What is the Reports View?
The ADHQ Reports View is used for creating, modifying, and running reports. A report in ADHQ contains header and footer information, page layout settings, column options, a report scope, and output settings. Reports are sorted by object type into categories, which are accessed via ribbon buttons. Built-in reports can be run immediately by selecting them from the tree and clicking the 
Run button in the ribbon.
Report View Layout
General
The report view in ADHQ provides an easy way to view and modify Active Directory reports. The interface is divided into four main components, described in detail below.
- The Ribbon
- The ribbon is positioned across the top of the interface, and has buttons to switch report categories, create a new report, or modify the currently open report.
- Report Tree
- The Report Tree is shown on the far left side of the interface. It contains the reports within the selected category in the ribbon bar.
- Report Properties
- The Report Properties pane is displayed to the immediate right of the Report Tree and contains all of the settings for the currently selected report in the Report Tree.
- Report Preview
- The Report Preview pane is shown on the far right side of the interface, and displays a preview of the selected report in the Report Tree.
The Ribbon
The ribbon in the report view provides two primary functions:
- Switching between report categories
- Modifying the current category by adding, removing, or editing reports
You can switch between report categories by clicking a button in the AD Object Reports panel, the File Reports panel, or the Group Policy Reports panel. Selecting a report category from the ribbon populates the Report Tree with reports from that category. By default, the User Reports category is selected.
The remaining buttons on the ribbon are used for modifying the currently selected category. The New Report button will launch the New Report Wizard to guide you through the process of creating a new report. The New Folder button will create a new folder in the Report Tree to help you organize your reports. The Delete button will remove the selected folder or report from the Report Tree. The Make a Copy button will make a copy of the selected report. The Save button is used to save any modifications to the currently open report. Finally, the Run button will run the currently selected report. As you might expect, the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons will control the Report Preview pane, allowing you to get a better look at the sample report.
Report Tree
The Report Tree displays all reports in the currently selected category. Selecting a report from this tree will load the report into the Properties Pane and Preview Pane to the right. Reports are sorted within folders. You can create new folders for organizing your reports using the New Folder button in the Report Editor panel of the ribbon.
Sharing Levels
Reports are sorted into three top-level folders: My Reports, Profile Reports, and Global Reports. My Reports are stored locally on your machine, Profile Reports are shared with all users of your profile, and Global Reports are shared with all ADHQ users. Depending on your profile permissions, you may see only a subset of these levels. Reports that you can use but not modify will be shown in the tree with a 
Locked icon. When locked reports are selected, the Report Properties Pane is hidden.
Report Properties
The Report Properties pane contains all of the properties for the currently selected report in the Report Tree. The properties are divided into groups as follows:
| Property Group | Description |
|---|---|
| Header | Set the title and sub-title text. |
| Footer | Set the footer text and choose whether or not to display a page number and date. |
| Columns | Modify existing columns on the report, and set which column to use as the sort column. |
| Scope | Set the scope of the report and a filter to apply if you don't wish for every item within the scope to appear on the report. |
| Layout | Set the paper properties for the report. These properties only apply to reports if they are printed. |
| Output | Choose whether to automatically save or email the report after it runs. |
Modifying Report Columns
The Columns section of the Report Properties pane contains four buttons in the header row used to modify the report columns. Click the first icon to add a new column to the report. Click the second button to remove the selected column. The third and fourth buttons will move the selected column up or down within the report.
Report Preview
The Report Preview pane displays a preview of the report populated with sample data, if possible. Any changes made in the Report Properties pane will be reflected here. Although the Report Preview pane is designed predominantly as a Print Preview feature, it is possible to modify some properties, such as the Column Width property for each column, by interacting directly with the report in the Report Preview.
Clicking on any component of the report in the preview will select the corresponding property in the Report Properties pane. Right click on a column for a quick way to add, remove, modify or move them. You can adjust the column sizes in the preview by dragging the dividing lines between the columns in either direction. Also, you can change a column's properties by double-clicking anywhere in the column in the Report Preview, as outlined in red. These modification actions are unavailable for Locked reports.
New Report Wizard
The New Report Wizard is used to create new, custom, Active Directory reports. To access the New Report Wizard, click the New Report button in the ribbon. After clicking Next on the introductory page, you'll be presented with the Header and Footer page. The following sections of this document will explain this page, and each of the remaining pages of the New Report Wizard.
Header and Footer Page
The Header and Footer page allows you to add title, subtitle, and footer text to the report. The title of the report must be unique, but the subtitle and footer text can contain whatever information you'd like. Also on this page, you can choose to display the date and/or page numbers in the footer of the report.
Columns Page
The Columns page allows you to set up the columns on the report. By default, an appropriate name column is added to the report based on the type of report you're creating. For instance, a column that shows the canonicalName attribute is automatically added to reports in the User Reports category. You can select this column and use the Modify button to change properties for the column. This includes setting which AD Attribute (or Common Property) the column will display, the width of the column, and the column title and formatting. The Add button is used to add new columns to the report. The Remove button is used to delete the selected column from the report. And, as you might expect, the Move Up and Move Down buttons will shift the selected column accordingly. At any time, you can refer to the preview pane at the bottom of the page to see how the columns will look on the report.
Report Scope Page
The Report Scope page is used for choosing which objects will appear on the report. Either choose a collection to load the scope from, or manually select locations for the report to search. The grid at the top of the page is used to specify containers in which to search for objects to add. In the image above, our report is set to display every user within the Javelina Software/Engineering OU, and every user directly within the Javelina Software/Sales OU to the report. It will not include users within Javelina Software/Sales/Maryland due to the level of This Object and Its Children.
The filter grid below is used to further limit the objects in these containers. Only objects that match the filter specified will be shown on the report. For more information on using filters, see How do I create a filter? in the FAQs.
Report Output Page
The Output page has options for automatically saving and emailing the completed report and the screen output. If you want this report to have custom output settings, unselect Use Global Output Settings, and modify the settings below. If this setting is checked, the report will follow the global settings defined from the options dialog. Check the Create an output file with the names and data contained in the report box to set the report to automatically save itself to a file after executing.
Select a file type and separator from the combo boxes, then browse for a location to store the report file. You can use the %reportname%, %year%, %month%, %day%, and %time% parameters in the file name field to avoid conflicts with existing files. For an example of how these parameters are used, click the down arrow at the end of the field to see existing name templates. A similar set of options is shown below for saving a file containing the output screen.
At the bottom of this page is a checkbox labeled Send output via email. Select this box, then enter the email address for one or more recipients in the To: field, to have the report send an email after execution. You can click the Options button to see more email settings.
If you have chosen to save the output screen or report output to a file, you can also attach these files to the email by using the Output File and Report File checkboxes respectively.Ok, now what?
Once you've completed the New Report Wizard, your new report will appear in the Report Tree on the far left side of the report view and be opened into the Report Properties and Preview panes. You can run your newly created report by clicking the Run button in the ribbon.