Display style and summary options are available for each column of data you pull into a report. These can fine-tune the appearance and behavior of your data.
To access a column properties, click the green gear box in the upper right corner of the data column's header. The column's properties box will open.
Data Style
To adjust the properties for any column in your report, click the gear box in the upper right hand corner of the column. This will open the Column Properties window.
Each column is automatically named after the field as it is listed on the form. To edit this, click into the text box and type in a new name for your column.
Depending on the type of data in your column (such as text or numbers), you will have different options for Data Style and Display.
Expand the black arrow next to Formatting to see cosmetic options for your column data.
Expand the black arrow next to Form Info to display the name of the form, the section and the field.
When you have made your selections, click "Apply." If you have added this column by mistake, "Delete" will remove it from your report.
Data Style options can vary depending on the type of data your column contains. Here we see the options available for a Date column:
Normal: this is the default setting for a date column and shows the date in DD/MM/YYYY style.
Month: Displays the name of the month.
Month and Day: Displays the name of the month and the day. For example: October 8.
Month and Year: Displays the name of the month and year. For example: October 2014
Quarter: Displays the quarter as "Quarter 1," "Quarter 2," etc.
Quarter and Year: Displays the name of the quarter and the year. For example: Quarter 4, 2014
Age: calculates the years between the date in the column and today's date. This is useful for calculating a client's age if you only have their date of birth.
Days Ago: counts the number of days between the date in the column and today's date. Ideal for a date field that contains dates that have already passed.
Days from Now: counts the number of days between today's date and the date in the column. Ideal for a date field that contains a future date.
Day of Month: Displays the day of the month. For example: 8.
Day of Week: Displays the name of the day.
Week of Year: Displays the week of the year. For example: 41.
Year: Displays the year only.
Summary
Summary styles show information at the bottom of a column of data.
No Summary: column data will not be summarized.
Earliest: The earliest date in this column will be listed at the bottom.
Latest: The latest date in this column will be listed at the bottom.
Count Distinct: The number of distinct or unique values in this column will be totaled at the bottom.
Group By This Column
Selecting "Yes" will create a line of data for each unique value in that column, with record results for that value which can be viewed when expanding the down arrow of a group.
+ When Summary Options Change
In some cases, if you change the data style for your column of data, new summary options will become available.
You'll see this green text appear: "Data Style changed - Click here to refresh."
Click the green text or refresh your browser window. After it reloads, open the column gear box again and you will be able to see your new available summary styles.
Summary Options available for numeric data include:
Total: adds the values.
Average: averages the values
Average No Zeroes: averages the values without counting any zero or null values.
Minimum: displays the minimum value.
Maximum: displays the maximum value.
Count Distinct: counts the number of distinct or unique values.
+Grouping
Another Column property that can be useful in organizing your data is grouping. To access this feature, open the column gear box, and under "Group by This Column," select "yes."
Here we have grouped by the column called "Last". The available answers are the Participants' last names. The data is now organized into groups, a separate group for each unique last name.
We now get a row count for each "Grouping."
Note: Groupings are limited to 4 per report section. If you need to group on more than 4 columns, we suggest splitting the outermost grouping into report sections of their own.
Formatting Options
The Formatting section of the column properties is where cosmetic changes can be managed.
Sort order: Choose "Ascending" or "Descending." This can be useful if you need to order date values or put names in alphabetical order.
Hidden: This will hide your column when it is run. It will still appear in the Report Builder, but this column gear box will be grayed out. This can be useful if you are including calculations in your report and would like to hide the columns that are necessary to create the final calculations.
Width: You can set a width for your column up to 440 pixels. The minimum width of a column depends on the width of the data in it.
Alignment: Justifies the column title and contents.
Font Style: Sets the column title and contents to the selected style.
Color: Changes the column title and contents. Color choices are dependent on which browser you are using (Chrome, Firefox, etc.)