Configure Remote Columns and Form Relationships

  • Updated

Remote columns allow you to pull data from related forms into a report, effectively extending the report's scope. This how-to guide provides the step-by-step instructions for defining the necessary form relationships and configuring remote columns to retrieve the correct data.

Prerequisites

  • You must have the appropriate role and permissions to create and edit reports.
  • You need to understand the data relationships (Parent/Child/Arbitrary) between the forms you are reporting on and the forms you are pulling data from (target forms).

Steps

1. Access the Remote Columns Menu

  1. Open the Report Configuration sidebar by clicking the box icon in the top-left corner.
  2. Navigate to the Columns tab in the sidebar.
  3. In the Remote Columns section, click Add Remote Column to begin the setup.

2. Define the Remote Form Relationship

The first step is to define how the target form (the form you are pulling data from) relates to the context form (the form currently being reported on).

A. Configure Parent or Child Relationships

If the forms have a direct relationship, use the following:

  1. Select the Parent relationship type if the data is in the parent form of the context form (e.g., pulling procurement plan details into a contract report).
  2. Select the Child relationship type if the target form contains data for the child records of the context form (e.g., pulling variation details into a contract report). The system automatically configures the relationship, and no additional filters are required.

B. Configure Arbitrary Relationships

Use this option when forms are not directly related.

  1. Choose Arbitrary Relationship from the relationship dropdown.
  2. Define a Custom Filter to link the two forms. This filter is typically based on matching an ID between both forms to allow for flexible connections.

3. Chain Multiple Relationships (Multi-Step)

If the desired data is several relationships away (e.g., accessing Insurance data from a Contracts report through a Vendor intermediate form):

  1. After selecting the initial Child or Arbitrary relationship, click Add relationship to add another step in the chain.
  2. For each step, select the next form in the chain and configure its relationship type (parent, child, or arbitrary).

    Example:
    1. First step: Contracts (context form) → Vendors (intermediate form, arbitrary relationship).
    2. Second step: Vendors → Insurance (Insurance is a child of Vendor).
  3. Define the necessary filters for each step to ensure only the correct records are retrieved.

4. Configure Remote Column Settings

  1. Set a Column Alias to rename the column for clarity.
  2. Choose a Column Aggregation option if applicable (e.g., a count of related records).

5. Preview and Save the Configuration

  1. Click Ok on the popups to preview the results with the new remote column.
  2. Click Save As and provide a meaningful name to save the report profile for future use.

Results / Validation

To confirm it worked, run the report and check that the new remote column returns the expected data from the related forms.

Troubleshooting 

If the remote column doesn't return data as expected, check the following:

  • Filter Accuracy: For Arbitrary relationships or chain relationships, verify the custom filter configuration. Ensure the filter accurately links the forms and represents the data you want.
  • Chain Integrity: For complex multi-step chain relationships, verify that each step correctly links to the next form and that the required data exists in each form of the chain.

What's Next / Related