Flexible Reports

Automate the generation and presentation of standard animations, plots, and tables. Add or overlay predefined page sets to the current session.

The content and layout of a report is defined by a report definition. A report definition specifies how to post-process result information for a particular test or analysis data file. Report definitions typically consist of a series of pages containing HyperView, HyperGraph, and TextView windows.

Use flexible reports to easily compare test and simulation data. Channel Mapping is available, which reconciles mismatched channels (Type, Request, and Component data). Save the reconnected channels to a configuration file and use this file later. From the dialog, directly edit parameter attributes for parameters created with the Parameters Browser.

To access Flexible Reports, go to File > Session > Flexible Reports.

Figure 1. Open Session and Set Parameters dialog

Parameter: The parameters included in the currently selected report template.
Current Parameter Value: The value of the corresponding parameter in the Parameter column. You can select the parameter to edit it directly.; The checkbox next to the plot file parameter indicates if the file is used. When deactivated, curves are not generated from those unchecked files. Any curve referencing these curves are also not generated.
Default Parameter Value: The default values for each parameter listed in the dialog. It is a non-editable field. By default, this column is hidden. Press the arrow, , to display the column.

Click Apply to append, replace, or overlay new pages. When using Overlay and Replace in situations where multiple applications of the same report exist, the application prompts you to select the correct report to overlay or replace.

Add a Report Template

Go to File > Session > Flexible Reports.
From the Open Session and Set Parameters dialog, click the folder icon to add a report template.
Use the File Browser to select the report template (.tpl file).
The dialog is populated with the file's information.

Delete a Report Template

Go to File > Session > Flexible Reports.
From the Open Session and Set Parameters dialog, select the report template you want to delete and click the trash can icon.
The file and its content is removed from the dialog.

Display

Select from the following display options:

Autofit X Axis/Autofix Y Axis: Locks the x or y axis of the current plot so that it does not change as new plots are overlaid.
Auto place notes: Automatically fits any notes you add to the window.
Use report colors: When selected, line colors, line styles, symbol colors, and symbol styles are applied based on the report template. When the Use report colors checkbox is deselected, curve lines and symbols are colored based on the default colors specified in the preferences file. In both cases, the report template controls the display of curve lines and symbols.

Channel Check

Use Channel Check to add flexibility to HyperGraph by reconciling reports with mismatched channels.

Validate Channels

After loading and selecting a report template from the Report Templates list, select one of the following Channel Check options from the Flexible Reports dialog, and click Apply.

Validate Channels: The Channel Mapping dialog is displayed if there is a mismatch among type/request/components. From the Flexible Reports dialog, you can also click the check mark, , to display the Channel Mapping dialog.; HyperGraph checks the subcase type, data type, request, and component values between the files and displays the matched and unmatched channels in the dialog. All channels referring to a file can be skipped, and you can check and reconnect their types, requests, and components if there is a mismatch. If there is an unmatched channel and you select a component from one of the drop-down menus (Subcase Type, Data Type, Request, or Component) to correct it, HyperGraph automatically fixes the other mismatched components. Mismatched channels are displayed with a red x next to them, . A green check mark, , indicates a match.; Figure 2. Channel Mapping dialog with unmatched channels; Figure 3. Channel Mapping dialog with mismatched channels; Figure 4. Channel Mapping dialog with matched channels
Select Best Match: The Channel Mapping dialog is not displayed. Instead, a best-match algorithm runs in background to match the type/request/components if there is a mismatch. You can also perform this operation using Select Best Match icon, , from the Flexible Reports dialog.
Skip Validation: The Channel Mapping dialog is not displayed, nor does it use the best match algorithm in background to match the type/request/components if there is a mismatch; it plots the signals as-is.

Filter and Sort Data Lists

The Channel Mapping dialog contains filtering and sorting functionality to facilitate matching the Subcase Type, Data Type, Request, and Component channels, along with other display and filtering options related to the lists that are displayed in the fields. Wild card support is not available.

Display Channels: All displays all channels.; Matched only displays the matched channels.; Unmatched only displays the unmatched channels.

The following options are available at the top of the Channel Mapping dialog.

Select Best Match: Inserts the best matches into the selected fields, according to the matching algorithm. The results are sorted using a string match to the shortest distance. The icon to the right of the field changes from this, , to a yellow star, , upon selecting this option.
Confirm: Click Confirm to approve the current best match selections. The icon displayed in the the selected fields is updated from this, , to this, .; If you do not confirm the best match results, and you exit out of the Channel Mapping dialog and return to it later, the best match results are no longer sorted and displayed. You will have to redo this operation.
Reset: Resets the fields to the default, or previous, selections. The and icons return to the .
Auto-connect similar channels: This option is on by default. If you want to manually correct one or more channels without similar channels updating automatically, deselect the Auto-connect similar channels option.
Note: If you reselect Auto-connect similar channels before saving your selections to a config file, and you attempt to a match a channel, all similar channels are mapped, and your previous selections are overridden.

Context Menu and Configuration File

Some options described above are also be available via a context menu. Right-click while one or more fields are selected from the dialog, as shown below. You can select only some of the channels listed. From the context menu, select Select Best Match to sort the currently selected channels. Click Confirm to approve the results.

Note: If the buttons at the top of the dialog are used, the actions are applied to all channels; if the context menu is used, the actions are only applied to the selected channels.

