It can sometimes be challenging when you are asked to write a report in Chris21 but you’re not sure if you can get the information required. You know how to write reports but sometimes they can be tricky.
There are all sorts of little tricks you can employ when using the Chris21 report designer.
For instance, did you know there are hidden fields that are available to you? Hidden fields are those that do not appear on the Chris21 form but are on the file, or perhaps generated on the fly, and therefore can be accessed in your reports.
A good example of this is the Manager Number on the Details (DET) form.
This field doesn’t appear anywhere on the DET form, but it can be included in your report output. This can be very handy if you want a report that shows employees and their current manager.
Incidentally, this report will also highlight cases where an employee does not have a manager. This tells you that you need to update the Relationships (REL) form.
Identifying Hidden Fields
In the Report Designer you add fields to your Chris21 reports using the Field Chooser. You then navigate to the form you want to report from. By default, this will display a copy of the actual form, you then choose the fields you want in your report.
All pretty standard so far right? But you don’t have to be limited to the view of the form.
Hidden Fields Are Not Immediately Obvious
I guess that’s why we call them hidden. They are just one of those things that are there, but you won’t know it, especially as a new user.
You must go looking to find fields that are not on the form but that you might want in your report. Fortunately, they are easy to find when you know how.
Select the All Fields tab at the bottom of the Field Chooser. This will display a list of all the fields that are available, but don’t necessarily show on the form.
When you scan through the list, you might be surprised at the fields that are there, but you didn’t know existed.
In the example below, I have found the Managers Number field.
Double click this field to add it to your report.
Usually, you will want the manager’s name to go with their number. You can translate this field to get the manager’s name, as you would do with DET NUMBER to get the employee’s name.
A Bit More Help
For more help to achieve this, see my blog Did You Know You Can Include the Manager’s ID in Your Chris21 Reports?
I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment!