Fact Book On-Line: Inquiry Report Help
Inquiry Page | Inquiry Help | Load Report | Load Help | Save Help
The Fact Book Inquiry report page is used generate your own custom reports using the same data used in the annual Fact Book reports. Results will be in tabular form. Reports can have multiple column and/or row headings. Reports can also be presented as several tables broken apart by selective criteria.
Basic Options
Selected Term
Under the heading "Select the Term" the user selects the term from which the report is generated. If the user wishes to view data across several terms, the option "All Terms" should be selected.
If "All Terms" is selected, the user should also select "Term" as one of the column headings or should select "Term" from the "Table Separation" option under "Advanced Options." If "Term" is not selected, the report will contain mostly meaningless data.
Report Headings
The simplest way to generate your report is to select your column and/or row headings and click "Submit". A report can be a simple as one column or one row. A report can also be as complex as 3 column headings and 5 row headings.
CAUTION: The size of the report grows exponentially with each column/row selection. As such, the reports can become exceedingly large and take long lengths of time to run. It is recommended that you build small reports first and add headings to it rather than starting out with a large report.
Advanced Options
By checking the "Use Advanced Search Options" box, the "Advanced Options" section will appear. In it the user can tweak paging and filter options.
Table Separation
Here the user may elect to break a report down by several factors. For example, a multi-table report can represent individual terms. Be sure to select "All Terms" at the top of the report.
It is not necessary to separate the report by the any category used in the column or row headings.
Empty Tables
The "Show Empty Tables" option will allow you to see those tables for which no data was produced. This feature is on by default.
Report Filters
By default, there is no filtering of report data. If the user asks for a report by Level and across by Ethnicity, the result is taken from all matching data. However, if the user wished to see the data for a a specific gender in a specific college, the report will only reflect that criteria.
Filters are available for Gender, Class, Ethnicity, Home State, Residency, Level, Full-Time status, and College. It is not necessary to select a filter which is also used as a column or row heading.
Miscellaneous Options
Display (Available when selecting "Advanced Options"
Here the user has the option of changing how reports are displayed. By default, reports are generated in a new browser window. Subsequent reports will overwrite the previous results in that window. The user may change that so each report is generated in its own window or that no new windows are opened and the report replaces the Inquiry screen.
Printing
Allows the report to be generated in a printer-friendly format. For large multi-column reports, the result may exceed the width of your printer.
Saving
Report parameters may be saved for future reference. This will NOT save the generated report, rather, it will save the parameters used to generate the report. The Fact Book database contains static data. It will not change over time. Subsequent reports will contain the same results.
As new terms are added to the Fact Book database, reports which use "Term" headings or table-breaks can grow in length or width. However, the data for past terms will remain the same.
For printable reports, you will want to turn this option off so the "Save" option will not appear at the bottom of your report.
