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procmanual_informer.docx 1 09‐Nov‐8

Informer Procedures

November 8, 2009


Introduction 3 Informer User Groups and Security .......................................................................................................... 4

Entrinsik Informer: External Resources .................................................................................................... 5

Informer Report Tags ................................................................................................................................ 6

Report Viewers 8 Logging on to Informer and Launching a Report ...................................................................................... 9

Viewing a Report .................................................................................................................................... 11

Creating Favorites .................................................................................................................................. 12

Requesting Modified or New Viewer Reports ......................................................................................... 13

Report Builders 14 Colleague Data Maps ............................................................................................................................. 15

Creating a Report: Defining Your Report Parameters ............................................................................ 17

Identifying Colleague Fields for Informer Reports – RDEL / RDVF /RFEI ............................................. 19

Create a New Report .............................................................................................................................. 22

Schedule a Report .................................................................................................................................. 29


Introduction Entrinsik Informer 4.0 is a reporting tool that is linked to the Datatel Colleague database. It is a web based tool and is available at the following url:

http://informer.colleaguebc.com:8016/nvit/

This manual is intended to provide some basic information for Informer Viewers and Informer Report Builders.

Access to Informer is by username and password as maintained by the NVIT Informer Administrator (currently the Director, Integrated Systems & Institutional Research).

User Categories

Users are assigned to one of the following User Categories:

Viewer: User can view reports only. Note that reports must be saved as viewable by users in certain groups. Refer to NVIT User Groups procedures for details.

Builder: Users can view and build reports.

Administrator: Manages overall security and meta-data

Access to Colleague Applications

Colleague is an integrated system meaning that data is available across the Applications (Student, Finance, Human Resources and Core). Security for Builders is being set-up so that users within one Application group cannot access data from another Application. Users with cross-application responsibility will have access to all modules in their area of responsibility.


Informer User Groups and Security

Introduction

At NVIT there are several groups of users. This procedure provides the details of these user groups. These user groups are used to define user access to Informer data and reports. This procedure provides an overview of the current User Groups and Security.

Note: these groups are under review.

Procedure

At NVIT, there are currently the following user groups:

Group Description

Administrator Manages the Informer system data, settings and access.

Average User Not defined.

CF – End User End user who may view reports in the Colleague Finance application only.

HR – End User End user who may view reports in the Human Resources application only.

Limited User Report viewer. May have access to reports outside of the Student application.

Meta Maintenance Accesses, edits and maintains the Informer meta-data for NVIT.

ST – End User End user who may view reports in the Student application only.

Super User Has Report Builder access to data. May be restricted to specific modules.

User Manager Manages the NVIT user accounts including security.

Security can be set at the user field.

Details to be documented.


Entrinsik Informer: External Resources

Introduction

Entrinsik Informer has a Wiki for users to interact. As well, they have created some YouTube ® Videos to assist in training. These videos are 6-8 minutes in length and are typically for the advanced Informer functions but are great for getting a sense of Informer’s capabilities.

Informer Wiki

The Informer Wiki is a great resource to review

Following is their press release.

Entrinsik Announces New You Tube Channel To Showcase Web-Based Reporting Software By Sharon Shelton

Dated: Oct 14, 2009

Entrinsik, Inc., a leading provider of innovative, web-based operational reporting and analysis solutions, announced the launch of the Informer Channel on You Tube™ featuring video clips demonstrating features of Informer Web Reporting software.

Entrinsik, Inc., a leading provider of innovative, web-based operational reporting and analysis solutions, today announced the launch of the Informer Channel on You Tube™, the leading online video community that allows people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. The new Channel will feature video clips demonstrating features of the company's web-based reporting software used by thousands around the world. The Informer You Tube Channel can be found at www.youtube.com/EntrinsikInc.

More and more people are getting their information from sites like YouTube and the channel puts Informer content in one of the places where audiences are spending their time. Videos will be added regularly and include using Informer easy-to-navigate Web interface, linking data from multiple data sources in real-time, integrating Informer with desktop applications like LIVE Excel, drag & drop sorting and grouping, intelligent auto-complete, searching, archiving, scheduling, dynamic charting, database aggregate analysis and more.

