Custom Reports

The Custom Report module is an add-on feature used to create custom reports using JETT (Java Excel Template Translator) or BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools).1 Some programming knowledge may be needed to produce advanced custom reports.

JETT allows the creation of spreadsheet reports using Excel spreadsheet templates. BIRT allows the creation of reports using the predefined templates or a blank report design. While both use Microsoft Excel functionality only XLS not XLSX format is currently supported by the BIRT version currently in use by this application. To obtain more information regarding JETT reporting functionality visit: http://jett.sourceforge.net

README
The custom reports module will undergo a few changes in the next few releases starting with application version 7.5.3 as we convert all of the JETT driven reports to a BIRT equivalent. For more information see the “About JETT Custom Reports” section below.

Version 7.2+ stores all date/times in Coordinated Universal Time, better known as UTC. As part of the upgrade process, all data is converted to UTC. Therefore, the initial upgrade process could run an extended amount of time while the data is converted. Furthermore, any custom reports that go directly to the database to gather date/times will need to be modified to convert the time from UTC to the time zone desired.

About JETT Custom Reports

The JETT report option for custom reports will be deprecated in a future release due to JETT end-of-support maintenance. All JETT reports available will eventually be converted to a BIRT equivalent.

This change has no functional impact to current JETT reports as BIRT uses the exact same data source. There are no changes to how the data is retrieved or processed. The only difference is that your JETT report will be converted to BIRT upon upgrade to an application version 7.5.3+.

Notable cosmetic changes when viewing a converted JETT report include BIRT style headers, an additional BIRT HTML view option, and the footer data was reduced to one date time column. The Generated by App Name column and page number column previously shown in the JETT report footer has been removed to resolve data filter and sorting issues previously reported in JETT XLS format.

JETT Reports converted to a BIRT equivalent in application version 7.5.3 and no longer available as an option to create a new JETT style report in the Custom Reports area include…

  • Audit
  • Contact Log
  • Exceptions
  • Expiration
  • Login History*
  • Payroll
  • Personal History

The BIRT equivalent report for the Login History Report returns the person’s name for every row of data pertaining to the person. Doing so allows filtering and sorting functions in Excel to work properly when applied in the Name column.

JETT Reports converted to a BIRT equivalent in application version 7.5.5 and no longer available as an option to create a new JETT style report in the Custom Reports area include…

NOTE: Although the JETT option to create a new JETT style report for these reports in the Custom Reports area has been removed, any preexisting Roster custom report can still be modified using the JETT report engine. There is a known issue pertaining to the BIRT version in use by this application where only XLS not XLSX format is supported. Images and pie chart in the report output do not display via XLS output. Because of this, the canned version of the Roster report in the Reports area located on the toolbar will remain as a JETT version when exporting the report using the Excel Report function in the Reports area until the BIRT version in use can support XLSX format. Moreover, the HTML version of the Roster report in the canned Reports area is the BIRT equivalent because these images are supported via the HTML Report output function. The pie chart on the Summary report was removed until a future fix.

BIRT Custom Reports

BIRT is an open source platform, based on Eclipse for designing and generating reports. You can create or modify canned reports in this application using the data source and data sets available for any of the canned reports. Additionally, BIRT generated custom reports allow users to apply new or change preset data source Limits for the custom report directly from the Reports area.

For example, suppose your BIRT report contains preset limits, West region and Shift 1. Users can add or change limits by simply editing the Limit By setting of the data source provided. In this case, a user can choose to only limit by West Region, or limit by Shift 1.

The Custom Report module allows customers to create custom reports using the familiar environment of Microsoft Excel a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. This add-on feature allows both Excel novice users and advanced programmers to create simple custom reports. For example, in BIRT you can increase the font size on any report, perform aggregate operations, use pivot tables, combine multiple reports to create one report, omit data columns, add column data from one report to another, add cross tabs, add headers, create borders, and much more.

To obtain more information regarding BIRT reporting functionality visit: http://www.eclipse.org/birt/

Note: The Custom Reports area in this application uses BIRT. BIRT allows the creation of reports using the predefined templates or a blank report design. Some programming knowledge may be needed to produce more advanced custom reports. Customers must be licensed for Custom Reports to access this feature. Custom report writing add-on services are also available.

Related KB Articles:

  • 000161920 - How to Create Custom Reports in UKG TeleStaff
  • 000160734 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Personal History Report
  • 000160965 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Accrual Report
  • 000161404 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Assignment Report
  • 000160949 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Exceptions Report
  • 000160978 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Multiday Roster Report
  • 000160734 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Personal History Report
  • 000160948 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Payroll Report

  • 000163125 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Login Report

  • 000161335 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Expiration Report

  • 000161355 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Audit Report

  • 000162611 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Contact Log Report

  • 000163125 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Position Closure Report

  • 000163221 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Cost Report

  • 000163222 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Payback Report

  • 000163223 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Summary Report

  • 000163224 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Tag Reference Audit Report

  • 000163225 - UKG TeleStaff BIRT Data Source for Logging Bucket Report