Dynamic Reports

Dynamic Reports provides a highly configurable reporting page which uses a similar technique to other dynamic forms to allow you to configure exactly what is output onto the page. You can include maps, charts and data grids.

Setting up a dynamic report page involves configuring the default view of the map (same process as for other forms), providing a set of report parameter values in the Report Settings section of the edit page, then using the User Interface section to define how the page should be output. If you are starting from a new Indicia page, then in the Form Selection section, set the Form Category to Reporting and the Select Form drop down to Reporting page (customisable).

Defining the form structure

The Form Structure box, in the User Interface section of a dynamic report’s Edit tab, allows you to type free text to define the page output. This text is parsed with 1 token per line and any unrecognised text is output as HTML into the page which allows you to output static custom content of any nature. The structure of the page output can be defined using the following tokens, which are shared with the other dynamic forms.

  • =<section>= - any text wrapped in equals signs defines a section on the page. This maps to a tab if using tabbed output mode.

  • | - the pipe character, when alone on a line, defines that content in the current section preceding the pipe must go into one column, content following the pipe goes into a second column. CSS must be present on the page to layout the columns correctly.

Control content can then be added to the page by specifying square brackets around the name of the control you want to output. The following controls are available:

  • [params] - Outputs a parameters form for the report.

  • [standard params] - Outputs a filter bar designed for setting up report parameters against reports which support filtering occurrences using the standard set of parameters.

  • [map] - Outputs a report map.

  • [reportgrid] - Outputs a grid of records for a report.

  • [report download link] - Outputs a simple link for downloading a CSV file.

  • [reportchart] - Outputs a chart of the output of a report (line, bar or pie).

You can provide options to each of the controls on the subsequent lines in the form structure, by specifing option values in the form:

@<option>=<value>

In all cases, specify the name of the report you want to use, using the @dataSource option such as the following:

[report_grid]
@dataSource=library/totals/species_occurrence_image_counts

Other options are available in the API documentation for report_map, report_grid and report_chart controls.

If you ensure that the parameters of each report on a single page are the same, then you can output a single [params] control using one of the reports as the @dataSource and the parameters will be passed through to all the other reports. You might use this technique, for example, to output a map of records, plus a list of records and a list of species for the same input criteria on one page. Better still, if you are only using reports which support the standardised set of parameters built into the Warehouse’s report engine, then you can use a single [standard params] control to filter all the reports and maps on one page.

Tip

If you enable the High Volume Reporting option on Other IForm Settings then the page content will be cached. When the page expires, reports will have a chance of being rebuilt if their own cache expires. You can control the number of seconds before each individual cached report expires using the @cacheTimout option.

Example configuration - iRecord’s Explore page

The Explore - All records page on iRecord uses a dynamic report page with standard paramater reports. Here are the key details you’ll need to replicate this page on your site.

Initial Map View & Base Map Layers: set these configuration settings as required.

Other Map Settings - Controls to add to the map: set to:

layerSwitcher
panZoomBar
drawPolygon
drawLine
drawPoint

User Interface - Interface Style Option: Tabs

User Interface - Form Structure: Set to the following, noting that the values for @taxon_list_id, @indexedLocationTypeId and @otherLocationTypeId will need to be changed if using a different Warehouse to iRecord:

[standard_params]
@allowSave=true
@linkToMapDiv=map
@taxon_list_id=15
@filter-date_age=1 month
@filter-indexed_location_id={profile_location}
@filter-taxon_group_list={profile_taxon_groups}
@indexedLocationTypeIds=[15,1370]
@otherLocationTypeIds=[2412,2188]
[map]
@dataSource=library/occurrences/filterable_explore_list_mapping
@dataSourceLoRes=library/occurrences/filterable_explore_list_mapping_lores
=Records=
[report_grid]
@dataSource=library/occurrences/filterable_explore_list
@rowId=occurrence_id
=Species=
[report_grid]
@dataSource=library/taxa/filterable_explore_list
@downloadLink=true
@rowId=taxon_meaning_id
@linkFilterToMap=false

Report settings - Preset parameter values assuming you want no additional custom attributes to appear on the report and have a default data entry form at the enter-record-list path:

smpattrs=
occattrs=
default_input_form=enter-record-list

You may also want to configure some action columns in the Column configuration to link to other related pages such as record and species details or the record’s edit page.

