Report Design Dialog

The Report Design dialog is the place where you set up the way an analysis report is generated. You get to this dialog by opening up a Report View and then pressing the Design button or selecting Report->Design from the main menu.

The report design dialog is a tabbed dialog. Along the top of the dialog you will see two "tabs". Each tab corresponds to a different "page" in the dialog. Click on one of the tabs to expose that page.

This dialog is a bit different from other DairyLive dialogs because it has no OK or Cancel button. You can leave this dialog open while you go back to the report view and try out your new settings. To close the dialog, click on the Close button. The dialog will also be closed when you close the report view.

The report design dialog has two tabs:

The General Tab
The Data Tab

The General Tab: The General tab has several fields that control the title, organization, and style of the report.

Report Title: Type in a short description of the report, such as "Test Results Summary for Last 12 Months". The report title can be up to 100 characters.

Date Range: Select the range of dates that the report should cover. You can select the last 30 days, the last 12 months, the last 5 years, the next 12 months, or a custom date range. This option does not apply if you are creating a scatter graph report.

Organize Data By: Reports are useful for comparing data over time. Select how you want the report organized with respect to time: by weeks, 21-day estrus cycles, months, quarters, or years. This option does not apply if you are creating a scatter graph report.

Style: Select the style you want the report to have. Your choices are: Table, Bar Graph, Line Graph, and Scatter Graph.

Scatter Graph Date: If you have selected a scatter graph style, the report data is based on a single point in time rather than a range of dates. Select either Today, Last Test Date, or Custom.

Auto-Refresh Report Contents: If you want the report to be regenerated automatically whenever the data in the herd database changes, check this checkbox. Report generation, though, can be time-consuming, so you probably do not want to check this.

The Data Tab: The Data tab provides a way to define what fields are shown in the report. This page looks different if you have selected a scatter graph report style. The scatter graph options will be discussed later.

Data to Show: This table shows what fields will be shown in the report. To add a new row to the table, press the Add button. To delete a row, click on it, and then click on the Delete button. To move a row up or down, click on it and click on the Up or Down button. To edit an existing row, click on it and and then change the item by modifying the controls below the Data to Show list. These controls vary, depending on what item type is currently selected.

Column Heading: This will be used as the column heading (for text reports) or in the legend (for graphical reports). If the column heading begins with the symbol "^", then the column is hidden in the report. This is useful if you want to have a field that is a formula computed from other fields, but you don't want those other fields to actually appear in the report output.

Item Type: Select the type of item you want. The item types are:

# of Animals The field will show the number of animals that are in a check list.

# of Events The field will show the number of events that were found in the date range for animals in a check list.

Total The field will show the sum of the values of some property for all animals in a check list.

Average The field will show the average of the values of some property for all animals in a check list.

Low The field will show the lowest value of some property for all animals in a check list.

High The field will show the highest value of some property for all animals in a check list.

Std Dev The field will show the standard deviation of some property for all animals in a check list.

Formula The field will show some computation of other fields in the report.


Event Type: This control is shown only if you have selected "# of Events" as the item type. Select the kind of event you want counted.

Property: The control is shown only if you have selected Total, Average, Low, High, or Std Dev as the item type. Select which animal property you want to be used for this field. Only numeric properties are available for selection.

Formula: This control is shown only if you have selected Formula as the item type. Type in an arithmetic expression for the field. The expression can contain:

Other column headings You can use the value from another field by referring to it by its column heading. Enclose the column heading in square [] brackets. For example, if you have a column heading called Breedings, you can use the value of this column in an expression using [Breedings].

Operators The four common arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /) can be used in an expression.

Parentheses Normally an expression is evaluated from left to right (all operators have the same precedence). If you want to alter the order, add parentheses around parts of the expression.

Numbers You can also use literal numbers in an experssion, such as 2 or 3.14.

Here are some examples of expressions:

[Breedings] / [Confirmed PG] * 100.0

( [Last Milk Wt] / [Previous Milk Wt] ) / 2

From List: This control isn't used if the item type is Formula. Select the check list that you want to use which will determine which animals are included in computing this field.

X-Axis (Scatter graphs only): Select which animal property you want plotted along the X (horizontal) axis.

Y-Axis (Scatter graphs only): Select which animal property you want plotted along the Y (vertical) axis.

Group By (Scatter graphs only): Select how you want the "dots" on the scatter graph to be colored. This can help you visualize how cows in different general groups fall on the graph. You can choose None (all dots will be the same color), Stage of Lactation (1 - 50 DIM, 51 - 100 DIM, etc.), Group Name, or Lactation number.

See Also: List View; Report View; Animal Properties

# of Animals	The field will show the number of animals that are in a check list.
# of Events	The field will show the number of events that were found in the date range for animals in a check list.
Total	The field will show the sum of the values of some property for all animals in a check list.
Average	The field will show the average of the values of some property for all animals in a check list.
Low	The field will show the lowest value of some property for all animals in a check list.
High	The field will show the highest value of some property for all animals in a check list.
Std Dev	The field will show the standard deviation of some property for all animals in a check list.
Formula	The field will show some computation of other fields in the report.

Other column headings	You can use the value from another field by referring to it by its column heading. Enclose the column heading in square [] brackets. For example, if you have a column heading called Breedings, you can use the value of this column in an expression using [Breedings].
Operators	The four common arithmetic operators (+, -, *, /) can be used in an expression.
Parentheses	Normally an expression is evaluated from left to right (all operators have the same precedence). If you want to alter the order, add parentheses around parts of the expression.
Numbers	You can also use literal numbers in an experssion, such as 2 or 3.14.