Reading Reports
How to read a Folio report: sorting and filtering it, using its chart, and exporting it.
Overview
A report looks the same wherever it appears: on the Folio Reports tab, on a Lightning page, in a Flow or on a public site. From the top:
- The utility bar, with the tools the report offers. See The utility bar.
- The title, on a colored banner.
- An optional header strip of labels and values, such as Owner and Region.
- A line such as "120 records · Summary", unless the report hides it.
- The chart, if the report has one.
- The table.
Every report is live. Opening it reads your org's data at that moment, and everything you see is limited to the records and fields you have access to. A colleague opening the same report can see different rows.
A report with nothing to show says No records.
The table
Tabular reports list one record per row. The first column and the header stay in place as you scroll, and a totals row sits at the bottom when any column is summarized. Large reports load as you scroll: rows appear as you reach them, and the count in the line under the title is always the full number of matching records. The totals cover every matching record, not only the rows loaded so far.
Summary reports list records under a band for each group, with its record count in brackets. Click a band to collapse or expand that group. Each group ends in a subtotal row, and a grand total closes the report. Subtotals and totals always count every matching record, even when the report lists only some of them under each group.
Matrix reports show one grouping down the side and one across the top, with a number in each cell. A Total column and row add them up. A cell with nothing in it shows a dash.
Scorecard reports show one row per record, with a column for each measure and a totals row at the bottom.
Sorting
On a tabular report, click a column header to sort by it. Clicking again reverses the order, and a third click turns sorting off for that column. Click more headers to sort by several columns at once, up to three, in the order you clicked them.
Sorting reruns the report, so it orders every matching record rather than only the rows on screen. Some reports turn sorting off, or allow it on some columns only.
The utility bar
The tools above the title depend on the report and on where it is placed. A report can show all of them, some, or none.
| Tool | |
|---|---|
| Export | Download the report or copy it. See Exporting. |
| Filter | Narrow the report without changing it. See Filtering. |
| Hide Chart / Show Chart | Put the chart away, or bring it back. Only on reports with a chart. |
Filtering
Click Filter to open Filter report.
- Click + Add filter.
- Pick a field, an operator, and a value. The operators depend on the field, as they do in the Editor.
- Add more rows if you need them. All of them must match.
- Click Apply.
The report reruns with your filters added to its own, so counts, subtotals, totals, the chart and exports all reflect them. The Filter button shows how many are in force. Clear removes them.
Your filters narrow what you see and nothing else. They are not saved to the report and nobody else sees them. You can filter on the report's own object, not on related records.
Filter does not appear on a report whose data is supplied by another system rather than read live, since there is nothing to rerun.
Charts
A chart sits above the table on summary and matrix reports whose author added one. It shows the same numbers as the table beneath it, and the table always has every value, including any the chart groups together.
Hover over a bar, slice or point to see its value. A pie or doughnut adds its share of the whole, and a stacked bar adds the stack's total.
Filtering the table from the chart
Click a bar, slice or point and the table narrows to that group. Click it again to show everything.
Click a legend entry to cross it out. That series leaves the chart and the table together: a pie slice's group disappears from the table, and a matrix series' column disappears from the grid.
The two combine. While either is in force, a chip beside the chart title says what it is doing, such as "Filtered to Finance · 2 hidden", and clicking the chip resets both.
Some totals are hidden while the chart is filtering, because they would add up records you cannot see and read as the sum of the ones you can. On a summary that is the grand total. On a matrix, narrowing to a row hides the totals row, and crossing out a column hides the row totals and the grand total.
This all happens on the page, on rows the report already has. It never changes the report, never shows anything the report did not, and is cleared when the report reruns or the chart is hidden. Exports ignore it and always contain the whole report.
Filtering from the chart needs a mouse or touch. Every value is in the table below for anyone using a keyboard or screen reader.
Groups folded into Other
A pie or doughnut shows its five largest slices and gathers the rest into Other. Clicking Other narrows the table to all of the groups inside it.
A matrix chart shows up to eight series. When there are more, the smallest are gathered into Other, or, for measures that do not add up (averages, for example), the chart shows the first eight and says so beneath it.
Exporting
Click Export to open Export report, then pick a format.
| Format | What you get |
|---|---|
| Excel (Simple) | Rows and columns, no formatting. |
| Excel (Formatted) | A styled workbook with headers and number formats. |
| A formatted document, ready to print or share. | |
| CSV | Plain comma-separated values. |
| Copy as JSON | The report's data, copied to your clipboard. |
The report decides which formats are offered.
Exports contain the whole report, not just what is on screen. On a large tabular report Folio gathers every matching record first, which can take a moment; the dialog says so while it works. Your own filters from the Filter tool are included. Filtering from the chart is not.
The formatted exports match the report on screen: its brand color, its header strip, and any cell or header coloring. The PDF keeps text selectable, repeats the header on every page, and widens the page when a report has too many columns to read on standard paper.
Two formats stop at a row limit, because they are built in your browser and very large ones would freeze it: PDF at 5,000 rows and Excel (Formatted) at 25,000. A report over the limit exports its first rows and the dialog tells you it was cut short. CSV, Excel (Simple) and Copy as JSON have no limit, so use one of those for a full extract.
Charts are not included in any export.