Report Management Process

Question

We have quite a few Apps. In those Apps we have quite a few tables. In those tables we have quite a few Reports.
Looking at the report management page I notice a couple items that make Users nervous to remove old reports.

#1. the report doesn't show if it is used in a form.
#2. the report doesn't show if it is used in a Notification.
#3. the report doesn't show if an external getter is using it to pull a table subset.

I'm sure there are more but I didn't come here to complain this time. I have a management process question to the Admin level Users who actually manage reports.

Have you found a foolproof way to determine if a report is in use?

What steps do you take to ensure before hitting the delete button you don't have to put it back and apologize?

Have you found any markers that are not obvious, API calls.

Because of my personality, I like to go through and review reports and then delete the ones that haven't been used since 2015 and only opened once. Problem is, the qb metrics are not reliable. So I find myself picking a report, checking Notifications, relationships, forms and then looking at our external data tools as well.

Any thoughts or ideas on how to manage this are appreciated.

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Jim Harrison
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blakeharrison · Answer

Until they rollout some planned updates to the metrics they provide to Admins, that's really all you can do at the moment.

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Blake Harrison
bharrison@datablender.io
DataBlender - Quick Base Solution Provider
Atlanta GA
404.800.1702 / http://datablender.io/
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markshnier__you · Answer

I have two tips to offer.When you attempt to delete a report which is used in a subscription a giant red warning pops up with an are you sure button it will let you delete the report but you are clearly informed that it would be not a good idea to push the button.Secondly I make it a practice that whenever I use a report which is embedded on a form I change the report name from the default "embedded for parent blah blah blah" to be "Used on Projects form".&nbsp; That is especially handy when deleting a field and finding its used on a zillion forms. I mostly ignore all those in Embedded for reports because I know they're not being used.&nbsp; As long as I am comfortable that I am the only developer in that app.&nbsp; :)I do agree that it is a bit of a crapshoot when you delete reports to know where they might be used.------------------------------Mark Shnier (YQC)Quick Base Solution ProviderYour Quick Base Coachhttp://QuickBaseCoach.commark.shnier@gmail.com------------------------------

jimharrison · Answer

Hi Blake &amp; Mark,That is pretty much what I thought but was hoping. I usually leave the Embedded reports if they are used and add a note to the Description explaining where the report is used. Most users cannot see the description so this works ok.Reports are used as either a drop down list or an embedded report depending on the Relationship. So my practice is to enter the Use Case in the Description. This helps when the Customize this report function is not disabled for end users and we have the occasional someone edited the Table Home page report and no one can see their records problem. It's part User training and part default setup to remove the Custom Report feature for many tables.Thanks!------------------------------Jim Harrison------------------------------

austink · Answer

Your best bet is to name your reports so you know when and where they are used. For example if you have a drilldown report named it "Drilldown - Report Name it Drills Down From".

As far as embedded reports on forms where they are actually from another table I try and label those accordingly as well based on where the report is used. For a record picker it would be something like "Record Picker - Table Name - Form Name" and even add on to that if need be if there are several in use on the form.

Just label the very important ones. I don't bother with most reports, just ones I know I need to keep to make sure the forms and everything function.

markshnier__you · Answer

I totally agree with Austin.&nbsp;&nbsp;But I actually have a different philosophy with reports and I hardly ever delete old ones.&nbsp; My belief is there any useful report should find its way to the dashboard. I only put links on the dashboard to report that I know are fully vetted. All the other zillions of reports that are listed under the reports tab, typically my users don't look there to find reports.&nbsp; &nbsp;What time are users if they have a report that the staff should be using that they should take ownership of their dashboard figuratively and if they don't have the admin rights to update the dashboard let me know and I will put a link on their dashboard. If it's not on the dashboard then it may not be a vetted report.&nbsp;I know that there are some people more disciplined than me who organize their reports using the organizer tool but few of my clients are organized enough to maintain their discipline. And my discipline is if it's a good report it should be on a the dashboard button or links bar, nicely organized by the nature of the report into logical Dashboard element groupings.&nbsp;&nbsp;------------------------------Mark Shnier (YQC)Quick Base Solution ProviderYour Quick Base Coachhttp://QuickBaseCoach.commark.shnier@gmail.com------------------------------

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Report Management Process

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