Specifications

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Document Version 1.0 – Last Updated 10.18.2010
Report Types
QuickView
A situation in which a user needs to access information quickly and often is usually a case
in which one would want to use a “QuickView”. A good example is a situation where the
head of Sales needs to view sales results for the organization. The design of the QuickView
report could allow the Sales Manager to view a sales summary for the organization, by
region, for each quarter. The QuickView form could provide additional ‘drill down’
functionality such as monthly sales results for each salesperson. The QuickView results are
displayed directly on the user’s browser.
CSV
A “Comma Separated Value” or “CSV” report is the simplest of Argos report types. A
comma delimited file simply separates the desired columns by a comma or other specified
delimiter. This type of report is especially useful when obtaining data quickly for
manipulation in MS Excel or other spreadsheet software. It is also useful when creating
files used by third party applications.
Banded
Banded Reports are fully formatted reports where the Report Writer has complete control
over the location and appearance of information within the report. The term “band” is
utilized since many types of reports can be thought of as consisting of various bands (or
groups) of data types (Title Bands, Column Header Bands, Detail Bands, etc.).
Extract
An Extract Report is designed to create output files that meet pre-defined specifications.
This feature is especially useful for creating delimited output that is more complex than a
simple comma-separated file (CSV), for creating a fixed-width file in which each field is
precisely positioned on a given line, or for creating an XML file. This could include files
that you might upload to a government agency, clearinghouse, or service bureau.
Extract Reports are somewhat similar in design to a Banded Report. Similar to bands
within a Banded Report, an Extract Report has sections, each of which can include
different data fields. However, in an Extract Report you can loop through as many
datasets as your report requires, and you can precisely control the position of your data in
the output file.
Figure 7 –Available report types