Introduction
This auto-report setting page is designed to manage automated report generation and distribution processes for project data. Users can configure the system to generate reports based on specific schedules, include relevant data sections, and deliver them to designated recipients in various formats (e.g., Excel, PDF).
The Auto-Report Setting Page can be accessed via: Click on the top left corner to open the setting side bar, click on ‘Automation’ tab, and then click on ‘Auto-Report Settings’ sub tab to access the page.
The description and functions of main sections on this page are explained in the following table:
Section Name | Description | Key Functions |
Auto-Report Setting Page | An Overview page to view and manage all the report generation tasks. | To view and manage different report generation tasks in different sections (generation schedule, report format and content, etc) |
Project Report Automation Job Section | A section to configure the general information and schedule of this report generation task. | To create, view and manage report generation tasks (task name, task detailed descriptions, task schedules, task is enabled or disabled). |
Automatic Report Items Section | A section allows users to configure the specific INSTRUMENT or STATION GROUPS that should be included in the automated report. | To add/delete instruments/station groups to be reported; to manage the exported format, the number of records/the time of records to be exported. |
Automatic Report Distribution Section | The Automatic Report Distribution section manages the delivery of generated reports to designated recipients. | It allows users to define distribution lists (recipients), customize email content, and specify how reports are shared. |
Auto-Report Viewing | This page provides an overview of the available reports for the project. | Users can browse, filter, and download reports generated within a specified time range. |
1. Project Report Automation Job Section
This section is designed to configure, manage, and monitor automated report generation for project data (e.g. report generation job name, job description, job schedules, and enable status).
1) How to create a report automation job
Create a new report automation job by the following steps:
Step 1: Navigate to the Project Report Automation Job section and click the New button located at the top-right of the interface.
Step 2: In the New Report Automation Job dialog box, fill in the fields as described below.
Job Name: Provide a meaningful name that reflects the purpose of the report.
Job Description: Add context about the report.
Job Schedule: Specifies how often and when the report will be generated.
Every Minute/Hours/Day/Month: Select to configure minutes, hours, days, months in each tab.
Time Interval: Let users specify the exact time of day the report should be generated, by typing in the field, such as ‘0 14 * * *’ represents 14:00 at every day, every week, every month.
Disabled: Determines whether the automation job is active or inactive. Tick this cell if you want to create the job in a disabled (inactive) state. Leave it unticked to enable the job immediately after creation.
Example: Schedule the report to be generated every month, every day, at 14:00 pm:
2) How to view, sort, filter
Viewing more information:
Bring up more column data by clicking on the column chooser ‘
’ at the top right corner, click on the data column you want to view, and drag it to the current category table to add it in and view the information.
ID: the ID number defined by the Geosens system as an identifier.
Created by: the email address of person who created this automation job will appear here.
Created on: the date and time when the person created this automation job will appear here.
Updated by: the email address of person who updated this automation job will appear here.
Updated on: the date and time when the person updated this automation job will appear here.
Sorting:
Sort categories alphabetically by clicking the column header, and an arrow will display next to the header and show ascending / descending order.
Filtering:
Filtering for any specific info by clicking on the filter icon ‘
’ right next to the column names. Search and click on the desired categories to filter and display those categories only, for better viewing purpose.
3) How to Edit/Delete existing report automation job
Edit or delete an existing report automation job by the following steps:
Step 1: Navigate to the Project Report Automation Job section, tick on an existing automation job, and click the ‘Edit’ / ‘Delete’ button located at the top-right of the interface.
Step 2: Make necessary changes and click on ‘Save’ to save all the adjustments.
2. Automatic Report Items Section
The Automatic Report Items section allows users to configure the specific INSTRUMENT or STATION GROUPS that should be included in the automated report. This section provides granular control over what information is retrieved, how it is formatted, and which sources are included in the report.
1) Add Auto-report items
Add existing instruments and/or station-groups into the selected automation job, to plot its data into the report.
Step 1: Tick to select an existing automation job, and navigate to the ‘Automatic Report Items’ section
Step 2: Click on ‘+New’ button to open a dialog and configure the new automatic report item.
In the pop-up dialog, fill in the following fields:
Instrument/Station-Group: Select whether the data source is based on an instrument or a station group.
Instrument / Station Type: Specifies the type of instrument / station-groups (e.g., monitoring/settlement).
Instrument / Station-Group Report Setting: Defines the plotting configuration for the selected instrument / station-group type.
Instrument / Station-Group Name: The name of the instrument / station-group associated with the data source. Select the specific instrument/ station group from the available options to plot its data.
Output Format: Choose the format(s) for the report (e.g., Excel, PDF, Excel and PDF). Specify how the report will be delivered to the recipients.
