Custom reports
A Custom Report is a customised Microsoft Excel report template. You can use this to generate your own reports on the data in your InfoWorks WS Pro database.
Simulation results can also be exported to Excel via the Custom Report.
Custom Reports are managed in the same way as many other objects in the Master Database. A Custom Report is stored in a Custom Report Group, so you must create a group first.
The Custom Report is based on a Microsoft Excel file. When the report is first created it must be associated with an existing template. There is a basic example included in the Template directory (below your InfoWorks WS Pro install directory) for this purpose. Files of type .xls, .xlsx or .xlsm may be used as a template. When using versions of Excel 2007 and later: .xls and .xlsx report templates will generate .xlsx reports and .xlsm templates will generate .xlsm reports.
Once the Excel file is associated with a Custom Report, a copy is saved in the Master Database and you can work with this copy from then on. This makes the reports fully portable.
New reports can be created by:
- copying an existing report in the Master Database and then editing the underlying Excel file
- going back to an external Excel file template
It is beyond the scope of this guide to explain how to customise the Excel template. When a report is created, the InfoWorks WS Pro data is exported to Excel in a standard format. The best way to see this is to create a simple report and view the results. It is up to you to set up the template to carry out whatever analysis is required on this data. The possibilities are only limited by the features of Excel and your skill in using them.
Creating a New Custom Report
You can create a new custom report by using the Master Database tools to copy an existing custom report.
To create a report from scratch you need an Excel file to base it on. A simple example is included in your InfoWorks WS Pro installation.
- Right click the Custom Report Group and choose New | Custom Report from the context menu
- Give the new custom report a name
- Double click the new report, or drag it onto the background, to open it. The Custom Report dialog will be displayed.
- From the Custom Report dialog, Select the Excel template to be associated with the custom report and the location to which the generated report is to be saved.
- The option to Open the associated template for editing is also available from the Custom Report dialog. Click Save to save any changes and to save the Excel template to the Master Database.
Editing an Existing Custom Report
- Double click the report, or drag it onto the background, to open it. The Custom Report dialog will be displayed.
- Click Open to open the underlying Excel template file for editing. A temporary file is created on your computer for this purpose.
- When you have finished making your changes, remember to click Save to write them back to the Master Database.
Generating Custom Reports
To generate a custom report:
- Drag the custom report from the Model Group window or Explorer window and drop it on to a network. This displays the Choose Objects dialog.
- Choose the data source type for the report. You can report on:
- the entire network
- the current selection
- Click OK to continue. The report will be saved in accordance with the options selected in the Custom Report dialog.
- InfoWorks WS Pro then opens the report file in Excel.
If you drag the custom report into a network with simulation results, the results will also be exported to the report file. An extra worksheet containing simulation results will be included in the Excel spreadsheet for each type of object.
