How to build reports in Reporting Intelligence Excel Add-in

Beginner

While the searchable knowledge base (KB) section of our online Help Center is a tremendous resource for anyone using Reporting Intelligence, the large amount of information it contains can be somewhat daunting to new users. This article directs you to some articles that most apply to the new user who maybe needs to know something about installing, configuring, and or creating that first report.

If you are interested in Training, Sample Reports, or other Resources available to you see Additional resources.

Creating Your First Reports

For many users, Reporting Intelligence is already installed and configured before they ever need to start.  So let's save installation and configuration for later in this article.  For now, let's look at creating your first report - starting with the available Wizards.

Wizards

1. Table Builder: The Reporting Intelligence Table Builder helps you create Excel tables. Once you have a table, you can then use Excel's Pivot Table features to slice and dice the data in that table to create a dazzling variety of reports. There is a lot of information about the Table Builder in our KB.  Probably the best place to start is with some videos that walk you through an introduction to the Table Builder and using its simple interface to create some very powerful communication tools. For more information on Table Builder, go to Reporting Intelligence Table Builder.
2. Report Builder: Sometimes, all the data you want is in a single table in your database. You can easily create very useful reports from a single table using the Report Wizard.
3. Reporting Intelligence Browser: The Reporting Intelligence Browser lets you use a simple drag-and-drop interface to create your reports. Unlike the Table Builder (which creates tables for use with Excel's Pivot capabilities), the Browser uses multiple Reporting Intelligence functions to create reports that are more flexible and are used without Pivot tables.

Other Techniques

1. Sample Reports

   A specialized Report Player application is available in two styles ( The Reporting Intelligence Report Player for Microsoft Dynamics NAV and the original Reporting Intelligence Report Player ) or you can download just the report files themselves. Each choice gives you access to a large number of reports that you can view and refresh.

2. For those users who prefer a more "hands on" approach, you can create your reports by typing the Reporting Intelligence functions by hand, or using the Reporting Intelligence Function Wizard ("Jfx") to help you. We have a series of five videos that walk you through the process of creating a report using a variety of powerful Reporting Intelligence features.

   Click here to see how to make "Grouping Reports" and learn how to create your reports by hand.

3. Reporting Intelligence Function Wizard and entering functions by hand

Installation and Configuration

Maybe Reporting Intelligence has *not* been installed and that's where you need to start. So, you'll need to be able download, install, and configure Reporting Intelligence.

Regardless of where you are in that process or what type of database you are needing to use with Reporting Intelligence, our Getting Started guide provides a one-stop location for all that information.