Report Selections
You can select which records to include in your report. In the Reports wizard, the Selection window displays different tabs that relate to the report you selected. On each tab, you can select a group of records based on certain conditions. Once you make your selections, you can click Save under the List of Selections to use these report criteria in the future.
Selection Information
- Sortation
- Determine the order of the printed report data. The available options change depending on the type of report you select. Print options also display in the Sortation section if they pertain to the selected report.
- Email the Letter/Item If There is an Email Address
- Email the letter/item to contacts instead of printing a copy for regular mail.Note: This checkbox is saved per report and is not part of the saved selection. The options default to the same options you selected last time you ran the report.
- Contact Information (if printed)
- If contact information prints on the report, you can select one of the following:
- Primary Contacts—Includes the primary contacts. You can also skip organizations or facilities that don't have contact information listed in the Contacts section of the record.
- Selected Contacts—Includes contacts that you select on the Contact selection tab. You can also skip organizations or facilities that don't have these selected contacts' information listed in the Contacts section of the record.
- Event Information
- If event information prints on the report, you can select one of the following:
- All Events—Includes all the events. You can also skip organizations or facilities that don't have events that use the organization/facility.
- Selected Events—Includes events that you select on the Event and Other Event selection tabs. You can also skip organizations or facilities that don't have these selected events associated with the organization/facility.
- Event Date Range
- Event Date Range Include only the records that are associated with events within the specified date range.
Org./Facility
Select which organizations or facilities to include in your report.
You can include all organizations/facilities or only selected organizations/facilities. If you chose only selected organizations/facilities, select each one you want to include.
For organizations, select when to include charges and payments.
- Include just the subgroup part of a group—Includes only subgroups in your report. For example, each subgroup name "Meeting Room A" and "Meeting Room B", rather than the group name "Meeting Rooms."
- Include just the group name part of a group—Includes only the name of the group, not its individual parts.
- Include both the group name part and the subgroup part of a group—Includes the group and its subgroups in your report.
To quickly locate an organization/facility, click Quick Lookup. To clear all of the selections you made, click Clear All. To view the report with the selections you've made, click Preview.
Contact
Select which contacts of a facility or organization to include in your report. This tab only displays if you selected Selected Contacts under Contact Information (if printed) on the Selection Information tab.
- If you select contacts with certain position or address type, select the one you want in the drop-down list.
- If you chose only selected contacts, select each one you want to include.
To quickly locate a contact, click Quick Lookup. To clear all of the selections you made, click Clear All. To view the report with the selections you've made, click Preview.
Event
Select to include records on certain event calendars and within certain time ranges in your report.
You can include all events or only events that have certain calendars marked. If you chose any or all selected calendars, select the ones you want. Select whether to include events that are active, inactive, or marked to reschedule. You can include events in all time ranges or only those that occur between certain times.
To view the report with the selections you've made, click Preview.
Package
Select which package events to include in your report.
You can include all active packages or only selected ones. If you chose only selected packages, select each one you want to include. Select when to include charges/payments and requirements.
To quickly locate a package, click Quick Lookup. To clear all of the selections you made, click Clear All. To view the report with the selections you've made, click Preview.
Other Event Info.
Select which events to include in your report.
You can include all active event names or only selected ones. If you chose only selected names, select each one you want to include. Select when to include charges/payments and requirements.
To quickly locate an event name, click Quick Lookup. To clear all of the selections you made, click Clear All. To view the report with the selections you've made, click Preview.
Additional Selections
- Contacts in Phoenix, AZ
- Facilities with "Classroom" in the name
- Events with total charges of more than $500
Practice using the Additional Selections tab to learn how to use it efficiently. Click the information icon beside field names to see a description.
- Is equal to—Field = Value. Ex: Fam City is equal to Phoenix.
- Is not equal to—Field ≠ Value. Ex: Fam State is not equal to Arizona. This relationship is useful when you want everything other than a specific value.
- Is less than—Field < Value. Ex: Fam ID is less than 3000.
- Is less than or equal to—Field ≤ Value. Ex: Fam ID is less than or equal to 3000.
- Greater than—Field > Value. Ex: Fam ID is greater than 3000.
- Greater than or equal to—Field ≥ Value. Ex: Fam ID is greater than or equal to 3000.
- Is in list—The field is within a list of values or within a CSV file. If you list the values, each must be in quotation marks and separated by commas. If you specify a CSV, it must start with "<", followed by the file path. To specify a certain column in the CSV, enter a comma after the file path then the number. Ex: Fam City is in list "Phoenix", "Glendale". Ex: Fam City is in list <C:\Documents\cities.csv,3.
- Is not in this list—The field is not within a list of values or not within a CSV file. Each value must be in quotation marks and separated by commas. If you specify a CSV, it must start with "<", followed by the file path. To specify a certain column in the CSV, enter a comma after the file path then the number.
- Starts with—The field has the same beginning character or characters as the value in question. Ex: Fam Name starts with A.
- Does not start with—The field has a different beginning character or characters than the value in question. Ex: Fam Zip does not start with 85.
- Contains—The field includes the value. Ex: Fam Email contains "hotmail". This returns a list of all family email addresses that include the word "hotmail".
- Is not between—The field falls outside of two values. Ex: Fam ID is not between 300 and 800.
- Is between—The field falls between two values. Ex: Fam ID is between 300 and 800.
- Is ever equal to—The value in the field is equal to at least one of the fields entered. You could, for example, enter three conditions: Ministry is ever equal to Choir, Ministry is ever equal to Hospitality, and Ministry is ever equal to Baby Sitting. When you run the report, if Ministry is ever equal to Choir, Hospitality, or Baby Sitting, the member's name is included in the report.
- Is never equal to—The value in the field is not equal to one at least one of multiple fields entered. You could, for example, enter two conditions: Sac. Confirmation is never equal to Yes, and Sac. Confirmation is never equal to Approximate. When you run the report, if Sac. Confirmation is never equal to Yes or Approximate, the member's name is included in the report.
Numbered Button Menu Items:
- Add Condition—Adds a new field, relation, and value for your condition line.
- Add Sub-section—Adds a new set of criteria to be considered as a group. Condition statements within the subsection are evaluated, in order, before condition statements outside of the subsection.
- Enable/Disable Row—Condition lines can be turned on and off without being deleted. This way, you can test conditions and combinations more quickly. Any disabled rows are considered when the report is run. Disabled rows are gray.
Custom Fields in Listing Reports:
If you add a custom field in a listing report, you can use that field to create an additional selection. On the Additional Selections tab, click to add a new condition, then select the custom field you defined in your report. Tip: Click Find at the top-right of the field list to quickly locate your custom field. After you select your field, use it the same as any other field to complete your additional selection.
- Find
- When you click <Click here to add new condition>, a list of fields related to the report displays. Click Find at the top of that list to locate a specific field you want to use for additional selections.
- Clear Additional Selections
- Removes all condition lines.
- Exclude rather than include selected records
- When selected, the main condition phrase at the top of this window changes from Choose records to Exclude records. All items that match the given conditions are excluded, and the rest are printed.
- Use Optimizer
- In most cases, to improve the speed with which PDS searches for records that match the conditions you set, select Use Optimizer.
Watch & Learn
Learn to create a report with only the selected information you want in it; for example, a list of choir members. 6 min 48 sec
It may take a minute for the video to display. To watch in full screen mode, click the expand icon in the video player.
To watch more videos, visit the PDS Video Library.