Once the channel mappings are resolved, click Save Config File to save the reconnected channels to configuration file which can be used for future mappings.

Click the File Browser icon in the Open Config File field to load a previously saved configuration file to correct any unmatched channels. Once loaded, click Apply on the main panel to plot your results.

Sort Node IDs

You can sort a large number of node IDs in the Channel Mapping dialog.

Whether you are sorting the entire table or only a certain number of selected items using the context menu, Select Best Match sorts the entire list, and displays the lists beginning with the closest match. Click Confirm to display the sorted list of node IDs in the drop-down menu.

Note: When you choose Select Best Match, the sorted list is always displayed in the drop-down list. If you do not click Confirm to approve the best match, or if you click Reset, the original list is displayed.

Auto-fill

Autofill

Fills the Current Parameter Value field(s) with parameter information that is based on information from the selected field.

File name: Autofills the directory. Other files needed for the report template are updated to use the files in the selected directory based on the file name.
File extension: Autofills the directory. Other files needed for the report template are updated to use the files in the selected directory based on the file extension.
None: Disables autofill. Select the required file set for each parameter.

Use Autofill Directory

Fills the Current Parameter Value field(s) with parameter information that is based on information from the selected field.

Go to File > Session > Flexible Reports.
From the Open Session and Set Parameters dialog, click the folder icon to add a report template.
The Parameter column lists the template's data files. The Current Parameter Value column displays the filenames used in the session.
Click Apply to plot the data.
Click PLOT_FILE_1 to activate the parameter.
Click the file folder icon to select a new file.
To autofill the remaining files in the Reports panel, right-click the file path next to PLOT_FILE_1 and select Autofill directory.
By selecting Autofill directory, the other files needed for the report template are updated to use the files in the selected directory.

Figure 7. Autofill option

Mode

Each time a report definition is loaded, you can overlay, append, or replace the pages of the new report.

Overlay: Overlay mode combines report animations and plots for comparison in the session. Report definitions with different names can be overlaid if they have the same layout, which means the same number of pages, where each page has the same page layout and the same number of applications per window. If the report layout does not match, the report is added to the end of the session.; If Overlay is selected with the HyperView or TextView windows, the existing window is overwritten.; When plots are overlaid, the axis of the existing plot is rescaled to match the overlaid plot and the curve colors assigned in the report definitions are retained. The axis of the existing plot can be preserved, and new colors can be assigned to same-color curves using the Append or Replace options listed below.
Append: Adds a report to the end of the current report.
Replace: Replaces an existing report with a new report. Report definition names must match. If report definition names do not match, the report is added to the end of the session.; Note: When replacing and overlaying reports, matching report definitions must be used. If a page has been removed from a report during a session, the data for that page is ignored when replacing or overlaying.; Click Apply to append, replace, or overlay new pages. When using Overlay and Replace in situations where multiple applications of the same report exist, the application asks you to select the correct report to overlay or replace.

Layers

Turn on/off the display of the various layers (all layers included in each individual report template are affected). From the Flexible Reports dialog, click the Layers icon,

, to display the Layers dialog.

Note: Cells created by overlaying reports in TableView will not belong to a layer and therefore cannot be turned on/off via the Layers dialog.

Refresh: If you delete a curve or make other changes within the Flexible Report Templates dialog, such as adding another layer, click Refresh to reflect those changes inside the Layers dialog.
Rename: From the Layers dialog context menu, click Rename to rename the selected layer.
Delete: From the Layers dialog context menu, click Delete to delete the selected layer.
Note: Curves associated with the layer will be deleted in HyperGraph; models in HyperView or cells in TableView will not be deleted.

If you overlay two report templates, you will lose all the "saved" parameters.

By creating multiple report definitions, you can quickly post-process result information from various test and analysis sources. Report definitions can be interactively added to a session by adding separate report definition files. Report definitions can be placed directly in a session file or registered in your preference file so they are automatically loaded at startup. Report definitions added from the preferences file are not saved to the session file.

Use Cases for HyperView Multiple Result Files

Report templates can be used for single model+multiple result files use cases as follows:

The model file and result files are saved as Parameters in the template with a special syntax used for the result files.

The parameter name for the Result file is: RESULT_FILE_<PAGE#>_<WINDOW#>_<MODEL#>_<FILE#>

Note: This naming convention is implemented only for the single model+multiple result files scenario. In the case of a single model+single result file, the result file name remains as RESULT_FILE_<FILE#>.

This naming convention properly identifies the result files belonging to a particular page/window/model. You can then choose to replace only that specific set of files without affecting other files.

To select and replace a particular result file, there are two options:

Select a particular file parameter and replace it with a different file.
Figure 10.
Select several or all result files and replace them with a different set of files. This can be done by clicking the Add Multiple Result files icon from the Flexible Reports dialog. The Result File List dialog is displayed, which lists all result files (RESULT_FILE_) in the report template.
Figure 11.

From this dialog, you can select all files or a subset of files. Click the file browser icon to select a different set of files to replace. The Sort check box is enabled by default, which means that the files picked as replacements are always sorted in alphabetical order first before replacing. If the Sort check box is deselected, then the files are used in the order the operating system selects them.

Note: On Linux, the sort option is always enabled so the check box is grayed out.

Note: If the number of files picked to replace (M) is greater than the selected (N) files, then any extra files are ignored. Conversely, if the number of files picked (M) is fewer than the selected (N) files, then only the first M files will be replaced.