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Building a Report with the Report Designer

Learn how to use the Report Designer to add, reorder, resize, and configure columns for your Dynamic Report in ProcessPro.

Written by James Ross

Building a Report with the Report Designer

Description

The Report Designer is the visual interface where you build and configure your Dynamic Report layout. It provides a dual-panel layout: an Available Fields palette on the left and a Report Layout canvas on the right. You can add fields, reorder columns, resize widths, and designate export-only columns — all through drag-and-drop or click interactions.

Why Use the Report Designer?

The Report Designer gives you full control over what data appears in your report and how it's arranged. Rather than accepting a fixed layout, you choose exactly which fields to include, in what order, and at what width. This means every report can be tailored to its audience and purpose.

Restrictions

  • The Report Designer is only accessible when the AllowReportBuilder company setting is enabled

  • Column layout changes are not saved until you explicitly click Save Column Layout

  • Export-only columns are included in CSV and Excel exports but not in on-screen views or PDF exports

Quick Steps

Understanding the Designer Layout

  • The Available Fields palette (left panel) shows all fields you can add to your report

  • Use the search input at the top of the palette to filter fields by label — filtering happens in real-time

  • If no fields match your search, a "No matching fields" message is displayed

  • The Report Layout canvas (right panel) shows your current column configuration in a table

  • Each column in the layout has a drag handle (grip icon), a resize handle, and a column action menu (ellipsis)

  • The Export-only Columns drop zone is located below the main layout area

Adding Fields to Your Report

  • Click-to-add: Click a field in the Available Fields palette — it appears at the end of the layout, and the palette shows an "Added" badge on that field

  • Drag-to-add: Drag a field from the palette and drop it at your desired position in the layout — the field is placed exactly where you drop it

Reordering Columns

  • Click and hold the drag handle (grip icon) on any column in the layout

  • Drag the column to its new position

  • Release to drop — the new order is saved when you click Save Column Layout

Resizing Columns

  • Hover over the right edge of a column header in the layout

  • Click and drag the resize handle to adjust the column width

  • Width changes are persisted after saving

Removing Columns

  • Click the ellipsis menu (⋯) on the column you want to remove

  • Select Remove

  • The field returns to the Available Fields palette without the "Added" badge

  • The removal is persisted after saving

Configuring Export-Only Columns

  • Drag a field from the Available Fields palette into the Export-only Columns drop zone

  • Export-only fields display an "Export" badge

  • These fields are included in CSV and Excel exports but not in on-screen views or PDF exports

  • To move a regular column to export-only, click its ellipsis menu and select "Move to export-only"

Saving Your Layout

  • Click the Save Column Layout button to persist all changes

  • This saves column order, widths, added/removed fields, and export-only designations

  • Changes persist when you close and reopen the designer

  • Exports (CSV/Excel) use the saved layout

Important Notes

All layout changes — reordering, resizing, adding, removing, and export-only configuration — are only saved when you click Save Column Layout. Unsaved changes are lost if you navigate away.

Export-only columns are a powerful way to include additional data in your CSV/Excel exports without cluttering the on-screen report view. Use them for reference fields, internal IDs, or supplementary data.

Drag-and-drop uses HTML5 drag-and-drop, which works in all modern browsers. If drag feels unresponsive, try clicking to add instead.

Further Information

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