"Social Media is playing an increasing role in how we communicate to our customers and to those wanting to learn more about who we are and what we do”, says Sharon Shelton, V.P. Marketing and Informer Sales. “This new channel reflects our efforts to increase the number of online resources available for customers and others interested in our software to show how it can dramatically and cost-effectively improve their reporting capabilities.”

Visit the Informer You Tube Channel at www.youtube.com/EntrinsikInc for more details.


Informer Report Tags

Introduction

Informer Reports are “tagged” in order to store and find reports. This procedure provides the naming convention for those tags.

Procedure

Informer uses Report Tags to organize reports.

Before creating a new report, it is always best to ensure there is not an existing report already available in the system which fits your needs. Use tags to categorize reports and cut down on redundancy. Also remember you can maintain custom views of a report – meaning if there is a report in the system which returns the records you want but you need to view the results in a different format, use the ability to customize fields, groups, sorts, etc. rather than creating an entirely new report.

Tags are displayed on the Informer Reports Dashboard as follows:

Report Tags are listed here:


NVIT has decided on the following Tags based upon the Colleague applications:

Application Tag Description

Colleague Finance (CF)

CF CF General Reports – do not fit under other categories.

CF _BUD CF Budget Reports

CF_FX CF Fixed Assets

Colleague Core (CORE)

CORE_CC CORE Communication Management

CORE_SCH CORE Scheduling

Human Resources (HR)

HR HR General Reports

HR_PAY HR Payroll Reports

MYNVIT MYNVIT Portal reports.

Moodle Reports Moodle Reports Reports on enrolled students for the creation of Moodle accounts.

OA Reports OA Reports The original OA reports provided when Informer was implemented. Many provide good foundations for NVIT reports.

Program Review Program Review Reports to assist in program reviews.

Colleague Student (ST)

ST ST General Reports

ST_ADM Student Admissions Reports

ST_CM Student Communications Management Reports

ST_DEM Student Demographic Reports

ST_GRAD Student Graduates Reports

ST_PRS Student Prospects Reports

ST_RA Student Retention Alert Reports

ST_REG Student Registration Reports

Security Security Informer Security Reports


Report Viewers


Logging on to Informer and Launching a Report

Introduction

This procedure provides the steps for users to log on to Informer.

Procedure

Informer is a web-based reporting system. NVIT’s instance of Informer can be accessed in two ways:

1. Via this web link: http://informer.colleaguebc.com:8016/nvit/

2. Via the MyNVIT Portal (under development).

The Informer logon screen looks like this:

Enter your username (usually the same username as your Colleague ID) and your password. This will launch the Informer dashboard as follows (views will vary dependent upon user security and access):

To view reports by Tags (see Informer Report Tags earlier in this document) click on the Tag. Or, from here, you can scroll through the reports and launch a report by clicking on Launch under Options.

As well, a description under the report title will provide the details of the report.

Launching a report will create the report from current Colleague data. See example following:


Viewing a Report

Introduction

This procedure provides the steps for users to view and export a report.

Procedure

Once a user has a report displayed on the screen, they can choose to Export the results by selecting the Export Results icon.

Clicking the Export Results icon will bring up the following dialogue box:

Choose your option based upon your needs.


Creating Favorites

Introduction

This procedure provides the steps for users to add reports to their Favorites folder.

Procedure

From the main report dashboard, click on the Favorites icon (star) next to the report you want to add to your My Favorites folder. See example following:

To view all reports in your My Favorites folder, click on the My Favorites filter. To remove a report from your My Favorites, simply click on the star again.


Requesting Modified or New Viewer Reports

Introduction

Informer Report Viewers who want new reports or modifications to existing reports should pass those requests along to the Colleague Distribution list.

Note: Many reports imported from Informer 3.2.4 are not currently working in Informer 4.08 and each report is being tested and corrected.


Report Builders


Colleague Data Maps

Introduction

Colleague Data Maps provide a visual overview of the data file relationships in Colleague. There are separate data maps for Colleague Finance, Colleague Human Resources, Colleague Student and Colleague Retention Alert. These data maps are available on the Colleague BC website and are a key to building reports in Informer.

Procedure

Following is an example of the first (of 7) page of the HR Data Map which defines how to use it:

X Pointer Points to only one other record in that file

Q Pointer Points to many other records in that file.


