Reporting on Specimens

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Reporting on Specimens

When creating a new report, users can save its specifications.  Saving the specifications of a report means that users can run a report with the same criteria and same display fields later on.  Depending on what changes have been made to the database in the interim, the report may return different results.

After running a report, users can also save its output onto their local computers.  This will save the exact information that was returned by running the report.  Users will not need to connect to the server or run the report to access that information again.  However, if changes are made to the database, the saved report output will become out of date.

To create a report:

  1. Click the New button on the right side of the Reports Manager.
  2. In the Select Report Type dialog, choose the type of report that you would like to create. Users can choose from one of the many Standard Reports or choose to create a User Defined Report.  Click OK after selecting a report type.
  3. A Report Editor will appear containing two to four tabs, depending on the type of report a user creates. Follow the instructions for each tab:
    • General tab
    • Display tab
    • Sort tab
    • Search tab

Standard Report vs. User-Defined Report

To determine whether a standard report or a user-defined report will work best, see the descriptions below:

Standard BSI Reports

Standard reports are each designed for a specific purpose. Their output will be displayed in pre-formatted forms, ready for printing.

Standard reports are organized in the following categories.  Select a category to see a list and description of reports.  Additional standard reports may be available beyond what is listed in this guide.  The available standard reports can be selected when creating a new report in BSI. The following types of reports are available:

  • History
  • Inventory
  • Requisition
  • Sample
  • Shipment
  • Studies

Creating Custom Reports

The report editor is the interface for specifying a single report in the system.  It has a tab interface to allow users to specify the properties of a report. The tabs available will depend upon the type of report selected.

The tabs displayed may include the following tabs:

  • General - The General tab allows users to select an output type and enter a title and description for the report.  Available for all reports.  
  • Display - The Display tab allows users to select what fields are to be displayed on the report.  Available for user-defined reports.  
  • Sort - The Sort tab allows users to set a sort order for the report.  Only available for a user-defined listing report. 
  • Search - The Search page uses the Standard Search dialog to specify the search criteria for the report.  Available for all reports.

The properties for a report can be saved and then loaded into another report at a later time.  When loading the properties for a report, the same type of report that was used to save the properties should also be used to load them.

  • Save the properties for a report by selecting Export Properties from the File menu.  Users will be prompted to select a location and name for the file.
  • Load the properties for a report by selecting Import Properties from the File menu.  Report properties can be loaded across databases.

For date fields, there are several relative date options available for searching. You can select: Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow, This Week, Last Week, Next Week, This Month, Last Month, Next Month, This Year, Last Year, And Next Year.

Entering a relative date as search criteria will change the range of time being searched on each time you run the report.

For example: If you create a report searching on “Date Entered = Yesterday”, then when you run the report tomorrow your results will show items entered today.

Visual Reporting via BSI Dashboard:

The Dashboard allows users to easily access some information from across several modules on one page.  The module contains the BSI News widget and any additional available widgets the user adds to the page. The first time a user opens the Dashboard, the Tips widget will automatically be displayed next to the BSI News widget.

The News widget contains important notices from the BSI team about upcoming downtimes, releases, and support holiday hours. It is updated hourly.

Available widgets are listed under the "+" icon in the upper right corner of the module. They are separated into three categories: Assigned To, Miscellaneous, and Reports. Under these three categories, the following widgets are available:

  • Data Entry Assigned To
  • Shipments Assigned To
  • Requisitions Assigned To
  • Kits Assigned To
  • Tips
  • Chart Reports
  • Listing Reports

Assigned To and Listing Reports widgets will display up to 100 records associated with the corresponding module which are currently assigned to the user. By default, Dashboard is the open module when a user logs into BSI. Only System Administrators can change BSI's default opening page from Dashboard to the Homepage, which also displays Assigned To information.

Dashboard widgets can be rearranged on the page.

Any Batch ID or BSI ID listed on the Dashboard can be selected. Once clicked, a new window will open displaying the items. If the user has permission and the items are editable, they will open in Edit Mode. If they are not editable, items will open in View Mode.

From the Dashboard, users can add, delete, refresh and move widgets. Users can change widget view options and change reports criteria.

Example: Professor Ivy has several graduate students helping her with her study on exhaustion and fainting. She teaches each student how to set up their BSI Dashboard to see the most relevant data each student will need.