Manage Reports and Dashboards

This page applies primarily to business users. It describes how to create and manage reports and dashboards in data fabric insights.

Overview

In data fabric insights, business users can directly create reports, add them to custom dashboards, and maintain or update those reports and dashboards as needed.

Developers can also create reports and dashboards, then deploy them to environments where business users can use them to kickstart their reporting experience.

User access

Any user in the Report Creator role (sometimes referred to as a report creator) can create a report or dashboard in Process HQ.

When you create a report or dashboard, the following access levels are assigned by default:

• Owner access is assigned to the user who creates the report or dashboard.
• No Access is assigned to the Process HQ Users system group.

When you share a report or dashboard with another user, the user's access level for the report or dashboard controls which actions the user can take.

User access levels include:

• No Access: The report or dashboard is not visible to the user or group.
• Viewer: The report or dashboard is visible to the user or group, but the actions they can take on it are limited.
• Editor: The report or dashboard is visible to the user or group, and they can take all actions except editing user access and deleting the report or dashboard.
• Owner: The report or dashboard is visible to the user or group, and they can take all actions including editing user access and deleting the report or dashboard. This access level becomes the Administrator permission level in Appian Designer.

The following table describes the actions users can take based on access level:

Action
	Owner	Editor	Viewer	No Access
See a report or dashboard on the Home page	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
View a report or dashboard	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Edit a report or dashboard	Yes	Yes	No	No
Add a report or process KPI to a dashboard1	Yes	Yes	No	No
View report or dashboard properties	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Edit report or dashboard properties	Yes	Yes	No	No
Duplicate a report	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
See which users a report or dashboard is shared with	Yes	Yes	No	No
Edit which users a report or dashboard is shared with	Yes	Yes	No	No
Favorite a report or dashboard	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Delete a report or dashboard	Yes	No	No	No

1	You'll also need Viewer access for the report or process KPI you want to add to the dashboard.

Create a report

Report creators can create reports using the datasets available to them. Datasets are available based on the configuration of the record types included in the dataset. System administrators can create a report from any dataset in the Data Catalog.

To create a report:

1. Decide how you want to start:

   • If you want to partner with AI, start with Appian AI Copilot.

   • If you're less familiar with the data, start with a guided experience.

   • If you're already familiar with the data, start from a dataset.

2. Design, filter, and sort the report data.

3. (Optional) Add interactive elements to the report.

4. Click SAVE. By default, you are assigned Owner permissions to any report you create, and all other users are assigned No Access.

5. (Optional) Share the report with your colleagues.

   Tip:  By default, you are assigned Owner permissions to any report you create, and all other users are assigned No Access.

6. (Optional) Add the report to a dashboard.

7. (Optional) Partner with AI Copilot to discover new insights about your report.

Start with AI Copilot

Appian AI Copilot can automatically generate a report for you based on your available datasets. You can chat with AI Copilot to adjust the report as much as you want. Then, create the report to make your own edits manually, save, and share the report.

To create a report with AI Copilot:

1. In the AI Copilot chat on the Home page or Data Catalog page, ask AI Copilot for the report you'd like to see.
   
   For example, "Show me a report of orders by customer for the last month."

   Tip:  Click the Expand button to make the AI Copilot window larger, so your report preview is easier to see.

2. Continue chatting with AI Copilot to refine your report. You can ask AI Copilot to add or remove fields, change the chart type, apply filters, and more.

3. When you're ready to edit the report yourself, click CREATE REPORT.

4. Next, edit the report data manually.

Start with the guided experience

If you're exploring less familiar data, you can take advantage of a guided experience to create a report.

To create a report with a guided experience:

1. Go to the Home page or Data Catalog page, then click CREATE REPORT.

2. Go to the GUIDED EXPERIENCE tab.

3. Pick and format report data using autocomplete suggestions. As you select different options, you'll see a real-time preview of the report.

   

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4. When you're ready, click CREATE REPORT.

5. Next, edit the report data.

Start from a dataset

If you're already familiar with the data you want to use for your report, you can start by selecting a specific dataset.

1. Go to the Home page or Data Catalog page, then click CREATE REPORT.

2. Decide which dataset you want to start with.

3. Find the dataset you want to start with:

   • Enter the name or description of the dataset in the search box.
   • Select filters in the toolbar:
     • Source Type: Filter by the type of data source: database, Salesforce, or web service.
     • Source Name: Filter by the name of the data source.

4. Click the dataset:

   

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5. Next, edit the report data.

Selecting a dataset for your report

When you create a report, the dataset you select determines what data can be included in your report. You can include fields from the dataset you selected, and fields from related datasets.

You should decide what question you want your report to answer or what data you most need to see, then select your dataset accordingly. For example, let's say you have a Customers dataset and an Orders dataset, where the Customers dataset has a one-to-many relationship with Orders (each customer can have many orders).

To decide which dataset to use in this scenario, think of the question you want the report to answer:

• Select the Customers dataset (the "one" side) if you want to know which customers have spent the most money on orders.
• Select the Orders dataset (the "many side") if you want to see how many orders have been placed in the last month.

On the DATASETS tab, you can learn more about datasets by hovering over the vendor logos. The following image highlights the elements that make up a dataset:

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#	Element
1	The primary data source represented by the vendor logo. In the example above, the Appian logo represents the Appian Cloud database. You can hover over the logo to see the source type and the source name.
2	The number of rows in the dataset.
3	The number of data sources included in the dataset. This number includes the primary data source.
4	The data source of any additional data in the dataset, grouped by vendor. Only the unique vendor logos will display here. You can hover over each logo to see which data comes from each source.

Design, filter, and sort report data

After you've created a report with AI Copilot, starting from a dataset, or using the guided experience, you can start customizing the report.

You can choose whether the fields in the report display in a grid, chart, or KPI. You can also dataset filters to determine which data is visible in the report. Then, you can aggregate, sort, and format the data to best fit your business needs.

For example, you can quickly build a stacked bar chart with multiple data points, and add a color scheme.

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Next, add interactive elements to your report, or share the report with your colleagues.

Add interactive elements

Every chart in a custom report is interactive. By default, you can click on sections of the chart to quickly filter the report data.

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You can also add more design elements that let report viewers interact with the data and take action from the context of the report.

These design elements include:

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#	Design Element	Description
1	Quick Filters	Display interactive filters on a report so report viewers can filter the data to best fit their needs. User filters configured on the record type are not available in reports in Process HQ.
2	Actions	Display record actions from the base record type in a grid header.
3	Link to Row Details	Displays a link to the record’s summary view in a grid. This option will only provide links to records in the base record type; it cannot provide links to related records. The summary view page is determined by the default start page configured in the Admin Console.
4	Show Export or Download Button	Depending on the selected design: Displays an export to Excel button on a grid design. The data will download as a .xlsx file. Displays an image download button on a chart design. The image will download as a PNG file.
5	Drilldown Reports	Select a Drilldown Report that's based on the same dataset. When users click a section of the chart, they'll see the selected drilldown report with the data filtered by the section of the chart they clicked.

Next, save and share the report with your colleagues.

Create a dashboard

Report creators can create dashboards using the reports available to them. Available reports include reports you've created and those your colleagues have shared with you. System administrators can create dashboards using any report in Process HQ.

To create a dashboard:

1. Go to the Home page.
2. Click CREATE DASHBOARD in the header. Process HQ creates the dashboard with the default name, My Dashboard.
3. (Optional) Rename the dashboard and add a description:
   1. Click the pencil icon next to the dashboard name.
   2. Edit the Name field.
   3. Enter a brief description in the Description field.
   4. Click UPDATE.
4. Add reports and processes to the dashboard.
5. Save the dashboard by clicking SAVE in the header.
6. (Optional) Share the dashboard with your colleagues.

