QAD 2017 Enterprise Edition > User Guides > System Administration > System Interface > Using Advanced Reporting Tools
  
Using Advanced Reporting Tools
Use programs on the Report Setup Menu (36.4.21) to support advanced reports and dashboards designed using the Cognos reporting tool. Additionally, several QAD-designed dashboards are available with QAD Business Intelligence 2.5 and higher. See QAD Business Intelligence User Guide for detailed information on these programs.
Dashboards add an interactive element to reports. They let you:
• Drill up and down to see higher and lower levels of detail.
• Include multiple charts derived from different data sources in a single report.
Important: Although the setup menu is also available in the character UI, you can only view the resulting reports and dashboards through the QAD .NET UI.
QAD-Provided Dashboards
If you have purchased QAD Business Intelligence 2.5 or higher and the appropriate supporting elements, you can implement several QAD-provided dashboards. See QAD Business Intelligence User Guide for detailed requirements and procedures.
Custom Reports and Dashboards
You can implement custom reports and dashboards without using QAD Business Intelligence, as long as you have installed the following components:
• QAD .NET User Interface
• QAD ReportNet Bundle, delivered with the QAD .NET UI
• Cognos 8.2
Use the following workflow to implement custom reports and dashboards.
1 Set up the QAD report server after installing Cognos 8.2.
2 Create reports and dashboards using Cognos Report Studio. See Cognos BI 8 Report Studio User Guide for details.
3 Configure report settings and perform report synchronization using programs on the Report Setup Menu:
a Use Report Control (36.4.21.24) to configure report server settings and view or modify URL parameters.
b Use Report Synchronization (36.4.21.2) to synchronize reports between the system and the report server.
c Use Report Parameter Synchronization (36.4.21.4) to synchronize report parameters in the system with the report server.
4 Create menu entries for the new reports using Menu System Maintenance (36.4.4.1).