Reports

Reports are used for data mining and analysis of your organizations Things, Messages, Events, and other business data managed on the ThingTech platform. Reports are organized into four (4) sets of folders:

Standard Reports: ThingTech is installed with a set of Standard reports. Standard reports will vary based on the specific package used as a template for your ThingTech deployment. See Standard Reporting Packagesfor more details.

Custom Reports: ThingTech may be deployed with a custom report template for reports that require a specific, custom report format. If you’re ThingTech solution contains a custom report, it will be available here.

Cloned Reports: Standard Reports can not be edited and saved. However, users can Clone Standard reports and then edit. Any reports that are cloned will appear here.

Class Reports: ThingTech users can create Ad-Hoc reports for specific Things, custom filters, date ranges, and more. Any Ad-Hoc reports will be saved under the Class folder to which the report pertains. Note: Only users with a role of Admin can write Ad-Hoc reports.

The reporting user interface is broken down into three (3) main sections:

Report Menu: This contains the report folders for Standard, Custom, Clone, and Ad-Hoc reports.

Report Filter Parameters: This contains the report parameters such as Filters, Time Range, Scheduling options, etc.

Report Results: This section contains the report results when a report has been run.

Note: Admins will be able to create Ad-Hoc Reports. To do so, click ‘New Report’ button in the top left of the screen.

Report Functionality

Although Standard, Custom, and Cloned reports offer slightly different functionality. There is a common set of functions shared across all reports types. Note: Not all reports will contain all functionality.

Filters

When creating Ad-Hoc Reports, Admins will have the option to add data filters to the report before the report returns results. To add a data filter, an Admin user would have clicked ‘New Report’ and selected the ‘Class’ of data they wish to report on. After selecting ‘Class’, ThingTech will present the user with options to filter the report results based on any of the data attributes contained on that ‘Class’ of records. The report will only contain results that match the filters selected.

Time Range

When running Standard, Custom, or Ad-Hoc reports on data that is ‘Time Series’ - i.e. the data is created and stored with a timestamp, Users will have the option to filter the report results based on a Time Range. To do so, the user selects the ‘Time Range’ button in the Report Parameters section. The user can select from the pre-defined ‘Relative’ time values or ‘Absolute’ to select a begin and end date. The report will only contain results that match the Time Range filter selected.

Geo Query

When running Standard, Custom, or Ad-Hoc reports on data that contains a Geography - i.e. the data is created and stored with a geocoded field - users will have the option to filter the report results based on a Geography. Note: This filter is mostly limited to Things, Messages, and Events.

To do so, the user selects the ‘Geo Query’ button in the Report Parameters section. The user can select from the pre-defined Geofences stored in ThingTech, or can draw a custom polygon before running the report. The report will only contain results that match the Geography filter selected.

Schedule Report

User may schedule reports to run and delivered to a user or set of users on a predetermined schedule. When this option is selected, users are emailed a link at the scheduled time. To view the results, the user follows the link provided to view the snapshot of the data. 

To schedule a report for delivery, a user will edit the Report Parameters and make selections in two (2) sections:

Notifications: Select the users who will receive the report.

Edit Schedule: Select the frequency with which users will receive the report results

Notes: 

When viewing report results from a scheduled report, users are viewing reporting results at the time when the report was run. if the user views the report hours or days later, the report results may have changed since the time the report was run.

When scheduling a report containing Time Series data, make sure the report is using a ‘Relative’ Time Range for best results. Choosing an ‘Absolute’ Time Range will return the same results each time the report is delivered.

Add / Remove Columns to / from Report

After a report has returned results, a user may wish to refine the data that is displayed on the report. To do so when in Grid view, select ‘Fields’ in top right corner of Report Results menu bar.

The user can then select or un-select any data attribute presented in the report to add or remove it from the report. In addition, a user may reroder the columns by dragging and dropping the columns in the ‘Fields’ popup box.

When in ‘Chart View’, select ‘Fields’ in top right corner of Report Results menu bar. The user can then use the ‘Fields’ popup box to edit the ‘Rows’ table.

Add Fields: Add fields from the fields list on left side of popup box. Note: The user can search for any field using the search function. Drag the field into the ‘Rows’ table to add it to the report.

Remove Fields: To remove fields, drag the field from the ‘Rows’ table to the ‘Fields’ list on the left side of the popup box.

Reorder Fields: To reorder fields, drag and drop fields within the ‘Rows’ table.

Filtering and Sorting within Report Results

After a report has returned results, it is often useful to further refine the data set. To do so when in ‘Grid View’,  users may click the ‘gear’ icon at the top of any column displayed on the grid.  

After selecting the gear icon in the ‘grid view’, the user can search, select the data results to display, and press ‘Apply’. The reporting results will update and the user can make further refinements, save the report, or export the report.

In addition, to sort the report use the ‘Sort AZ or ZA’ function to sort ascending or descending. Note: Sorting the report will order the data in both Grid and Chart views.

To filter when in ‘Chart view’, users may click the ‘Filter’ icon in the top right corner of the Chart. The user can then select the ‘gear’ icon next to the data attribute they wish to filter on. The user can filter on multiple data attributes, but may only filter on data attributes included in the report results set. Therefore, to filter on another data attribute the user must first add it to the report by adding the field to the report.

Reorder Column Headers

Users may reorder column headers when viewing data in ‘Grid View’ by clicking the column header and dragging the column to the desired location on the grid.

Reordering columns may be useful for displaying similar data together or displaying more important data before less important data. Reordering columns may also be useful to achieve the desired Chart Visualization. The first column of in the Grid view will serve as the primary X-Axis in any Chart display in Chart Mode. Therefore, to display data with a different x-Axis, drag the desired data point to the first column in the grid and then click Chart to view the data according.

A Chart’s x-Axis can also be updated in Chart View. To do so:

Select ‘Fields’ in top right menu bar when in Chart view

Reorder fields in the ‘Rows’ table

Search for fields to add to the ‘Rows’ table using the Fields list on left side of pop up box.

Toggle Chart Metrics

Some reports will contain multiple ‘Metrics’ that can be viewed in Chart View. A Metric is a calculated field - most often a sum of a numeric value in the report. For example, Total # of Events, Total Distance, Total Duration, etc. 

When analyzing data in ‘Chart View’, users can easily toggle between metrics to get a full view of the data. To do so, select the ‘drop down’ box in the top left corner of the ‘Chart View’ to select from the available metrics.

Drill Through Charts

When analyzing data in ‘Chart View’, users can drill through the Chart to view a grid of data underpinning the Chart. To do so, double click on any part of the Chart to view the underlying data.

The user can then view the ‘Details’ popup box containing a grid of data. The grid will summarize the ‘Metric’ displayed on the Chart and present the full details of all records associated with the metric.

Export Report

All data presented in Grid View or Chart View can be exported to view and share outside of the ThingTech application. To do so, click ‘Export’ in the top menu of the Report Results window. 

Note: When in ‘Grid View’, the exported results will include the full details of the report. When in ‘Chart View’ the export will include an image of the chart.

Standard Reporting Packages

The ThingTech application is deployed with a package of standard reports. Below are details of the various standard reporting packages available in ThingTech.

Vehicle Tracking and Telematics

The standard reports in the ThingTech Vehicle Tracking and Telematics reporting package include:

  • Vehicle Inventory

  • Device Summary

  • Message Summary

  • Trip Details

  • Harsh Driving Details

  • Geofence Events by Vehicle

  • Excessive Speed vs. Posted Speed Details

  • Excessive Speed Details

  • Device Disconnected Details

  • Idle Details

  • Event Summary

  • Stationary Vehicle Details