December 2006 Volume 10, Number 4

TurnOver Client Reports

By Deb Holmes, Director of Technical Services

Figure 1: The Reports subsystem in new TurnOver Client

Reports. Boring, right? WRONG! These new reports are anything BUT boring! As a manager, I find they provide invaluable insight into what is happening within my department.

We’ve always had the green screen reports, and along the way we added a set of Crystal Reports-based versions of those, plus a few metric-based reports. But the Reports subsystem in the new Eclipse-based TurnOver Client provides a whole new set of reports with a broader scope and purpose.

The TurnOver Client interface to these newer, more comprehensive reports is user-friendly and intuitive. Included are date pickers and field prompts that help you to quickly and efficiently define the report content you want.

Figure 2: Prompts and date pickers ease report criteria selection.

If in the past you have created your own reports using Crystal Reports, don’t worry. You can still access them all quite easily from the Client. By opening your connection properties and selecting the Reports page, you can discover the location where your report definitions reside. By default, the location points to a folder on your C: drive where the report definitions were placed at install time. You can store your other report definitions in this location as well, and they will all appear under the Reports subsystem when you open your Client. However, if you want to have everyone in the company running the same reports, simply store your definitions in a network share and use the Custom field to point to that location instead.

Figure 3: Reports page of Connection Properties controls where definitions are stored/found

Another great new feature is the ability to save your report parameter selections for any given report. If you run the same report each week over a specific set of projects, you can now save those project selections and save yourself time by having only to specify new dates each time. To store your parameter choices, make your selections on a report prompt, then click Save, and give your parameter set a name. When you click OK, your parameter set is stored beneath the report to which it applies. When the time comes to run the same report again, right click on your parameter set and choose Run Report with Prompt. Change the dates as needed, and you’re off and running.

Figure 4: Storing favorite parameter choices for later reuse saves time.

Each report prompt has a Help button that presents a brief description of the report. Complete information about parameters, usage, and content for each report is available both in TurnOver’s online Help system, and in TurnOver Supplement #65 on our customer support site. (For more in-depth information about the TurnOver Client’s online Help system, read Mary Schoppmeyer’s article in this issue.)

Figure 5: Easily re-run a report using saved parameter choices.

Reports are just one of many important features found in the TurnOver Client. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to learn about reports or see what other new features are included, remember you can always sign up for a session of our 5.4 Client Webinar to learn what else the client has in store for you. Once you try this new client, you may never go back to the green screen again!

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