Working with reports

Reports turn selected operational information into a document you can review, supplement and download as a PDF. Use them for inspection results, order documentation, product documentation or illustrated catalogues.

Design reusable layouts in Operations Studio. Open generated documents from the record they describe, such as an order, material or work centre. Available actions depend on your permissions, the selected site and environment, and the templates configured for that context.

Understand the building blocks

Building block	Purpose
Report template	Defines the information source, fields, layout and reusable text. A published version can be used to create reports.
Source	Supplies information, such as an order, a historical submitted form or a curated parts catalogue.
Document subject	The record the report belongs to. It can differ from the source: an inspection captured on an order can describe its product.
Report draft	Captured source information plus your document title, introduction and conclusion. It remains editable.
Final revision	A fixed document revision with its captured content and preserved PDF. Later changes require a correction.

App inputs collect answers; a report presents selected information. Saving input, publishing a template and finalising a report are separate actions. Standalone Form capture is retired; authorized historical submissions remain readable sources.

Create and review a report

1. Open the relevant record and find Documents from templates. Choose the create action. A configured App or authorized historical output can also open this workflow with the source already selected.
2. Choose a published document template. The available templates must match the source and your access.
3. Confirm the document subject and source records. A template can use one record or an explicitly selected collection of up to 50 records of the same source type.
4. Preview the selected data. Check the title, identifiers, fields, images and missing values.
5. Choose Create draft. This captures the source information at that point in time.
6. Add an introduction or conclusion, then choose Save changes. These additions belong to the document; they do not edit the operational source.

Save before reloading or closing the browser. A preview does not create a report, and unsaved edits are not a saved revision.

Refresh, finalise and download

An existing draft does not silently follow every change to its source. Choose Refresh source data when you want to read the selected records again. Your introduction and conclusion are retained. Review the refreshed information before continuing. Refreshing source data does not switch the report to a newer template publication.

Choose Finalise report after reviewing the content. Finalisation fixes the revision and preserves its rendered PDF. If rendering fails, the report stays a draft so you can resolve the problem and try again. Finalisation records a fixed document; it does not itself add an approval signature or complete the underlying order.

Use Download PDF for the saved revision. Check the actual downloaded file before sharing it, especially long text, images, page breaks and language. A draft download is still a draft; downloading does not finalise it.

Correct a final report

1. Open the final revision and choose Create correction.
2. Edit the new draft. It initially copies the earlier captured information.
3. Choose Refresh source data only if the correction also needs updated operational data.
4. Save, review and finalise the correction.

The earlier final revision and its PDF remain available in History. A newer template publication or renderer update does not rewrite an already issued PDF. Deleting a draft removes that draft's content, not the source records or other revisions.

Work with language versions

Use the document language controls to open or create a linked English or German version. Review its text side by side with the source where needed, and save manual corrections. Translate with Konnie is available when report translation is enabled for your workspace; manual translation remains possible when it is unavailable.

Language versions retain the source reference and operational identifiers. Complete missing text before finalising a language version. If Source updated appears, the version still contains its captured content: open the latest source and create a new language version to include the changes. Each version must be reviewed and finalised separately.

Resolve common problems

What you see	What to do
No published templates	Ask a template author to publish a compatible template in the same context. Check your site, environment and access.
Missing values or images	Check the selected source and field bindings. A dash means missing information, not zero or a verified result. Repair the source and refresh the draft.
Incomplete parts catalogue	Restore or reconcile the parts list and photo assignments before export. See catalogue workflows.
Conflict after saving	Another change has been saved. Reload the latest saved version, compare your intended changes and apply them again.
Source no longer accessible	Ask the record owner or administrator to check access. A report link does not grant access to its source.
PDF request failed	Reopen the document or its output history to check whether it was saved before repeating the action. Use an offered retry on the existing output.

For setup instructions, see Report templates and Report workflows.