Following is the HR Person (HRPER) pointers map page of the HR map:

PPWG

.HRP.ID

PERLV.HRP.ID

ALL.

STIP

ENDS

STP.

HRP.

ID

STP.POSITIO

N.ID


Creating a Report: Defining Your Report Parameters

Introduction

This procedure provides the steps for Report Builders to create reports.

Procedure

Before creating a new report, it is always best to ensure there is not an existing report already available in:

- Colleague which already meets your needs;

- Informer which already meets your needs.

Use tags to categorize reports and cut down on redundancy. Also remember you can maintain custom views of a report – meaning if there is a report in the system which returns the records you want but you need to view the results in a different format, use the ability to customize fields, groups, sorts, etc. rather than creating an entirely new report.

A. Report Creation Preparation Steps If you indeed determine you need a completely new report, follow the instructions below before clicking the new report action:

1. Identify Base Report Type

Determine what it is you are actually attempting to return from the database. Is it a list of PERSON records, a list of INVOICE records, etc.? Informer requires each report to have a base type, and you are required to provide that type in the new report dialog.

2. Identify Selection Criteria

Determine which records you want to return. Do you want the entire list of PERSON records in your database, or only those who were born after a certain date? Knowing beforehand what your selection criteria is will make it easier for you to understand what you need from the criteria palette. Remember you can get as sophisticated as you want with your criteria, including selecting based of values from liked mappings, using compound conditions to create sub-query like functionality, and more.

3. Identify Fields to Display

Once you know what type of records you require, and which of those records you want returned, next determine what data you want to see for each record. If you are selecting PERSON records born after a specific date, what fields do you want to show as columns in the report? Remember that also, provided appropriate security, users of your report will be allowed to add and remove fields from their custom view if need be.

B. Report Categories to be Defined Following are some useful steps to define your report parameters. The six (6) categories with questions to answer in defining your report requirements include:

1. Selection (File & Items):

What are the restrictions/criteria? This one takes the most thought. Try to think of the non-obvious items as well, here are a few samples questions:

• Do you want all of the records?

• Are you looking for records with a specific status or term?

• Do you want to exclude certain records?

2. Sort:

Should the output be sorted? If so, be specific and explain which sort should take place first if multiple sorts are to be done. These may be viewed visually as breaks in the report.


3. Output Data

Specifically, what pieces of data are required? For example saying ‘‘I want student addresses” is not specific enough. Do you want the preferred address, home address, local address or another address? As part of the address, do you want the street address, city, and postal code? Do you also require the phone number?

4. Formats (Heading & Footing):

How should the report be formatted? In some cases the answer to these questions could be “doesn’t matter”, or “don’t care” just ensure to give some thought to formats. This may include: report headings, column headings, column widths, and date and numbers formats.

5. Calculations: (Grand Total):

Does the report require calculations (Totals, Averages)? If there is a complex calculation, make sure to define it with all of the pieces of information that it includes.

6. Results: (Output to):

How will the report output be viewed (on screen, printed, sent to another program)?

It is recommended you use a worksheet to Create a Report Definition. The following table is an example of how you might define the categories, questions and answers in building a course section enrollment report:

CATEGORY QUESTIONS ANSWERS

Selection (restrictions)

Include Active and Dropped Students?

Term specific to be used each term?

I want to see the numbers for active and dropped students by course section. I would like to be able to search by term.

Sort How do you want to have this sorted?

Any sub-sort?

I want it sorted by course section only.

Output Data What data do you need to show up on the report?

I want to see the term, course section title, section location, the number of active and dropped students in each section, and the course section capacity and minimum enrolment figures.

Formats Do you want any headers or footers?

I want a header that says: Enrolment Statistics by Course Section

Calculations Do you want to see a grand total? No, I do not need grand totals for all dropped and active students, only totals by course section.

Results Where do you want to view it?

Would it be useful to have Live Excel?

Whatever format makes it easy to understand and read.


Identifying Colleague Fields for Informer Reports – RDEL / RDVF /RFEI

Introduction

This procedure provides the steps to determine which Colleague fields are needed for reports.

