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Reports Side Pane

Tekla Structures
Not version-specific
Tekla Structures
reports
report side pane
Reporting
Environment
United States (Imperial)
United States (Metric)

1. Purpose and description

The Reports Side Pane tool allows the user to select multiple reports and generate them at the same time.  The reports can quickly be filtered and organized into folders using this new interface making it easier and faster to generate reports.  The file path for where the reports will be generated can also be defined.

2. System requirements

Environments: Default
Languages: English

3. Installation

To install the application:

  1. Make sure Tekla Structures is closed.
  2. Run the installation package. Download from the Tekla Warehouse.
  3. Reopen Tekla Structures once installation is complete and you will see:

     

    Image
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  4. A new "Reports" icon will appear on the main user interface side pane.
  5. To open the tool, click the "Reports" icon

4. Interface

Image
Main_Dialog.png

4.1 Main Interface

  1. Use this load saved attributes.  To create new attributes, click in this box and type a new name.  Then click Save.
  2. Use this to save new attributes.  When attributes are saved, a *.rsbo will be created in the attributes folder of the model folder.  This can be placed in a firm or project folder.
  3. To filter the list of reports, start typing in this field and then press enter when finished.  To remove the filtered infomration click the gray 'X' in the search field.
  4. Click this to open the Options Dialog.  See section 5 for more detailed information.
  5. Once the reports have been selected, click this to create the reports from all the objects in the model.
  6. Once the reports have been selected, click this to create the reports from the selected objects in the model.
  7. Click this to show any highlighted reports in the list.  These reports will appear if they have been previously created.
  8. Click this to print the selected reports.  Note: If your default printer is a PDF printer this will not work.

4.2 Addtional Features

  1. By clicking on the triangle to the left of the folder you can expand or collapse the tree view.  By right clicking on the "Ungrouped Items" folder you can: 
  • Expand All
  • Collapse All
    Image
    snap06083.png
  1. By right clicking in the white background space you can:
  • Expand All - This will expand the tree view to show all the reports available.
  • Collapse All   - This will collapse all the reports in the tree view so that you only see the main groups.
  • Create a New Group - This will allow you to create new groups to organize your reports.

     

    Image
    snap06083.png
  1. If a new group has been created you can click on the name of the new group to edit the name.  You can also right click on the any created group to create a New sub-group, Delete group, Expand all, or Collapse all.  You can then drag an drop any reports from the list into the desired group or sub-group.
  • If the tree view is customized, a ReportsTreeView.rsbtg will be created in the attributes folder of the model folder.  This can be placed in a firm or project folder.

     

    Image
    snap06084.png
    Note: You can drag a sub-grouped folder to the white space to the left of the folder in order to ungroup it from the parent folder.
  1.  By right clicking on any report in the list you will have the option to:
  • Show Report - If the report has been created, the report will be opened with the defined report viewer.
  • Edit Report Template - This will open the report in the Template Editor.  Please note that this may take a few extra seconds to open.
  • Delete Report Template - This will delete this report from your computer.  i.e. Sent to the Recycle Bin.
  • Hide Report - This will hide reports from the list.  A ReportsExcludeList.xml will be created in the attributes folder of the model folder.  This can be placed in a firm or project folder.  Note: The reports visible have already been pre-filtered from the variable XS_ATTRIBUTE_FILE_EXCLUDE_LIST.  These reports are excluded and are different from 'hidden' because the only way to turn them on to to remove them from this advanced option.  For more information regarding this Advanced Option please click here.

5. Options Dialog

Image
Options_Dialog.png
  1. Use this load saved attributes.  To create new attributes, click in this box and type a new name.  Then click Save.
  2. Use this to save new attributes.  When attributes are saved, a *.rsbo will be created in the attributes folder of the model folder.  This can be placed in a firm or project folder
  3. Title 1 - Use this value field to include the text for Title 1.  Some reports use these fields to hide/show additional information in the output of the report.
  4. Title 2 - Use this value field to include the text for Title 1.  Some reports use these fields to hide/show additional information in the output of the report.
  5. Title 3 - Use this value field to include the text for Title 1.  Some reports use these fields to hide/show additional information in the output of the report.
  6. Batch Name - Use this to create multiple reports on same object(s) and rename dynamically. You can report properties in value that get pulled from selected when report is run. Report variable names in curly brackets are replace with each selected object report value, limited to string type. Requires "Batch Process" check box checked to work.
    •  E.g. {REPORT_NAME} - {ASSEMBLY_POS} => Assembly BOM - C1, Assembly BOM - C2, etc...
  7. Prefix - The text added here will be used as a prefix to the report name when the report is generated.
  8. Suffix - The text added here will be used as a suffix to the report name when the report is generated.
  9. Show Hidden Reports - Check this option to view the reports that have been hidden from the tree view.  When reports are hidden, a ReportsExcludeList.xml will be created in the attributes folder of the model folder.
  10. Allow system repots to be deleted - Option that removes/shows option in context menu for reports to be deleted based on if they are part of system installation folder
  11. Batch Process - Creates multiple reports at same time for selected object(s) in the model. Name is created from "Batch Name" text box values.
  12. Append Date - If you wish the date/time to be included in the report name when it is being generated check this option.  If the option is checked you can edit the value field to the right to determine the date/time formatting.  See this website for further details and a list of the options available. https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/8kb3ddd4.aspx
    • For example:
      • "{0:g}" will output 6-21-2016 8_16 AM
      • "{0:MMMM dd, yyyy}" will output June 21, 2016
      • "{0:ddd d MMM}" will output Tue 21 Jun
  13. Overwrite Report - Check this option if you wish to overwrite an existing report that has already been created.
  14. Display Report - Check this option if you want to display the reports once they have been generated.
  15. External Viewer - When this option is checked it will open the generated reports with an external viewer instead of using Tekla's internal report viewer.  For example, if your default program to open a .csv file is Microsoft Excel and you generated a .csv report with this option checked, the report would open in Micrsoft Excel.
  16. Output Option - Use this to defined where the reports should be stored once they are generated.  You can click the the dots to the right to browse to a folder location.  The Folder icon will open the currently selected file path.  The default location for reports to be stored is in the Reports folder in the current model folder.


 

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