Add a report or process to a dashboard

Report creators must have Editor access to a dashboard to edit that dashboard, as well as Viewer access to any reports or process KPIs they want to add to the dashboard.

System administrators can edit any dashboard and add any report to the dashboard, but must have Viewer access to a process KPI to add the KPI to a dashboard.

To add a report or process to a dashboard:

1. Create a dashboard, or view an existing a dashboard and click EDIT DASHBOARD in the header.

2. Drag a report you want to add from the REPORTS tab or drag a process KPI from the PROCESSES tab, and drop it onto the dashboard.

   Tip:  Process KPIs should only be added to dashboards that will stay in the current environment. Dashboards with process KPIs cannot be deployed to other environments.

3. Continue designing the dashboard:
   • To replace a report or process KPI already present in the dashboard, drag a new report or KPI and drop it over the report or KPI you want to replace.
   • To add rows or columns to the dashboard, drag a report or process KPI next to an existing report or KPI until the insertion bar appears, then drop it on the bar.
   • To rearrange the layout of the dashboard, drag and drop reports and KPIs using the insertion bar.
4. Click SAVE in the header.
5. (Optional) Share the dashboard with your colleagues.

Edit report or dashboard properties

Report creators must have Editor access to a report or dashboard to edit properties for the report or dashboard. System administrators can edit any report or dashboard properties in Process HQ.

To edit the properties of a report or dashboard:

1. Go to the LIBRARY section of the Home page.
2. Next to the report or dashboard, click the three-dot menu .
3. Click Edit Properties.
4. In the Edit Properties dialog:
   • For Name, enter a name for the report or dashboard.
   • For Description, enter a brief description of the report or dashboard.
5. Click SAVE.

Duplicate a report

Report creators must have Editor access to a report duplicate that report. System administrators can duplicate any report.

To duplicate a report:

1. Go to the LIBRARY section of the Home page.
2. Next to the report, click the three-dot menu , then Duplicate.
3. In the Duplicate dialog:
   • For Name, enter a name for the report.
   • For Description, enter a brief description of the report.
4. Click CREATE.

When you duplicate a report, the new report will only be available to you. You must share the new report to allow other users to view it.

Share a report or dashboard

Report creators must have Editor access to a report to share that report. System administrators can share any report.

Keep in mind that sharing a report or dashboard gives the user access to that report or dashboard, but data won't display in the report or dashboard unless the user also has access to the underlying datasets.

To share a report or dashboard:

1. Click SHARE in the header of the report or dashboard. The Share dialog displays.

   For example:

   

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   Tip:  You can also share a report or dashboard from the LIBRARY section of the Home page. Simply click the three-dot menu for the report or dashboard, then click Share.

2. Add new users or groups:

   1. In the Add User or Group field, search for a user or group to add.

   Tip:  To share with all users, select the Process HQ Users group.

   1. Use the dropdown list to assign the user access level.
   2. Click ADD. The Users or Groups with Access section updates.
3. Edit an existing access assignment:
   1. In the Users or Groups with Access section, find the user or group you want to edit.
   2. Use the dropdown list to assign a new access level, or remove a user or group by clicking the X next to that user or group.
4. Click SAVE.

Favorite a report or dashboard

Report creators or system administrators can favorite any report or dashboard for quick access. The reports and dashboards you add as favorites display in the FAVORITES tab of the LIBRARY section of the Home page.

To favorite a report or dashboard:

1. Go to the LIBRARY section of the Home page. The All tab is active by default.

2. In the library list, click the Add to Favorites icon for the report or dashboard you want to favorite.

   For example:

   

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Delete a report or dashboard

Report creators must have Owner access to delete a report or dashboard. System administrators can delete any report or dashboard.

To delete a report or dashboard:

1. Go to the LIBRARY section of the Home page.
2. Next to the report or dashboard, click the three-dot menu .
3. Select Delete.
4. In the Delete dialog, click DELETE.

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