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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2023-06-23
Example: Create a Report Design with Multiple Data Sets

Example: Create a Report Design with Multiple Data Sets

This example illustrates how to create a report design based on a custom report that includes primary and secondary business objects, as well as multi-instance fields.
Your HR department asks you to create a report design for a letter outlining employee benefit enrollments. You need to create a Workday custom report that includes a secondary business object and a multi-instance field. This means that you need to create a data set for the primary business object, another for the secondary business object, and a third for the multi-instance field.
  1. Sign in to your Workday GMS tenant.
  2. Access the
    Create Custom Report
    task. Configure these values:
    Option
    Value
    Report Name
    Employee Benefit Enrollments
    Report Type
    Advanced
    Data Source
    All Active and Terminated Workers
    Enable As Web Service
    Select this check box.
  3. On the
    Columns
    tab, enter these values:
    Business Object
    Field
    Column Heading Override
    Column Heading Override XML Alias
    Worker
    Legal Name - Last Name
    Last Name
    Last_Name
    Worker
    Legal Name - First Name
    First Name
    First_Name
    Worker
    Employee ID
    Employee ID
    Employee_ID
    Worker
    Supervisory Organization
    Organization
    Supervisory_Organization
    Worker
    First Day of This Calendar Year
    Benefit Enrollment Date
    Benefit_Enrollment_Date
    Worker
    Current Worker
    Signatory
    Signatory
    Worker
    Work Address - Full
    Work Address
    Work_Address
    Benefit Elections
    Benefit Type
    Benefit Type
    Benefit_Type
    Benefit Elections
    Benefit Provider
    Benefit Provider
    Benefit_Provider
    Benefit Elections
    Coverage
    Coverage
    Coverage
    Benefit Elections
    Dependents
    Dependents
    Dependents
    Benefit Elections
    Current Election Coverage Begin Date
    Current Election Coverage Begin Date
    Effective_Date
    Benefit Elections
    Group Number
    Group Number
    Group_Number
  4. Add a
    Group Column Heading
    for the secondary business object. Enter
    Benefit Elections
    in both the
    Business Object
    and
    Group Column Heading
    fields.
  5. Open Report Designer in Workday Studio.
  6. Create a report project named
    Employee Benefit Enrollment Letter
    . In that project, create a report file named
    Employee Benefit.rptdesign
    .
  7. Create a Workday data source and download some sample data:
    1. Create a new
      Workday Report Data Source
      named
      Employee Benefit Enrollments Data
      .
    2. Download the report description for the
      Employee Benefit Enrollments
      custom report from Workday.
    3. Download sample report data from Workday and name the file
      Employee Benefit Enrollments Sample.xml
      .
  8. Create the data set relating to the primary business object, Worker, with these values:
    Option
    Value
    Data Source Selection
    Employee Benefit Enrollments Data
    Data Set Type
    Workday Primary Report Data Set
    Data Set Name
    Worker
    Report Designer displays XML schema element values and names for the columns that you added as rows to your custom report for the Worker business object in Workday. Note that Report Designer adds a
    Row_Number
    column automatically to support grouping.
  9. Create the data set relating to the secondary business object, Benefit Elections, with these values:
    Option
    Value
    Data Source Selection
    Employee Benefit Enrollments Data
    Data Set Type
    Workday Secondary Report Data Set
    Data Set Name
    Benefit Elections
    Business Object
    Benefit Elections
    Report Designer displays the XML schema element values for each of the columns that you added as rows to your custom report for the Benefit Elections business object in Workday, and their display names. It also displays a warning message about an empty
    PrimaryRowNumber
    input parameter value. You'll configure this later, so dismiss the message.
  10. Review the fields in your custom report in Workday. You will find that
    Dependents
    is a multi-instance field, as indicated by the multi-instance icon.
  11. Create another secondary data set relating to the
    Dependents
    multi-instance field in your custom report:
    Option
    Value
    Data Source Selection
    Employee Benefit Enrollments Data
    Data Set Type
    Workday Secondary Report Data Set
    Data Set Name
    Dependents
    Business Object
    Benefit Elections/Dependents
    Report Designer displays the XML schema element value for the
    Dependents
    multi-instance field, and its display name. Again, it also displays a warning message about an empty
    PrimaryRowNumber
    input parameter value. As before, dismiss the message.
  12. Add a table to the layout:
    1. Drag a
      Table
      report item to the
      Layout
      tab of the main window.
    2. Configure 1 column and 1 details row.
    3. Select
      Worker
      from the
      Data Set
      drop-down list.
    4. Select all available binding columns.
    5. Delete the header and footer rows.
    6. Drag the detail row border to increase its size. Doing so makes its rows a fixed size, which could result in truncated data. To ensure that the table can grow to accommodate the data displayed within it, select the guide cell for the table's only row. On the
      General
      tab of the row's
      Property Editor
      view, delete the value from the
      Height
      field.
    7. On the
      General
      tab of the table's
      Property Editor
      view, add
      Worker
      in the
      Name
      field.
  13. Add a local image file of your company logo to the layout:
    1. Drag an
      Image
      report item to the
      Worker
      table.
    2. Select the
      Embedded image
      check box, then click
      Add Image...
      to browse to an appropriate image file.
  14. Add the
    Work Address
    field to the layout:
    1. Drag the
      Work Address
      field from the
      Worker
      data set to the
      Worker
      table in the
      Layout
      view.
