Configuring Report Templates Using Report Editor

You can use the Report Editor application to set up new report templates. Report Editor lets you select a predefined report type, report format, statistics you want to display, and configuration files. You can also add descriptive text in the header and footer fields. You can save the information in a report template or *.rt file that you then use to generate reports with Trend Reporter.

Launching Report Editor

To setup new report templates or edit existing ones, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch TrafficDirector if you have not already done so.

Step 2 Select the Admin radio button.

Step 3 Click the Report Editor icon.

The Report Editor window opens (Figure 41-1).

Figure 41-1: Report Editor Window

Step 4 Do either of the following:

• Create a new report template. See "Creating New Report Templates."

• Edit an existing report template. See "Editing Report Templates."

Report Types, Templates, and Formats

When you use Report Editor to create and modify report templates, you need to know the difference between report types and templates, understand available format and output options, and learn about some of the special parameters you can apply to affect the reports you generate.

You can display and select report types in a report editor by clicking the button to the right of the Type field. The Select Report Type list box opens (Figure 41-2).

Figure 41-2: Select Report Type List Box

The Segment reports including multisegment history, multisegment summary, segment history, and segment summary are available for use with four different topologies: Ethernet, WAN, Token Ring, and FDDI. Use Mix reports generate reports on up to 20 segments of mixed topologies, or for a switch with ports of different topologies.

Report Formats

Depending on the report you select, you can choose from several different report formats.

ASCII	Information is displayed as alphanumeric and numeric text in columns and rows. Select this format when you are using the information as a standalone report.
Chart	Information is displayed in graphical format with a corresponding legend. Select this format when you are using the information as a standalone report.
CSV (comma separated value)	Information is displayed as alphanumeric and numeric text in strings, with values separated by commas. Select this format when you import the information into a spreadsheet type application.
TSV (tab separated value)	Information is displayed as alphanumeric and numeric text in strings, with values separated by a tab character. Select this format when you import the information into a spreadsheet type application.

Understanding Configuration Files

Configuration files are text files that you define that contain special information or parameters that control the display and output of your reports. A configuration file can be one of the following types:

Department files	Map IP addresses to departments within your organization to which the hosts belong to.
Tariff files	Specify the currency and billing rate for kilobytes; used to process billing report data into meaningful cash values.
Domain files	For protocol distribution reports, default to the domtree.inf file.
Config files	Include any existing report template (*.rt) files or configuration files that you create that contain report defining parameters. When specified, the additional config file parameters are applied to the report output.

Defining Exception Reports

An exception report is a report that shows you, for the statistic you specify, only the instances of that above or below a set value that you specify. For example, you can define an exception report that shows you only utilization above 85 percent, or a packet rate greater than 1000 per second. You can only define exception statistics for the multisegment history report type. You define exception reports in Report Editor by selecting a single statistic, and the value above or below a certain point. See the "Creating New Report Templates" section.

Creating New Report Templates

The Report Editor application makes it easy to display and select available report template variables. For each different report type, the available format, statistic, and display variables may vary. When you select a predefined report type, the variable fields that do not apply to that report type are dimmed.

To create new report template files, take the following steps.

Step 1 Launch the Report Editor application. See "Launching Report Editor."

Step 2 To select a predefined report type, do the following:

• Click the button to the right of the Type field to display the Select Report Type list box.

• Select a report type and click OK.

Step 3 To change the report title select the text in the title field, click Delete and enter a new title.

Step 4 Enter any descriptive text in the Header1, Header2, and Footer fields.

Step 5 Select the report format by doing the following:

• Click the button to the right of the Report Format field to display the Select Report Format Type list box.

• Highlight a report, and click OK. Note that the list of available formats may vary for some report types.

Step 6 For multisegment report types, select the statistic you want the report to display by doing the following:

• Click the button to the right of the View Stat field to display the Select Statistics list box.

• Select a statistic variable and click OK. Note that the list of available statistics changes for different topologies.

