Create Custom Reports > Getting Started
Defining Your Report
Before you get started creating your custom report, you may wish to consider the following questions. Use this list
as a guide to help you clearly define the content and purpose of the report you want to create.
- What are the purpose, scope, and intended use of your report? What business or reporting need will this report satisfy?
- What is the best data source for this report, given the requirements you’ve established? Where can you find the data you need? Potential sources may include the Data Warehouse, Banner, or the Reporting Copy of Banner. Each source serves a distinct purpose, and each has differing data structures, formats, and availability.
- Are there similar reports available already? If so, what is the difference between your report and the existing report? Check Query Clearinghouse , the Standard Report Directory, or the DS Solution Library to avoid unnecessary duplication of effort.
- What tool will you use to create your report (Business Objects or an ODBC report editor)? Which tool offers the best features to help you create this report? Which tool are you most familiar with?
- What is the best format for your report?
- what skill level (or level of understanding about the business process) is required to use it?
- what is the possibility that users will misinterpret results? What would be the impacts?
- If sharing your report:
- does it contain information that may be sensitive, or that some users may not have access to (i.e., SSN, Test Results, EEO data, FERPA-protected data, etc.)?
- how will you distribute your report (via email, through the Inbox in EDDIE, or as a file in another format (Excel, etc.)?
- what file type will you use to save your report (.rep for BusinessObjects document, .xls for Excel spreadsheet, .pdf for PDF document, etc.)?
