Where do I start a new report in Cloud Reporting?

You can create and design a report in Bold Reports^® Cloud. Your permissions decide which categories you can create reports in:

If the user has All Reports permission, then the user can create reports in any category.
If the user has Reports in Category permission with some chosen categories, then the user can only create reports in those chosen categories.
Reports must be added in any one category.
Reports can be designed in the Standalone Report Designer and then it can be published into the Bold Reports^® Report Server.
Reports created by using the SSRS Report Builder can also be uploaded into the Report Server.

Note: Starting from v6.1, the default interface for creating or editing reports is the new designer. The appearance of old designer has been deprecated. For more information related to this change, please refer to the corresponding section.

How to create a report

You create a report by selecting Start from Scratch from the [+] icon in the toolbar, and the report opens in the Web Report Designer.

Click the [+] icon in the toolbar and select Start from Scratch.
Enter the report name in the dialog box and click Add and Design.

The report will be automatically saved as a draft if the user does not publish it, and you can view unpublished reports on the Drafts listing page.
Now, the Web Report Designer page opens in a new tab, with a blank report by default.

Read Write Delete permission for that Specific Report will be added for the user who created the report.

How to add data to a report

You add data to a new report from the Data panel of the Web Report Designer, for example by adding the Sales sample data.

Click the Data icon in the configuration panel to open the Data panel.
Click EXPLORE SAMPLE DATA in the Data panel.
From the available data, select Sales data and click Add.
A new data source and dataset are added to the report and listed in the Data panel.

How to add a chart report item

In the Web Report Designer, the left pane in the design view lists basic items, data regions, data visualizations, and subreports that you drag to the design area.

Here, the Chart report item is used for demonstration.

Select any of the Chart type in the left pane, then drag and drop it to the design area.

Here, Column chart is used for demonstration.
The chart report item appears in the design area.

Assign Data

This step is applicable only for the report items that belongs to data visualization and data region category.

Select the report item in the design area that you want to bind data to.
Click Properties in the configuration panel, and then select the DATA tab in the properties pane.
The DATA tab holds data configuration view.
In the drop-down list, select the dataset that the report item uses.
The numeric columns and numeric expressions are listed under the Measures section; other type of columns and dimension expressions are listed under the Dimensions section.
Drag and Drop Measure Element: Select and drag the numeric column (measure element) or the numeric expression column from the Measure section and drop it in the Y Values section. Now, the report item design will look like below:
Aggregate Options: Click the Settings icon (highlighted below) to open the aggregation type drop-down list. You can set the aggregation type by which you can compute the selected column.
Drag and Drop Dimension Element: Select and drag the dimension element from the Dimensions section to measure against any of the selected numeric column(s) in Y Value(s) section, and drop into the Column(s) section.
Now, the report item design will look like below:
Grouping: You can group the added column element with another column, by adding the respective dimension element into Row(s) section. Now, the report item design will look like below.

Customize the appearance

Select the PROPERTIES tab in the properties pane.

Properties pane

This pane holds some general settings and some specific to the report item. Configure the desired settings to the chart for better report design and to improve report readability.

Chart final design view

How to publish the report

After you finish designing the report, you publish it from the Publish dialog. For step-by-step instructions, refer to the Publish Report section.

How to preview the report

In the Web Report Designer, you preview a report by clicking Preview in the center of the report header.

Click Preview in the center of the report header.
The report opens in preview mode and shows the rendered chart.

Download the above report design from the GitHub repository.

Breaking changes from v6.x

From v6.1 , when creating a new report or editing an existing one, the designer will be displayed by default using the new designer. The old designer look has been deprecated.
If you have previously saved your designer preference on the user profile page, that saved preference will no longer considered, and the related options will no longer be available.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to install anything to create a report?

No. Cloud Reporting runs in the browser. You need a computer with a modern browser and an internet connection, with no software installation.

What happens if I close the designer without publishing?

The report is saved automatically as a draft. You can open unpublished reports from the Drafts listing page and publish them later.

Can I use my own database instead of the sample data?

Yes. Create a shared data source on the Report Server, or create an embedded data source in the report. See Data sources management.

Who can edit a report after I create it?

The creator automatically gets Read Write Delete permission for that specific report. Other users need permissions granted through Manage permissions.

REST API Reference

The following table lists the available APIs related to adding reports.

Action	HTTP Method	Endpoint	Description
AddReport	POST	/api/site/{tenant-name}/v1.0/reports	Add report to the server. Report details must be passed as input.