Sections Included: Select the data sections to include, such as Alarm Limits, Charts, Data Tables, Location Maps, Sketches, and Remarks. Use: Add or remove specific sections based on the report's purpose and audience.
Report Data Period Section
Last Number of Records: The most recent number of data records to include.
Last Number of Hours: The most recent hours of data to include. (E.g. “8760” for one year)
From Date-Time: Specify the start date and time for the data range to include in the report.
To Date-Time: Specify the end date and time for the data range to include in the report.
Time for Data Retrieval to Start and End Section
Start Time: The time of day when data retrieval begins. It is used to limit data to specific time windows within a day.
End Time: The time of day when data retrieval ends. It is used to limit data to specific time windows within a day.
Days Not Included in Data Period Count: Exclude certain days (e.g., weekends or holidays) from the reporting period. Select days to exclude, ensuring reports reflect only relevant working days.
Report Data Table Section
Number of Initial Records/Hours: Define an initial data range by specifying either a number of records or hours to include. For example, only take the initial 1000 records to be reported.
Last number of Records / Hours: Define a data range by specifying either the last number of records or hours to include. For example, only take the latest 10 records to be reported.
Disabled: Indicates whether this report item is active or inactive. Check the box to disable this report item temporarily.
2) Edit/Copy/Delete Auto-report items
Edit / copy / delete existing auto-report items by following steps:
Step 1: Tick to select an existing auto-report item.
Step 2: Click on ‘Edit’ to open the dialog and make any necessary changes; Click on ‘Copy’ to duplicate the existing item; Click on ‘Delete’ to delete the ticked auto-report item.
Step 3: Click on ‘Save’ to save any changes.
3. Automatic Report Distribution Section
The Automatic Report Distribution section manages the delivery of generated reports to designated recipients. It allows users to define distribution lists, customize email content, and specify how reports are shared.
1) Create an Auto-Report Distribution Job
Click on ‘+New’ button to create a new report distribution list for this report automation job. Fill in all the fields inside if available to create a new report distribution list.
The fields are explained as below:
Distribution List: Specifies the group or individual email addresses that will receive the report.
The distribution list will need to be configured in advance in the ‘Setting – Messaging – Distribution List’, please refer to the manual of ‘Distribution List.
Email Subject: Sets the subject line for the email containing the report.
Email Body Content: Allows customization of the email body to include relevant information or context about the report. Suggested to write a detailed explanation or summary of the report being sent, including its purpose or any key highlights.
Email Remark: Adds additional comments or notes that may not fit into the main body content. Include optional remarks, such as "This report covers data from the last 7 days."
Email Signature: Enables the inclusion of a signature for professional communication. Add a formal signature, including the sender’s name, designation, and contact details.
Contact Numbers: Displays the contact information of the sender or relevant personnel for the recipients’ convenience. Input phone numbers or other contact details if necessary.
Single Report Order:
The Single Report Order section allows users to arrange the order of items included in the generated report. This feature is particularly useful for ensuring that the report follows a logical flow or prioritizes certain data.
Drag and drop items to rearrange the order based on the reporting requirements.
Please note, if any report item is missing or not supposed to appear here, please go back to section ‘Automatic Report Items’ to add/delete any report item.
Cover Sheet Enabled: Enables or disables the inclusion of a cover sheet in the report.
Attachment Section
Attachments: Allows users to include additional files or documents as part of the report, such as charts, PDFs, or images, to support the main report content.
Select Attached Items as Report Sections: Attachments that already saved on Sensgrid Geosens will be available here to be added to the report.
Selected Attachments as Report Sections: Displays files that have been chosen to be included.
What to Do: Click Upload to add new files or select files from the list, the selected files will appear in the "Selected Attachments" section to include them in report.
Sections Re-order in Binder: Items such as data from specific instruments, station groups, or sections can be rearranged to suit the report's purpose or the audience's preference. The order reflects the sequence of information presented in the report. This functionality provides flexibility to:
Highlight critical sections at the beginning of the report (e.g., placing "Alarm Status" at the top for urgent updates).
Ensure related sections are grouped together for ease of interpretation (e.g., "Monitoring Frequency" followed by "Instrument/Station-Group Reports").
Alarm Section
The following fields enable uers to add an extra section into the generated report and show the alarm status and list out all the instruments that triggers the alarm.
Include Alarm Trigger: tick the box to add the alarm status panel into the report, which shows all the instrument points that trigger the alarm. If ‘Number of Alarm Boundaries (In Hours)’ is configured and enabled, the report will only include monitoring data that exceeds the alarm limit and within the alarm boundary time period.
Include Normal Status Instrument: tick the box to not only report instruments that trigger the alarm but also includes all the instruments that are in normal status (within the alarm trigger threshold). If ‘Number of Alarm Boundaries (In Hours)’ is configured and enabled, the report will only include monitoring data within the alarm boundary time period.
