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Report Automation

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Displayr can be used to automatically generate reports (e.g., automatically customized reports for different brands or different regions). Automation is principally done by a combination of filtering, rules, and dynamic text boxes. When writing the report in PowerPoint, a decision needs to be made about whether final edits should be made in PowerPoint or Displayr.

Strategies for filtering a document

There are a number of different approaches to filtering a document for report automation purposes. 

Strategy 1: Create a global filter and modify it in edit mode

This approach is generally the most straightforward approach. It works as follows:

  1. Select an object that you want to be filtered, and create a filter - see Filtering Data
  2. Apply that filter to all the other objects that you wish to be filtered - see Filtering Data.
  3. You can select multiple pages at the same time and filter them all this way.
  4. Export the document.
  5. Modify the filter (see Filtering Data) and re-export the document.

Strategy 2: Create a global filter using controls

  1. Create filters using controls - see Filtering Data.
  2. Apply that filter to all the other objects that you wish to be filtered.
  3. Export the document.
  4. Use the controls to modify the filter and re-export the document.

Strategy 3: View mode filtering

  1. Create any filters that you wish to use (see Filtering Data).
  2. Go to view mode (see Publishing as a Web Page (Online Report / Dashboards)).
  3. Click Export > PowerPoint > Advanced Options and choose the desired filters in Export reports with selected filters.
  4. Press Export.

Rules

A rule is a bit like conditional formatting in Excel, except that in addition to formatting, it can modify the data itself.

Rules are applied by selecting a table and in the object inspector under Data > Rules, clicking the +.  As there are a lot of rules it can be useful to use the Search > Menu feature in the toolbar.

Commonly used rules when automating reporting include:

  • Highlight cells.
  • Modify Whole Type or Plot > Hide Empty Rows or Columns.
  • Sort/Reorder Rows or Columns > Sort Rows (Automatically Updates When Data Changes).
  • Modify Cell Contents > Blank Cells with Small Sample Sizes

Dynamic text boxes

Dynamic text boxes (toolbar > Anything AnythingButton.png > Page Design > Dynamic Text Box) allow you to create text that automatically updates. See How to use the Dynamic Text Box in Displayr for more on this.

Using calculations to customize

Greater customization can be achieved by writing code. In the example below:

  1. The table is filtered by the age combo box.
  2. A rule has been used to automatically sort the table from highest to lowest.
  3. A calculation extracts the name of the top brand (top). This calculation has been hidden so it won't appear when the report is exported.
  4. The dynamic text box at the top references the filtered age groups in the drop-down, and the top brand from the table.

dynamic.png

Decide up-front if you will make final edits in PowerPoint or Displayr

When exporting to PowerPoint in edit mode, a choice has to be made between creating a new document, or, updating an existing document. It's important to work out which of these you are going to do up-front.

Option when publishing: Create new document

Update existing document

 
Overview:
  • Displayr generates a new document.
  • Displayr updates the numbers in an existing document.
Key benefits:
  • Complete automation of the entire document
  • Highest level of quality assurance
  • Greater control over look and feel (as PowerPoint has more options than Displayr and is easier to use)
Overview of process:
  • Each time you export, a new document is created from scratch, with the same look as the Displayr document.
  • You control which objects in the document are exported and which are not (by hiding them or not selecting them when exporting).
  • If you modify the exported PowerPoint, these changes will be lost next time you export, so you will have to do them again.
  • Each time you export, Displayr opens an existing PowerPoint, updates the numbers, and exports as a new document.
  • You can connect Displayr to update existing tables, charts, and text boxes.
  • You control which objects in the document are updated and which are left unchanged.
  • You can continue to modify the document after exporting (e.g., updating commentary, changing formatting), and these changes will still be in the document when you next update the data from Displayr.
Key rookie mistake:
  • Setting charts so that they are editable in PowerPoint (Appearance > Powerpoint Export > Format > Microsoft Chart). If Displayr's the document that you want to make your final edits in, then there's no need to edit in PowerPoint. 
  • Choosing Displayr visualization types that don't exist in PowerPoint (e.g., small multiples, pictographs) and then setting them to be editable (Appearance > PowerPoint Export > Format > Microsoft Chart). You should instead choose the basic PowerPoint chart types, as this is what will be exported and updated (e.g., column, bar, pie).

 

Updating the data

Any document can be automatically updated with new data. This can be done by selecting the data set in the Data Sources tree, and in the object inspector, clicking General > Update. This can be useful when you want to build your report while the study is currently in the field, and then automatically update it with revised/final data later. See How to Update a Data Set in Displayr for more info. You can then update a previously exported and configured PowerPoint (see How to Update an Existing PowerPoint Document) or Share > Republish your dashboard to see the updated report in View Mode.

Next

Automatic Updating, Duplicate & Modify, and Extensibility

How to Automatically Update Dashboards in Displayr

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