. Select your report by clicking on + Report and selecting the one you want to configure with your own parameters.

Note: If you don't see your report in this list, you need to enable it first at the application level. (Read more).

3. You can change the report name and the default parameters. 

Definition: the template that the report is based on.

Name: the display name of the report. Your users will see this name in the report list.

Description: optional if you want to give more detail about the report contents.

4. Select Parameters on the left.

Here you can define the default parameter values. The options selected here will be shown by default when your users open their reports. Defining these also gives extra benefits to the performance of the server (read more).

Note the Visible toggle on the right, if you want to show/hide these parameters to the users.

5. You can now click on Save and Run to see the results.

You will now notice that your report is now added to the list of reports.

• If you need to edit back the parameters go to Reports > Manage Reports and click the edit button.

• If you need to make this report automatically scheduled via email, follow this guide.