Include Alarm Over Boundaries: tick the box to report monitoring data in all time periods, even if ‘Number of Alarm Boundaries (In Hours)’ is configured and enabled.
Number of Alarm Boundaries (in Hours): input a number of hours to configure a time period. If this field is filled, the function will be enabled and only report monitoring data that is recorded within the time period.
Alarm Boundaries Before Date: click to select a date and time as the time boundary. If this field is filled, the function will be enabled and only report monitoring data that is recorded from the set date to current time.
Example 1 - configure alarm trigger:
With the following settings, Alarm status section will be included in the generated report: all the monitoring data that exceeds the alarm limit and was recorded within 240hrs (10 days) will be reported.
Example 2 - configure alarm trigger:
With the following settings, Alarm status section will be included in the generated report: all monitoring data (either exceeds the alarm limit or in normal status) will be reported in all time periods (either recorded within the last 240 hrs, between current time to 01-02-2025 17:23, or outside the last 240hrs, or outside the period of current time and 01-02-2025 17:23)
Include Excel Link: Adds a downloadable link of the Excel version of the report to the email notification. Provides recipients with an easily editable version of the report for analysis.
Include PDF Link: Adds a downloadable link of the PDF version of the report to the email notification. Provides recipients with a static, professional version of the report.
Include Binder Link: Adds a link of a binder version of the report to the email notification, consolidating all sections. Allows recipients to access a structured and organized version of the report.
Disabled: Indicates whether this report configuration is active. Temporarily disables this configuration without deleting it.
2) Edit/Copy/Delete a Report Distribution List
In the Automatic Report Distribution Section, tick to select on an existing distribution list setting, and click on ‘Edit’ or ‘Copy’ or ‘Delete’ to open up the setting dialog and make necessary changes.
4. Full steps of setting up an auto-report generation job
This section provides full steps of setting up an auto-report generation job. Follow those steps, a certain list of users will receive the generated report via emails, in configured report format and defined content structure, at certain schedule.
Step 1: Navigate to Setting page, click on ‘Automation’ Tab, and then click on ‘Auto Report Setting’ Page.
Step 2: Navigate to the top section of the page (‘Project Report Automation Job’), click on ‘+New’ to create a new report automation job, and define the job name, description, job schedule, enable status, etc. Please refer to section 2.1 above for detailed instructions.
Step 3: Tick the report automation job that just created, and then click on the tab ‘Automatic Report items’ to configure the report items.
Step 4: Click on ‘+New’ button to add existing instruments / station-groups into this report job and to be plotted into the report. Please refer to Section 3 above for detailed instructions. You may also use ‘Edit’, ‘Copy’ and ‘Delete’ functions to add/delete any report items.
Step 5: Navigate and click on ‘Automatic Report Distribution’ tab to configure the distribution list and corresponding notification message.
Step 6: Click on ‘+New’ to create a new distribution list. Please refer to Section 4 above for detailed instructions.
5. Auto-Report Viewing
The Auto-Report VIEW page provides an overview of the available reports for the project. Users can browse, filter, and download reports generated within a specified time range.
The Auto-Report VIEW Page can be accessed via: Click on the top left corner to open the setting side bar, click on ‘Auto-Report VIEW’ tab, and then click on ‘Report Files VIEW’ sub tab to access the page.
Below is a breakdown of the key elements and functionality:
1) View Table Introduction
Folder/File Name: Displays a hierarchical structure of folders and files. Users can expand folders to view the available files within each category.
File Size: Shows the size of each file in kilobytes (KiB) or megabytes (MB).
Updated By: Indicates the account responsible for updating the file (e.g., "System Account").
Updated On: Displays the timestamp of when the file was last updated.
2) Filtering by Folder/File Name:
Allows users to filter reports based on a specific name.
Click on the filter button next to the ‘Folder/File Name’, and type in the name or scroll down to select the File you wish to view, click ‘OK’ to filter out the file.
3) Filtering by Time Range:
Allows users to filter reports based on a specified time range (e.g., "Last 24 hours").
Click on the filter button next to the ‘Update On’, Select the desired time range from the dropdown menu and click Load to display matching reports.
4) Binder File Available:
If you scroll to the bottom of the file list, you will find the Binder file. This file consolidates all the station-groups and instruments into a single comprehensive document. By clicking on the binder file, you can download it for easy access to all the information in one place. This is particularly useful for reviewing the full dataset without having to open multiple individual files.
Example Report:
Charts:
Station Image:
Data Table:
5) Download and Delete Options:
Allows users to select one or more reports to download or delete.
Download: Select one or multiple generated reports, click on ‘Download’ to download all the selected files into your local device.
Delete: Select one or multiple generated reports, click on ‘Delete’ to delete all the selected files permanently from the system records.