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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2025-03-14
Set Up Advanced Options for Custom Reports

Set Up Advanced Options for Custom Reports

Security: These domains in the System functional area:
  • Custom Report Creation
  • Manage: All Custom Reports
You can configure these report options on the
Advanced
 tab:
  • Facets to refilter your report results without rerunning the report.
  • Prism data sources.
  • Report performance options.
  • Temporary reports.
  • View options.
  • Web services.
  • Worksheets.
Workday doesn't support advanced options for simple reports.
  1. Access the
    Edit Custom Report
     task.
  2. As you complete the
    Report Performance
     section on the
    Advanced
     tab, consider:
    Option Description
    Optimized for Performance
    (Unavailable for search and nBox reports.) For reports based on indexed data sources, select to display only indexed fields in field prompts.
    If you must use nonindexed fields in your report, clear the check box.
    Background Only
    Select to always run the report in the background.
    When you enable a report to run only in the background, consider:
    • The downstream impact to background only-enabled subreports when you edit composite reports and dashboards.
    • That users must have the proper security permissions and a valid URL to access the report.
  3. As you complete the
    View Options
     section, consider:
    Option Description
    Freeze First Column
    (Advanced reports only.) Select to freeze the first column on the report and improve data visibility when scrolling across rows.
    Enable Preferred Currency
    (Advanced and transposed reports only.) Select to display the preferred currency on a second line within the same report cell.
    Enable Save Parameters
    (Unavailable for search reports.) Select to enable saving prompt values as report filters. You can load these saved prompt values instead of manually entering them when you run this report later.
    Exclude Execution Link from Search
    Select to hide this report from global search so only users with the appropriate security permission can run and view reports.
    Appropriate security permission includes groups listed as
    Unconstrained
    , such as Administrators or Implementers.
    Example: Select this check box for a report that you want to:
    • Display only as a worklet on a dashboard.
    • Display only as a worklet using embedded analytics associated with a task.
    • Use as a subreport to build a composite report.
    • Use to create a data view in Worksheets.
  4. (Advanced and search reports only.) As you complete the
    Web Services Options
     section, consider:
    Option Description
    Enable As Web Service
    Select to:
    • Use the report in an outbound EIB.
    • Enable external web sites to access the report.
    When you enable a report as a web service, Workday limits access to the external report link to users with:
    • A valid account for the tenant.
    • The proper security permissions to view the report and the data.
    Namespace
    Workday generates a
    Namespace
     when you enable the report as a web service, but you can change it. Each report that's a web service must have a unique
    Namespace
    , but Workday doesn't enforce unique naming.
    If you update the
    Namespace
     in the report definition without updating requests to the web service, the request fails.
  5. (Optional) For advanced reports only, in the
    Worksheets
     section, select the
    Enable for Worksheets
     check box to enable users to add data from this report into workbooks. Workday doesn't support creating custom reports with an output type of
    Worksheets
    .
  6. (Optional) For advanced reports only, in the
    Prism
     section, select the
    Enable for Prism
     check box to enable users to create a Prism dataset from the report.
  7. (Optional) Select the
    Temporary Report
     check box in the
    Temporary Report
     section to schedule this report for deletion in 7 days or on a date you select. Workday doesn’t delete temporary reports until you run the
    Delete My Temporary Report Definitions
     task. Report Admins can run the
    Delete All Temporary Report Definitions
     task to delete all expired temporary report definitions.
  8. (Optional) Set up
    Facet Options
     to enable users to refilter the report results without rerunning the report.
    Facet filtering is unavailable for advanced reports with:
    • Outlining
    • Subfilters
    As you complete this section, consider:
    Option Description
    Field
    Select a business object or create a report field to filter report results by.
    Your security configuration determines the fields that you can view and select.
    Label Override
    To ensure that any future renaming by Workday doesn't impact your facet headings, enter a label override value.
    Facet Field XML Alias
    (Search reports only.) Specify the web service XML alias for the facet field. This option is only available when you select the
    Enable As Web Service
     check box.
    Facet Configuration
    (Unavailable for composite reports.) Select or create a facet configuration to focus your facet results into bins or ranges.
    Facet Configuration
     options are only available for currency, date, and numeric field types and for certain hierarchy fields.
    You can create facet configurations by accessing the
    Create Facet Configurations
     task. You must have access to the
    Facet Configuration Management
     domain in the System functional area.
    For search reports, you can use distance facet configurations for report fields that:
    • Return the Location business object.
    • Support geographical faceting.
    To use multi-instance field distance facets, select the
    Sort by Relevance
     check box on the
    Sort
     tab.
    Action Instance Selection Field
    (Search reports only.) Select the self-referencing field associated with the business object for the search report. The field determines the availability of mass actions.
    If you specify a value, the
    Enable Compare
     check box becomes unavailable.
    Single Action
    (Search reports only.) Select an action from the prompt to perform on a search result instance.
    Mass Action
    (Search reports only.) Select a mass action to perform on multiple search result instances.
    Example: Export more than 50 search result instances to Microsoft Excel. You can export more than 50 search result instances using an advanced report that:
    • Has only 1 prompt.
    • Matches the business object of the mass action.
    Name
    (Search reports only.) Workday displays the mass action as a button with this name.
    Facet Value Sorting
    (For Advanced, Matrix, nBox, Transposed, Trending, and Search reports only.) Enables you to change the sort order of facet values to:
    • Alphabetical ascending.
    • Alphabetical descending.
    • Logical ascending, where applicable.
    • Logical descending, where applicable.
    You can't sort:
    • Currency fields.
    • Date fields.
    • Numeric fields.
    • Facets with more than 55 values.
    • For currency, date, and numeric fields, you can continue to use the
      Create Facet Configuration
       task.
    When you enable
    Facet Options
    , the report results display a search bar if the report data source contains searchable fields. Workday determines which fields in each data source are searchable. Workday searches against all searchable fields in the report data source, not just the fields in the report. For search reports, there’s a limit of 300,000 instances for a single facet.
    Workday displays facets in these ways:
    Number of Unique Values for the Facet Field
    Workday Displays...
    Zero
    No results. The facet doesn't display.
    1-7
    All facet field values.
    8-55
    The 5 facet field values with the most results and a
    More
     button that you can expand to view all values.
    >55
    The 5 facet field values with the most results and a search prompt you can use to view all other values.
  9. (Search reports only.) Select the
    Enable Compare
     check box in the
    Compare Options
     section to enable displaying comparisons of search results.
    The check box is only available for certain data sources.