Overview

Reports when produced can be very time-consuming especially if you are scanning the whole database with no filters. To avoid the need to extract out all data from Paradigm in favour of targeting just the records that are desired, Report Builder will allow you to add filter clauses. This is both to minimise the time taken to generate a report and also to remove the need for manually editing (removing rows) from the output before it is ready to support business decision-making.

Key Terms and Concepts

Equals (=)

For this operator, the data within the column name has to be an exact match.

Example 1

“Postal Code” = 3153 (only records with the exact match (3153) will be returned in the data set)

Example 2

“Course Accredited” = YES (only records with the exact match (YES) will be returned in the data set)

Not Equal !=

For this operator, the data within the column name can not be an exact match.

Example 1

“Postal Code” Not Equal ! = 3153 (records with every postcode OTHER than 3153 will be returned)

Greater Than (>)

Normally used for numeric values like date, and credit points. Return values greater than what has been set.

Example 1

“Start Date” Greater Than (>) 2020-01-01 (values returned will start after 2020-01-01)

Less Than (<)

Normally used for numeric values like date, and credit points. Return values less than what has been set.

Example 1

“Start Date” Less Than (<) 2020-01-01 (values returned before 2020-01-01)

Greater Than Equal To (>=)

Normally used for numeric values like date, credit points. Return values greater than and equal to what has been set.

Example 1

“Start Date” Greater Than Equal To (>=) 2020-01-01 (values returned will start from 2020-01-01)

Less Than Equal To (<=)

Normally used for numeric values like date, and credit points. Return values less than and equal to what has been set.

Example 1

“Start Date” Less Than Equal To (<=) 2020-01-01 (values returned on or before 2020-01-01)

In

IN is normally used when selecting predefined options from the drop-down box. You can also multi-select the values which you would want to be included in your clause.

NOTE:

In Paradigm, when you use this operator, you need to click the UPDATE FILTERS button first before you will see the options under the column Value.

Example 1

“Course Level” In Graduate (all records with a course level “Graduate” will be returned)

Example 2

“Course Level” In Graduate (all records with a course level “Graduate”, “Non-Award”, and “Graduate” will be returned)

Not In

NOT IN is normally used when selecting predefined options from the drop-down box, and it will choose which of the predefined options should be specifically excluded from the results. You can also multi-select the values which you would want to be included in your clause.

NOTE:

In Paradigm, when you use this operator, you need to click the UPDATE FILTERS button first before you will see the options under the column Value.

Example 1

“Course Level” Not In Graduate (all records with a course level “Graduate” will not be returned)

Example 2

“Course Level” Not In Graduate (all records with a course level “Graduate”, “Non-Award”, and “Graduate” will not be returned)

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Brackets

Putting your clause inside brackets (parentheses) will tell the system to assess the conditions or clauses inside the brackets first before evaluating the clauses outside of it.

Example

Conditions

AND

This will return all the data or information which are true for all conditions separated by AND.

Example

“Start Date” > 01/01/2019 AND “Course Enrolment Status Id” In ENROLLED

Output

Conditions allow for clauses to be joined together to form more complex filter clauses. e.g. “Start Date” > 01/01/2019 AND “Course Enrolment Status Id” In ENROLLED.

This will produce a list of students who have a start date greater than 01/01/2019 AND have a course enrolments status of enrolled. To appear in this data set the record must satisfy BOTH conditions. Or if more conditions are added using the AND condition the record has to meet all of the required criteria to be returned in the produced data set.

The example used for this report is the Centrelink report. This is a pre-saved report within the report builder

“Person Status’ IN Active AND

“Course Enrolment Status Id” IN Enrolled AND

“Overseas Student” NOT EQUAL Yes.

All three of these criteria have to be met for a record to appear within the data set produced for this report.

OR

This will return all the data or information which are true for any of the conditions separated by OR.

Example

“Start date” >01/01/2018 OR “Course Enrolment Status Id” in Enrolled

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Using the FILTER CLAUSES section

You can set the fields or parameters to be dynamically entered by the next user who will use your report by setting the last three column names under the FILTER CLAUSES section.

Appear On Form – when set to YES, the field will appear on the form for the user to enter a value each time the report is run
Form Label – will let you define the label or description of the field or value that you want the user to enter
Mandatory – when set to YES will require the user to enter a value to the field which is set as mandatory or required for it to run

Example Report (UNIT ENROLMENTS INVOICED WITH NO GRADES): take note of the Form Labels, Appear on Form, and Mandatory columns which are set to YES.

Report Form when run format: as a result of making the fields appear on the form and making them mandatory, the user will be prompted to enter the required values each time the report is generated

Utilising the BASE REPORT PARAMETERS section

You can also set the suggested or available parameters under this section if required for your reporting requirements. This is very helpful if you want the user to dynamically enter or change some of the dates on which the report will become required or needed.

The sample base report parameters below can be added and edited when using the Student Unit Enrolment Details base report.

Example

In the sample screenshot below, the Course Name field is set to Appear on Form and Mandatory under the FILTER CLAUSES section, while in the BASE REPORT PARAMETERS section, the field Unit Census Date is also being set to appear on the form.

With the sample scenario above, given that this report is saved under the Student type, once a user will run the report, those two fields (mandatory) will become part of the form and as set, the user can’t run the report if the two fields are not entered or set.

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Example Clause 1

(without configuring the report parameter screen):

Example Clause 2:

UNIT ENROLMENTS INVOICED WITH NO GRADES Report (with a report parameter screen configuration):

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Workflow

1 Click the to add a new filter clause. Your filter clause should be inside a (minus) sign row. In the first row, under the Bracket Open column, select a bracket if you are adding to add nested clauses, if not proceed to the Column Name field.

2 Select the field name that you want to add a filter clause to under the Column Name.

3 Select a comparison operator under the Operator column required for the field you chose under the Column Name (see above section (Navigation > Basic Filter Clause Operators) or the Complex Filter Clause Operators page for a definition of each possible operator you can use).

4 Enter the value you want for the column name to be true against the comparison operator selected.

5 Select a condition or logical operator (AND or OR) if you want to add another line of clause or condition (see above (Navigation > Nested Filters section).

6 Click the before the bracket column every time you add another filter clause or condition.

7 Once you’re done with adding all the required filter clauses you want for your report, click the UPDATE FILTERS button.

8 Proceed to the next page for the next workflow or instructions.

_{Introduction to Report Builder}_|_{Step 1 - Select a Base Report}_|_{Step 2 - Add and Remove Fields}_|_{Step 3 - Rename and Reorder Fields}_|_{Step 4 - Add Filter Clauses}_|_{Step 5 - Save Report}