Analyze and Visualize

Welcome to this tutorial on how to create a report in eazyBI for Jira!

In the last video, we got an overview of how to import data into eazyBI. In this video, we will dig into creating a report. Previously we learned that all Jira issue data are imported either as dimensions or as measures.

Report creation means combining both of them in a meaningful way. Reports are built on the Analyze tab. Before creating your own report, you may want to explore some sample reports as a way to see what's possible with eazyBI. 

When you're ready, click on the New report button. Before we get started, let's take a short tour of what is available in the report creation screen. All available dimensions are grouped in the Dimensions section. Measures are already moved to the report. Below the Dimensions area, the report builder contains Rows, Columns, and Pages. Anything moved to the Rows and Columns will be visible as headers of the report. If two or more dimensions are selected, all combinations of elements of them, called dimension members, would appear in the report. Dimensions added in the Pages will be used to filter the report data. For example, if we move the Project dimension into Pages and then select a single project, only issues from this project will be used in the report. All selected values in Rows, Columns, and Pages form what's called the report context.  This means each cell is calculated separately, taking into account what value is selected in the corresponding row, the column, and Pages.

We are now ready to start creating a report that will demonstrate the basic rules of report creation. In this example, we are creating a timeline that counts stories and bugs in a specific project, resolved in each particular month, as well as time spent on them. As an added bonus we would like the ability to see trends over time. We always suggest starting the report creation as a table even if you need a chart at the end. Don't worry, we will show how to represent table data as a chart in a later video! 

When creating a report, it's important to first understand what metrics need to be represented. These will determine the measures we select for the report. Are you interested in getting the number of issues? A count of transitions? The total logged hours? Once these are decided, we select them from the list of predefined measures. In our case, we need the number of resolved issues and how much time in hours was spent. We add the Time dimension to the report to organize measures according to when they were captured and to filter by a specific time period. After adding a dimension to the rows, the report table is created and the total number of resolved issues and spent hours is shown. 

Dimensions offer a built-in hierarchy, and at each level of the hierarchy, there are members that can be used to group measures in different ways. All dimensions contain an All level member, usually called the default member. It shows the aggregated value of all the members below. You can access all dimension members by expanding the default member. For the Time dimension, the hierarchy level members include years, quarters, months, and days. There is also a Weekly hierarchy with years, weeks, and days. Because the Time dimension has more than one hierarchical level, it may be necessary to expand the dimension panel and select the needed level directly. Let's select Months for our report. To limit the months by a specific year, add another instance of the Time dimension into Pages to set up a filter. As soon as a dimension is moved in Pages and value is selected, it limits what appears in the report rows. In our example, we select the year 2019, and we see the months of this year. Next, we add all other filter criteria to the report. We need to filter our report by a specific project or projects! There is an option to select several values from the same dimension as well, using the option "multiple", which would cause the report to retrieve issues from one or more projects. Only issues that match all the selected dimensions – or filter criteria – are included in the report. Sometimes it is useful to select the "All level" or default member when adding a dimension in Pages. This enables other report users to select their own filter criteria later. While the default member is selected, the filter does not affect the report data. 

Next, we need our values represented only for bugs and stories! For that, we need to add the Issue type dimension somewhere in the report. When a dimension is added together with a measure, the value is automatically calculated for each dimension member. While there are no hard rules about where a dimension be added, longer dimensions with more dimension members like Time and Issues are usually moved in the report Rows. You may want to narrow down visible dimension members. A quick way to select only one dimension member to be included in the report is to use the Select this option! If the result is not the one you desired, use the redo and undo options! The easiest way to add just a few select members is by using the Search and bookmark option. Then unselect the collapsed All level member and select the bookmarked ones. Voila! We have a report about resolved bugs and stories, and hours logged on them split by months.

Now we want to see a trend of how things went over time. Use the option Add calculated to draw a trend line for issues resolved; use the same option for hours spent to calculate the cumulative sum. You might want to explore other calculations that you can quickly add to your report! If the report gets too complicated, you can try to move the dimensions and measures around at any time. The result won't change. For instance, changing the sequence of dimensions in the Column section would change how data are grouped in the table - by measures or by issue types. Don't be afraid to experiment while creating the report! Notice, you can always see what is behind the total number: Click on the cell and select Drill through issues and open the list of them. You can even open them in Jira!  Drill across is another way how to explore this total by other dimensions. Let's see how resolved stories in May are split across priorities. Use the redo option to get back to the initial report! Depending on the report, it may be better displayed as a table or a chart. A timeline chart based on this table will be created In the next video. For now, remember to save the report to the Home folder or another specified location. Note that saving the report saves its structure, not the snapshot of data. When the report is opened, the values will automatically recalculate, based on the most recently imported information. Now the report is visible in the report list.

Before you go, let's take a short quiz:

What is mandatory to add to the report?

1. Measures - False. While "Measure is a treasure", it is not enough to create a nice report based purely on measures. Something else is needed.
2. Dimensions - False. Dimensions are a list of values and measures are not stored within them. 
3. Both - True. Report creation means combining Measures or quantitative values with Dimensions or, in other words, numbers and the context of them.

It's pretty clear what Rows and Columns are on the report. What are Pages for?

1. For adding new values - False. While changing the values in Pages affects numbers in the report, new values are not added. In opposite, values are filtered. Ooops, did the correct answer just slip out?
2. For filtering - True. Dimensions added to Pages will be used as report filters.
3. To enter a parallel world - False. I know, report creation sometimes seems a voodoo, but Pages are not a portal to a parallel world. Sorry.

In this video, we created our first report by combining dimensions and measures and adding some calculations. Go to the next video to see how to create a timeline chart based on this table report!