    2. On the
      Padding
      tab of the
      Work Address
      item's
      Property Editor
      view, configure the
      Top
      and
      Bottom
      values to
      12
      points.
  15. Add the current date to the layout:
    1. Drag a
      Data
      item to the
      Worker
      table, and position it below the previous item.
    2. Enter
      Preparation Date
      as the
      Display Name
      and select
      Date
      from the
      Data Type
      drop-down list.
    3. Click
      JavaScript Syntax
      . Select
      Native JavaScript Functions
      Date
      , then double-click
      Date()
      to enter the
      new Date()
      expression.
  16. Add a salutation to the layout:
    1. Drag a
      Dynamic Text
      item to the
      Worker
      table, and position it below the previous item.
    2. Configure this expression in the
      Expression Builder
      :
      "Dear " + row["First_Name"] + " " + row["Last_Name"] + ","
      . You can enter the row parts of the expression by selecting
      Available Column Bindings
      Table - Worker
      , then double-clicking
      First_Name
      or
      Last_Name
      .
    3. Configure the salutation item top and bottom padding to
      6
      points.
  17. Add introductory text to the layout:
    1. Drag another
      Dynamic Text
      report item to the
      Worker
      table, and position it below the previous item.
    2. Configure this expression in the
      Expression Builder
      :
      "Thank you for completing the Benefit Enrollment process. We are very pleased to present your Benefits Statement. You are enrolled in the following plans as of " + row["Benefit_Enrollment_Date"] + "."Expression Builder
      You can enter the row part of the expression by selecting
      Available Column Bindings
      Table - Worker
      , then double-clicking
      Benefit_Enrollment_Date
      .
    3. Configure the introductory text item top and bottom padding to
      6
      points.
  18. Add the
    Benefit Elections
    data set to the layout as an embedded table and configure the
    PrimaryRowNumber
    input parameter value:
    1. Drag the
      Benefit Elections
      data set to the
      Worker
      table, and position it below the previous item. Select all available binding columns.
    2. Name the new table
      Benefits
      .
    3. On the
      Binding
      tab of the
      Benefits
      table's
      Property Editor
      view, click
      Data Set Parameter Binding
      .
    4. Select the
      PrimaryRowNumber
      parameter, then click
      Edit
      .
    5. Click
      JavaScript Syntax
      . Select
      Available Column Bindings
      Table - Worker
      , then double-click
      RowNum
      to enter the
      row.__rownum
      expression. This expression returns the current row number, so that the corresponding benefit election details are returned for each worker.
    6. Delete the footer row in the
      Benefits
      table.
  19. Add the
    Dependents
    data set to the layout as an embedded table and configure both the
    PrimaryRowNumber
    and
    SecondaryRowNumber
    input parameter values:
    1. Add a new column to the right of the
      Coverage
      column.
    2. Drag the
      Dependents
      data set from the
      Data Explorer
      view, and position it within the detail row of the column you just created. The data set has just one available binding column. Select it.
    3. Drag the
      Dependents
      column heading into the heading row between
      Coverage
      and
      Effective Date
      .
    4. Delete the header and footer rows in the embedded
      Dependents
      table.
    5. Name the new embedded table
      Dependents
      .
    6. On the
      Binding
      tab of the
      Dependents
      table's
      Property Editor
      view, click
      Data Set Parameter Binding
      .
    7. Select the
      PrimaryRowNumber
      parameter, then click
      Edit
      .
    8. Click
      JavaScript Syntax
      . Select
      Available Column Bindings
      Table - Worker
      , then double-click
      RowNum
      to enter the
      row._outer.__rownum
      expression. Note that the expression is formed this way because the
      Dependents
      table is nested within the
      Worker
      table.
    9. Select the
      SecondaryRowNumber
      parameter, then click
      Edit
      .
    10. Click
      JavaScript Syntax
      . Select
      Available Column Bindings
      Table - Benefits
      , then double-click
      RowNum
      to enter the
      row.__rownum
      expression.
  20. Add a closing paragraph to the layout:
    1. Drag a
      Label
      item to the
      Worker
      table, and position it below the previous item.
    2. Add this text to the label:
      If you have any questions or find your enrollment in error, please contact the Benefits Department.
    3. Configure the closing paragraph item top and bottom padding to
      6
      points.
  21. Add a sign-off to the layout:
    1. Drag another
      Label
      item to the
      Worker
      table, and position it below the previous item.
    2. Add this text to the label:
      Sincerely,
    3. Configure the sign-off item top and bottom padding to
      6
      points.
  22. Add a signatory to the layout:
    1. Drag the
      Signatory
      field from the
      Worker
      data set to the
      Worker
      table in the
      Layout
      view, and position it below the previous item.
    2. To make room for a signature, configure the signatory item top padding to
      40
      points.
  23. Include a page break after each letter:
    1. In the
      Worker
      table's
      Property Editor
      view, select the
      Page Break
      tab.
    2. From the
      After
      drop-down list, select
      Always
      .
  24. Change the background color of the
    Benefits
    table. Make the text in its header row bold and left-justified:
    1. On the
      General
      tab of the table's
      Property Editor
      view, click
      Background color
      , and select a suitable color.
    2. Select the guide cell for the table's header row. On the
      General
      tab of the row's
      Property Editor
      view, click
      B
      and click
      Left
      .
  25. Delete the date expression from the footer in the
    Master Page
    view.
  26. Save and preview your design.
Deploy your design to Workday for use as a business form layout.