Move/copy/replace reports

Joan Poblet shared this question 6 years ago
Completed

Morning,

I have two questions regarding reports organization:

  1. Is it possible to move a bunch of reports from a folder to another at once? Currently, it's so hard to reorganize reports and folders moving the reports one by one.
  2. When you copy/move a report from a folder to another, if there is a report with the same name in the destination folder, is it possible to allow replacing the destination report instead of making a copy?

Many thanks.

Best Regards,

Joan.

Replies (6)

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Hi Joan,

1. Yes, the trick is to select the 1st report of the bunch, then hold down the Shift key and then select the last report of the bunch, then drag them to the desired folder. I have attached a video that demonstrates how to do this.

2. No, this is not possible in the moving-to-folder process. It is only possible during the Import process when you select the Replace option.

regards,

David

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Hi David,

Thank you very much for your detailed explanation!

Regarding the "replace" topic and if you don't mind, I would like to explain why we are interested on that. Maybe then you could guide us on achieving the same result in another way. Our reports publishing process works in the following way:

  • Each report writer has a first level folder with his/her name and, within it, two subfolders: "Work" and "Validation".
  • On the other hand, there is a Public folder with several subfolders. These subfolders are the only ones open to the report consumers. It like the "Production environment" of reports.
  • The report writer can only create and move reports between her/his Work and Validation folders.
  • In addition to that, there is a reports administrator (who is just another report writer with extended folders rights) who is the only one granted to move reports from every Validation folder to any public folder. She validates the reports which are in the Validation folders and if the are right, she copy them to the proper public folder.
  • This publishing process provides us with the control of the reports that are available for consumers, apart from being sure that those public reports are always right.
  • The problem comes when a report must be modified: The report writer must delete the previous version in her/his Work folder, copy the last one from the public folder and when the report is approved in the Validation folder, the administrator must delete the previous public version and copy the new one. If the report was linked to dashboards, other reports or storyboards, this creates a big problem and a extra work to regenerate everything again.


Maybe is there a better way to implement the same publishing control (writers -> administrator -> consumers) without needing the separated folders?


Many thanks for your help!


Regards,

Joan.

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Hi Joan,

yes I can see how a "replace" option would benefit your workflow very much! Unfortunately the only way I can see for you to do this now is to export the newly modified, validated report, then when importing it back into Yellowfin be sure to select the public folder and also to select the Replace option.


However, please feel free to raise an Idea in the Community about having a Replace option to be available when moving/copying reports between folders!


regards,

David

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Hi David,

Unfortunately, the import/export option doesn't fit because they are administrative functions and the reports movement and replacement is done by a Report Writer. :(

As you suggested, I will raise an idea.

Thank you!

Regards,Joan.

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Hi Joan,

yes I can understand that you want to keep the Report Writer's role separate from Administrative functions.

And I think it's a good idea you have raised!

regards,

David

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Hi David,

We have realized that some users can drag & drop reports from a folder to another while other users cannot. We have tested in the same computer and browser. Why is it happening? Is there a configuration option that we have to activate to allow it?

Thank you!

Regards,

Joan.

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Hi Joan,

when you move a report your are, in effect, changing the Report Details (the folder and sub-folder metadata). This is the same as when you edit a report and then go to save it, and there in the save dialogue is the option to change the folder and sub-folder.

In other words, you must have the role permission to be able to modify reports. This particular permission for this is:

Report Builder->Public Reports->Update


regards,


David

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