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How to Build an Output

An output is the report layout that presents edition data to stakeholders. Building an output involves designing pages on the canvas, binding data fields to components, formatting, and configuring filters and parameters.

Building an output in Report Forge

Before you start​

  • A published blueprint with at least one section must exist.
  • You need the Report Designer or Admin role.
  • Have a representative edition (with real data) available to preview against.

Step 1: Open the Output Designer​

  1. In the blueprint, click Outputs → + New Output (or open an existing output).
  2. The Output Designer opens with an empty canvas.
  3. In the ribbon, set the Edition to a representative edition for preview.

Step 2: Set page layout​

  1. Click the Page Layout tab in the ribbon.
  2. Set Page size (A4, A3, Letter, or custom).
  3. Set Orientation (Portrait or Landscape).
  4. Set Margins (Normal, Narrow, Wide, or custom).

Step 3: Add a cover page (optional)​

  1. In the View tab, open Page thumbnails.
  2. Right-click a page → Insert page before to add a cover page.
  3. From the Insert tab, add an Image for the logo, a Text box for the report title, and a Text box for the report date (using the {{param.ReportDate}} parameter reference).

Step 4: Add and bind components​

For each data section in the report:

  1. Click the Insert tab and select the appropriate component type.

  2. Click the canvas to place the component (Grid mode snaps to the grid; Freeform mode places at the cursor).

  3. With the component selected, open the Fields panel on the right.

  4. Expand the relevant blueprint section in the field list.

  5. Drag fields into the component's binding wells:

    • For a Table: drag fields into the Columns well.
    • For a Bar chart: drag a category field to Category and a numeric field to Value.
    • For a KPI card: drag the metric field to Metric and an optional target to Comparison.
    • For a Gantt: drag activity label, start, finish, baseline start, baseline finish, and progress fields.

  6. Set the aggregation for numeric wells (Sum, Average, Count, etc.).

  7. Click Preview to see the component render with real data.

Step 5: Format components​

  1. With a component selected, click the Format panel tab.
  2. Set the Title text, font, and alignment.
  3. Set Number format for numeric values (currency, %, decimal places).
  4. Adjust Colors: series colors, header background, alternate row.
  5. Configure Axes (for charts): labels, gridlines, min/max.
  6. Add Data labels if needed.
  7. For tables and matrices, configure Conditional formatting for RAG status cells.

Step 6: Add filters​

  1. With a component selected, open the Filters panel.
  2. Add Visual-scope filters to restrict a specific component's data (e.g., show only Critical activities in the Gantt).
  3. With no component selected, add Page-scope filters for page-wide constraints.
  4. Use {ParameterName} as the filter value for runtime-driven filters.

Step 7: Add slicers (interactive outputs)​

For web outputs with interactive filtering:

  1. Insert a Slicer component.
  2. Bind the slicer to a dimension field (e.g., Discipline, Status, Period).
  3. Set the slicer type (dropdown, list, date range, etc.).
  4. Set the slicer scope to Page or Report.

Step 8: Add additional pages​

  1. Right-click in the page thumbnails panel → Insert page after.
  2. Name the page (double-click the page tab).
  3. Repeat steps 4\u20137 for each page.

Step 9: Add page navigation (multi-page outputs)​

  1. On summary pages, add Button components (Insert → Button).
  2. Set the action to Navigate page and select the target detail page.
  3. On detail pages, add a Back button to return to the summary.

Step 10: Save and preview the output​

  1. Click Save (Ctrl+S).
  2. Switch between editions using the Edition selector to test with different data.
  3. Use Preview mode in the View tab to review the output as the consumer will see it.

Step 11: Publish the output​

  1. When the layout is finalised, click Publish in the Home tab.
  2. Published outputs are available for report generation from the edition.