Configuring Remote Columns and Defining Remote Form Relationships

  • Updated

Remote columns allow you to pull in data from related forms, extending your report’s scope. Understanding how these relationships work and how to configure them properly is crucial for targeting the right data.

Step-by-Step Guide to Configuring Remote Form Relationships and Columns

Step 1: Access the Remote Columns Menu

  1. Open the Report Configuration sidebar by clicking the box icon in the top-left corner.

  2. Navigate to the Columns tab in the sidebar.

  3. In the Remote Columns section, click Add Remote Column to begin the setup.

Step 2: Defining the Remote Form Relationship

When adding a remote column, the first step is to define how the form you are pulling data from (target form) relates to the form currently being reported on (context form). There are three types of relationships:

  1. Parent Relationship: The target form is the parent of the context form.
  2. Child Relationship: The target form is the child of the context form.
  3. Arbitrary Relationship: The target form does not have a direct parent-child relationship with the context form but can still be connected via a filter.

Configuring Parent/Child Relationships

  • Parent: Select the Parent relationship type if the data you need resides in a parent form (e.g., pulling procurement plan details into a contract report where contracts are children of procurement plan).

  • Child: Select the Child relationship type if the target form contains data related to child records (e.g., pulling variation details into a contract report where variations are children of contracts).

Once the parent or child relationship is selected, the system will automatically configure the relationship, so no additional filters are required.

Configuring Arbitrary Relationships

If the target form is not directly related to the context form (e.g., it’s not a parent or child), use the Arbitrary relationship option. This allows you to define custom filters that link the two forms.

  1. Choose Arbitrary Relationship from the relationship dropdown.

  2. Define a Custom Filter to link the two forms. Typically this will be based on matching an ID between both forms. This allows for flexible connections between forms, even when they aren’t directly related in the system’s structure.

Step 3: Chaining Multiple Relationships (Multi-Step Relationships)

Sometimes the data you need is not directly accessible from the context form but is several relationships away. For example, you may want to report on Insurances related to Contracts through Vendors.

To achieve this, you can chain remote columns through multiple steps:

  1. After selecting the Child or Arbitrary relationship, click Add relationship to add another step in the relationship.

  2. For each step, select the next form in the chain and configure the relationship (parent, child, or arbitrary).

    Example:

    • First step: Contracts (context form) → Vendors (intermediate form, arbitrary relationship).
    • Second step: Vendors → Insurance (Insurance is a child of Vendor).

  3. Define the filters for each step to ensure only the correct records are retrieved.

This chaining capability allows you to pull data from forms that are several steps away from the context form.

Step 4: Configuring Remote Column Settings

Once the form relationships are established, configure the columns as usual:

  1. Column Alias: Rename the column for clarity.

  2. Column Aggregation: Choose an aggregation option if applicable (e.g., count of related records).

     

Step 5: Preview and Save the Configuration

  1. Click Ok on the popups to preview the results with the newly added remote column.

  2. Once satisfied with the configuration, save the report profile by clicking Save As, and provide a meaningful name for future use.

Troubleshooting Remote Relationships

  • If the remote column does not return data as expected, verify the relationship configuration. Ensure the filter is correct for arbitrary relationships by looking at the data directly, and check that the filters accurately represent the data you want.
  • For complex chain relationships, ensure that each step in the chain correctly links to the next form and that the necessary data exists in each form.