Using extension libraries

As well as the generic controls provided by the default dynamic report page, it is possible to add extra controls or ready made report outputs onto the map by defining an extension (which is a PHP file that resides in the prebuilt_forms/extensions folder that defines controls that can be output by any dynamic page). The following additional controls are available for you to add to your report page, as defined by the event_reports extension. These are particularly useful for reporting on events such as bioblitzes. Events are normally filtered by providing a survey_id, date_from and date_to report parameter via the Report Settings section of the page’s Edit view. You can also provide a report parameter called input_form to filter to the exact form used for data entry, useful when a single survey defined on the warehouse contains the reports for several events. For each control, you can override the report used using the @dataSource option.

  • [event_reports.count_by_location_map] - outputs a map of locations participating in the event, with a label for each location showing the number of records or species. Some useful options for this control are:

    • @output=species - set this option to switch from showing a count of records to a count of species.

    • @zoomMapToOutput=false - set this option to disable auto-zooming the map to the locations in the report output.

    • clickableLayersOutputDiv, clickableLayersOutputMode, @clickableLayersOutputColumns can all be set to define the click functionality. See report_map documentation for details.

  • [event_reports.totals_block] - outputs a block with the number of species, records and photos uploaded to the event so far. Set the following options if required:

    • @eventLabel - set to the name of the event.

  • [event_reports.groups_pie] - shows a pie chart with a breakdown of all records by taxon group. Set the following options as required:

    • @width - the width of the chart panel in pixels.

    • @height - the height of the chart panel in pixels.

  • [event_reports.photos_block] - outputs a block containing recent photos. Set the following options if required:

    • @limit - number of photos to show. Defaults to 10.

  • [event_reports.trending_taxa_cloud] - outputs a tag cloud of the recently input species. Set the following options if required:

    • @limit - set to the number of taxa to include in the cloud.

  • [event_reports.trending_recorders_cloud] - - outputs a tag cloud of the recorders who’ve recently contributed records. Set the following options if required:

    • @limit - set to the number of people to include in the cloud.

  • [event_reports.species_by_location_league] - outputs a league table of the species found at each location in the event. Set the following options if required:

    • @limit - set to the number of locations to include. Defaults to 20.

  • [event_reports.species_by_recorders_league] - outputs a league table of the species found by each recorder. Set the following options if required:

    • @limit - set to the number of recorders to include. Defaults to 20.

To illustrate this in action, here is the form structure configuration used for the 2013 Garden BioBlitz reporting:

=Overview=
[event_reports.count_by_location_map]
@zoomMapToOutput=false
@clickableLayersOutputDiv=map-click-info
@clickableLayersOutputMode=div
@clickableLayersOutputColumns={"name":"Vice County","value":"Records"}
@cachetimeout=60
|
<div id="social-buttons">
<span class='st_twitterfollow_hcount' displayText='Twitter Follow'
st_username='GardenBioBlitz'></span>
<span class='st_twitter_hcount' displayText='Tweet' st_title="Keep track of the first
ever national Garden BioBlitz's progress"></span>
<span class='st_facebook_hcount' displayText='Facebook'></span>
<span class='st_plusone_hcount' displayText='Google +1' ></span>
</div>
<h3>Garden BioBlitz totals so far</h3>
[event_reports.totals_block]
@eventLabel=Garden BioBlitz
@cachetimeout=20
<h3>Breakdown of what's being recorded</h3>
[event_reports.groups_pie]
@width=350
@height=350
@cachetimeout=60
<br/>
<p>The map on the left shows the number of Garden BioBlitz sightings for each area
across the United Kingdom.</p>
<p>Click on the areas on the map to get details.</p>
<div id="map-click-info"></div>
=Trending=
<p>Here are a few of the photos recently uploaded by Garden BioBlitzers. Can you find
any of these in your garden?
[event_reports.photos_block]
@limit=9
@cachetimeout=60
|
<h3>Trending species</h3>
[event_reports.trending_taxa_cloud]
@cachetimeout=60
<h3>Trending recorders</h3>
[event_reports.trending_recorders_cloud]
@cachetimeout=60
=League Tables=
<h3>Counties League</h3>
[event_reports.species_by_location_league]
@cachetimeout=20
@label=Vice Counties*
<p class="helpText">*Vice counties are a version of the county boundaries which don't
keep changing, so they are very useful for biological records.</a>
|
<h3>Recorders League</h3>
[event_reports.species_by_recorders_league]
@cachetimeout=20

Note the use of custom HTML to embed a third party social sharing solution onto the page.

You can view this page in action.