Procedure

Access the Colleague screen where your data resides. See following example of PROG screen:

If you wanted to build a report which included the “Department” you could place your cursor in that field and press F1 for help on that field. This will give you a help screen with the Colleague name of the field. See example following showing the Department field name of ACPG.DEPTS:

Some notes about field names:

• Field names can only be used once in Colleague. This means that although a field may be used in different Colleague files it needs a unique name in each file. An example would be START.TERM which is in the APPLICATIONS file as APPL.START.TERM and in the ACADEMIC LEVEL file as STA.START.TERM;

• Some fields are identified as VAR1 or DATE.VAR1 or LIST.VAR2 and are calculations from within the system. These fields cannot be used on their own but it is often possible to determine where they calculate from (may be a detail screen).

In order to use fields in Informer reports, it is necessary to know where (which file) the field resides. There are two Colleague screens which will assist in finding fields.


RDEL: Database Element Linkages

This screen provides details on where a filed resides. See example following:

Note that fields can have different Database Usage types as follows:

Code Title Description

L List Field is multi-valued.

A Associated Field is associated.

D Data Field stores data.

Q Q Pointer Field points to many other records.

X X Pointer Field points to only one other record in that file.

T Text Field is text.

The file name field tells you where this field resides.


RDVF: Computed Column Inquiry

This screen can also be used to verify field information.

RFEI: File Element Inquiry

This screen will list all of the data elements (fields) in a file and is useful if you know you want to build a report from a file and need to check if the fields you are interested in are in that file. See example following of the ACAD.PROGRAMS file:


Create a New Report

Introduction

This report provides the basic steps to create a new Informer 4.0 report.

Procedure

Log on to Informer and click the New Report icon:

This will launch the following screen:


Following are the fields for this screen:

Field Descriptions

Name Enter the Name of Your Report. Use a naming convention of starting the report with your initials.

Mapping Define which Colleague environment you are using. Current choices are Production, Test, Project and Determine what File you are using (click the … box to look up all files).

Description Enter a description for your report. Note that the first line of your description will appear on the Reporting Dashboard.

PDF Template If you want to use a specific PDF template enter it here.

Tags: Tags can be entered now or at the point when you save the report. Refer to the Tag procedure for current TAGS.

Once these items have been entered, click on Next and this will bring up the following screen:

From here, you can define your selection parameters, columns, sorts, groups and display options.

Select Filter

The Select Filter lets you define how to select the records in the file (in this example the file is the ST- Course Sections Test File).

Following is an example of the Select Filter screen:


You can define which conditions to add by dragging from the “Criteria Types to Add” column. Note that there are two types of Conditions which can be added:

Simple Conditions

- Provides the ability to compare two values, For example “Every Term like 09/FA”;

- Simple Conditions start with LIMITERS: Any, Every, No, When;

- Simple Condition PROPERTIES* are the fields in Colleague (e.g. TERM);

- Simple Condition CONDITIONS dependent on the PROPERTIES (e.g. if the property is date based, the condition will be: on, on or after etc. Or, if the property is numeric, the conditions will be equals, does not equal etc.).

See example of Simple Condition screen following:


* Note that you can search for fields in the Property screen by clicking on the lookup …. See example of the Add Fields screen following:

Double click each field to select it. Remember that you may need to link to another file in order to access other fields. See example following:


Now you need to add the Columns to the report. This is done using the Add Fields button. See example following:

The Add Fields window is like in the report selection criteria and looks like this:

Once again, remember you can search fields. Double click the fields you want and they will appear on the report screen behind the window. Once you have selected all the fields you want, close the dialogue box and an example of your report will display. See example following:


Hint: be sure to save your report. Click on Save and Close and you will be back to the Report Template:

One this screen you can choose Sorts, Groups and Normalize.

Normalize

Normalization takes multi-valued fields and gives them one row each in the report, repeating the values of those elements that occur once.

Note that reports should be built as Public reports and you should identify which groups can access them. See example following:


Schedule a Report

Introduction

This report provides the basic steps to schedule an Informer 4.0 report.

Procedure

Log on to Informer and open the report you want to schedule. Select the Schedule tab. See example following:

The Schedule window will come up showing all current schedules. Click on the New Schedule icon. See example following:

This will bring up the Schedule Dialogue window where you can set the schedule requirements:

Note that reports can be set to email, to archive or to export.

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