Step 7 For host and conversation report types, do the following:

• Click the button to the right of the Sort Stat field. Highlight a statistic and click OK.

• Enter the number (1-50) of hosts that you want to include in this report in the TopN field.

Step 8 Do the following to define exception values for the report (segment and multisegment report types only):

• Click the button to the right of the Exception Stat field.

• Select a variable and click OK.

• Select either greater than or less than by clicking the option menu to the right of the Exception Stat field.

• Enter a value in the Value field.

Step 9 Do the following to specify an additional configuration file to use when the report is generated:

• To specify a department file, click the button to the right of the Department File field, select a file you want from the Department File window, then click OK.

• To specify a tariff file, click the button to the right of the Tariff File field, select a file from the Tariff File window. Highlight the file that you want and, then click OK.

• To specify a configuration file, click the button to the right of the Config File field and select the file you want from those displayed in the Config File window. Highlight the file that you want and click OK.

Step 10 Select File>Save As or click the floppy disk icon.

Step 11 Do the following:

• Enter a filename in the File Name field. Use dashes or underscores, but do not use spaces.

• Click Save.

The report template is saved. You can now use the template to generate reports in Trend Reporter.

Editing Report Templates

The Report Editor application makes it easy to display and select available report template variables. For each different report type, the available format, statistic, and display variables may vary. When you select a predefined report type, the variable fields that do not apply to that report type are dimmed. You can use the Save As option to make a copy of a report template. Do not make any changes to any of the predefined report template files --copy them first before you make any modifications.

To edit a report template file, take the following steps:

Step 1 Launch the Report Editor application. See "Launching Report Editor."

Step 2 Select File>Open or click the open file icon.

The Load dialog opens (Figure 41-3).

Figure 41-3: Load Dialog

Step 3 Select a report template file and click open.

The parameters for the report template file are displayed in the Report Editor window.

Step 4 To change the report type, do the following:

• Click the button to the right of the Type field to display the Select Report Type list box.

• Select a report type and click OK.

Step 5 To change the report title select the text in the title field, click Delete, then enter a new title.

Step 6 To change the text in the Header1, Header2, and Footer fields, select the text, click Delete, then enter the text that you want.

Step 7 To change the report format, do the following:

• Click the button to the right of the Report Format field to display the Select Report Format Type list box.

• Highlight a report and click OK. Note that the list of available formats may change for some predefined report types.

Step 8 For multisegment reports, do the following to select the statistic you want to display:

• Click the button to the right of the View Stat field to display the Select Statistics list box.

• Select a statistic variable and click OK. Note that the list of available statistics changes for different topologies.

Step 9 For host and conversation report types, do the following:

• Click the button to the right of the Sort Stat field.

• Select a sort order statistic from the Select Sort Statistics list box and click OK.

• Enter the number (1-50) of hosts that you want to include in this report in the Top N field.

Step 10 For multisegment history reports, do the following to define exception values for the report:

• Click the button to the right of the Exception Stat field.

• Select a variable from the Select Filter Statistics list box and click OK.

• Select either greater than or less than by clicking the toggle bar to the right of the Exception Stat field.

• Enter a value in the Value field.

Step 11 Do the following to specify an additional configuration file to use when the report is generated:

• To specify a department file, click the button to the right of the Department File field and select a file from Department File window, then click OK.

• To specify a tariff file, click the button to the right of the Tariff File field, select a file from the Tariff File window, then click OK.

• To specify a domain file, click the button to the right of the Domain File field, and select a file from the Domain File window, then click OK.

• To specify a configuration file, click the button to the right of the Config File field, select a file from the Config File window then click OK.

Step 12 To save the report template file, do one of the following:

• To save the changes to the existing file, select File>Save or click the floppy disk icon.

or

• To save this report template to a new file, select File>Save As and enter the file name in the File Name field. You can specify up to 15 characters--on Windows platforms, the first eight characters must be unique. Use dashes or underscores, but not spaces.

Step 13 Click Save.