Ubidots allows system integrators, OEM's, and industrial IoT providers to offer their own IoT portal to end-customers. Without the need for an internal software team, administrators are able to offer customized access portals to their end-customers or employees. Along the way, when you need your data the most, Ubidots reports are available and able to be scheduled for regular reception. In some cases, preventing product losses with a simple but regular update via your email inbox.
Requirements
An Ubidots account with an Industrial license or greater.
1. Creating reports
Follow the steps below to create a scheduled report.
Go to the Reports module from the Data → Analytics tab.
Click on the "+" button located at the upper right corner of the screen to create a new report.
Give it a name and description.
Add tags to it to sort your reports or to even define which reports can be seen by specific end users in your app by creating tag matches between them. Learn more about tags here.
Click on the “scheduling” tab to adjust the scheduling settings.
Toggle the “send scheduled report” to enable the scheduling settings.
Customize the settings as needed:
Data Range: Time frame of the data you wish to display. If "set by report" is chosen, the date range will take the one set from the preview.
Timezone: In which timezone you desire your report to be generated.
Send report every: How regularly you wish the report to be sent.
Format: The format (PDF or XLSX) in which the report will be generated.
Message body: It is important to include the key {{url}} in the message to receive the link to download the report.
Recipients: A comma-separated list of the email addresses to which the report will be sent.
2. Adding content to reports
Once the report is created, a preview should be displayed. At this point it's empty, so let’s add sections and data to your report.
Click on the "+ add section" button that's located just below the range, aggregation, and sample controls to add new sections. The available options are:
a. Header: Assign headers to your reports to differentiate the tables and charts below them. You can set the font family, size, alignment, and color of the header to your desired preference. Also, define if you want it to be rendered on a new page.
b. Body: Add a single text that describes different sections of the report or even complete paragraphs. You can set the font family, size, alignment, and color of the text to your desired preference.
**TIP**: You may recreate date headers within the body by using the keys {{now}} , {{start}} and {{end}}, as shown below:
The result will look similar to this:
c. Line chart: Generate a graph with variables' data. Follow the steps below to add line charts to your report.
Click on the "+ add variables" button.
Search for the device and variable(s) you want to add. Click on “select” to confirm.
The variables will be displayed in row format. Click on each to customize it with the following options:
– Type: How the data will be represented. The available options are line (default), bars, scatter or step.
– Aggregation method: Define how the data should be computed based on the variable's data over a sample period. Available options are set by report (default), raw, maximum, minimum, count, average or sum. If "set by report" is chosen, the aggregation method from the preview will be used to build the report.
─ Sample period: Choose the time span to compute the data aggregation. If "set by report" is chosen, the sample period from the preview will be used to build the report. This option is not available if you selected "raw" as the aggregation method.Optionally, you can delete, copy or hide a variable by clicking on the options next to the variable's name.
Click on “save” to add the line chart to the report. You should be able to see it in the preview.
d. Widget snapshot: Add existing widgets from your dashboards. Follow the steps below to add widgets to your report.
Click on the "+ add widget snapshot" to add a widget.
Search for the dashboard that contains the desired widget and then click on the widget's name to add it. Click on “save” to confirm.
Choose the size behavior from the following options:
- Auto: Use the default size.
- Inherit: The widget will have the same size as in the dashboard it's in.
- Custom: Enter the Height and Width in pixels (px).If the widget is in a dynamic dashboard, choose the device that will provide the data for the widget snapshot.
Click on “save” to add the widget to the report. You should be able to see it in the preview.
e. Table: Generates a sheet with variables' data. Follow the steps below to add tables to your report.
Click on "+ add variables" button to add variables.
Search for the device and variable(s) you want to add. Click on “select” to confirm.
The variables will be displayed in row format. Click on each to customize its aggregation method and sample period.
– Aggregation method: Define how the data should be computed based on the variable's data over a sample period. Available options are set by report (default), raw, maximum, minimum, count, average or sum. If "set by report" is chosen, the aggregation method from the preview will be used to build the report.
– Sample period: Choose the time span to compute the data aggregation. If "set by report" is chosen, the sample period from the preview will be used to build the report. This option is not available if you selected "raw" as the aggregation method.Optionally, you can delete, copy or hide a variable by clicking on the options next to the variable's name.
Click on “save” to add the table to the report. You should be able to see it in the preview.
3. Adding widgets to reports
As part of the content that goes into your report, you can create widgets directly on them and, thus, have more control over the way they look and behave in comparison to a widget snapshot. Click on the "+ add section" button (located just below the range, aggregation, and sample controls) and go to the “widgets” tab to add one. These are the available widgets (more will be added in the future):
Image: Add images that enhance your report, either by improving its look (with your company’s logo, for example) or by contributing to its content. Upload the image and control these characteristics in the appearance tab:
Its name.
Whether the image is aligned to the left, center, or right of the report.
Its width.
Whether the image scales automatically or not.
Its background color.
Your custom style.
Text: In comparison to the text option already available in the "sections" tab, the text widget gives you more control over its appearance, allowing you to add background images or colors to your text.
Clock: Display the time and date in your reports with the style that best suits your needs.
4. Managing and editing reports
4.1. Preview and report options
1. The list of existing reports allows you to move to other report's preview. To deploy the list, click on the name of the current report. Then, select the one you want to display.
2. Global time and aggregation options allow you to select a global sample period and aggregation method that governs all sections that have the “set by report” option configured.
3. Report actions: From here, you can edit, save or select advanced options of the report.
a. Advanced options are:
- Save as new: In short, it allows you to duplicate the report.
- Show logs of previous instances when the report has been sent and their status.
- Delete the report.
- Build and manually send the report.
- Organization: Assign the report to any of your organizations.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It’s recommended to save the report after every change. If not, unsaved changes will not be stored or taken into account when generating the report.
4.2. Section's options
Hover the mouse over a section to display its options.
Move the section 1 position downwards.
Add a new section above the current one.
Move the section 1 position upwards.
Edit the section.
Delete the section.
5. Enable reports for end users
IMPORTANT NOTE: This functionality is only available for Industrial plans or above.
Create a user if you don't have one.
Assign a role with permission to see, edit and delete reports.
Go to the Data → Analytics tab.
Click on the report's options button.
Select "organization".
Choose the organization in which the user is assigned.
Click on Save
Now, each time an end-user logs in to the app, they will see a new section called "analytics" in the "data" tab, where they will find the reports assigned to their organization.
6. Notification Center
You can keep track of the reports manually generated or that are in progress by clicking on the inbox icon, located left of the "my profile" icon in the main navigation menu.
