¶ Documentation: Drill Through Reports/Forms in Planning
¶ Overview
The Link Report/Form feature in Planning allows you to create interactive drill-through connections between reports and forms. This powerful functionality enables users to navigate from data in one report/form to related detailed information in another report/form, with automatic filtering based on the selected data.
¶ Benefits of Linking Reports and Forms(Drill Through)
- Provides contextual navigation between related data views
- Creates a hierarchical analysis path for users to explore data
- Automates filtering of target reports/forms based on selected values
- Improves user experience by simplifying navigation between related data
- Enables the creation of sophisticated reporting workflows
¶ Prerequisites
- At least two reports or forms must exist in the system
- You must have permissions to edit reports and forms
¶ Setting Up Link Report/Form
¶ Step 1: Access the Report/Form Builder
- Navigate to the "Reports & Forms" section in the Planning application
- Select either the "Reports" or "Forms" tab
- Either create a new report/form or edit an existing one
- In the builder interface, locate the "Data Source Settings" section
¶ Step 2: Configure Link Report/Form Setting
- Find the "Link Report/Form" field in the Data Source Settings section
- Click on the dropdown field to see available reports and forms
- Select the report(s) or form(s) you want to link to the current report/form
- You can identify reports by their ID (e.g., "RP2 - Sales Form")
- You can link to multiple reports/forms if needed
- After selection, the linked report/form will appear in the field with a remove option (×)
¶ Step 3: Save Your Configuration
- Complete any other necessary configurations for your report/form
- Click "Save" icon to apply your changes
- The linking relationship is now established
¶ Using Linked Reports and Forms
¶ Accessing Linked Reports/Forms
When viewing a report or form with linked connections:
Right-click on any data row in your report/form
A context menu will appear with several options:
- Display
- Show Descriptions
- Drill Down
- Drill Through - This is your link to connected reports/forms
Hover over "Drill Through" to see a submenu of available linked reports/forms
Click on the desired linked report/form (e.g., "RP2")
¶ Automatic Filtering
When a user selects a linked report/form:
- The system navigates to the selected target report/form
- The row data from the source report/form is automatically passed as filters
- The target report/form opens with data filtered based on the selected row values
- This creates a seamless analytical flow between different views of related data
¶ Advanced Configuration Tips
¶ Effective Linking Strategies
- Detail to Summary: Link detailed transaction forms to summary reports
- Summary to Detail: Link summary reports to detailed views
- Related Dimensions: Link reports that share common dimensions
- Analysis Path: Create logical analysis paths through your data
- Workflow: Design form workflows where submissions in one form lead to another
¶ Contextual Linking
Consider the context in which users will navigate between reports and forms:
- Ensure that linked reports/forms provide meaningful related information
- Use descriptive naming for linked reports/forms to indicate their purpose
- Create a logical hierarchy or workflow for navigation
¶ Data Relationship Considerations
- Ensure the source and target reports/forms share at least one common dimension or field
- The shared field will be used as the filter when drilling through
- If multiple fields match between source and target, all matching fields will be used for filtering
¶ Examples of Effective Report/Form Linking
¶ Example 1: Sales Hierarchy
- A summary sales report linked to:
- Regional sales detail reports
- Product-specific sales forms
- Customer detail reports
¶ Example 2: Budget Process
- Budget submission form linked to:
- Budget approval form
- Budget vs. Actual report
- Historical budget comparison report
¶ Example 3: Inventory Analysis
- Inventory summary report linked to:
- Stock level detail form
- Reorder recommendation report
- Historical inventory movement reports
¶ Summary
The Link Report/Form feature creates powerful interactive capabilities in Planning by connecting related reports and forms. By implementing thoughtful linking strategies, you can create intuitive data exploration paths that guide users through complex data relationships, enhancing their analytical capabilities and improving overall user experience.