Regular reports in FieldEx let you explore live data from any module (for example, Jobs, Assets, Sites, or Projects) using your own selection of fields, sorting, grouping, and filters. They are ideal for operational lists, performance views, or ad-hoc analysis where you want to see individual records rather than fully aggregated summaries.
This article covers:
What a regular report is and when to use it
How to start a new report and select a module
How to choose fields, sorting, and grouping
How to add filters and control how users run the report
How to run, save, export, or discard a report
How the report table behaves (columns, sorting, and empty states)
What Is a Regular Report?
A regular report shows one row per record from a single module, based on the fields you select. For example, you might build a regular report to list open work orders, assets due for inspection, or customers with active contracts.
When creating a report, you can also choose whether the report should include aggregated fields (for example, total hours, counts, or averages). This article focuses on regular reports, where the aggregation option is turned off. A separate article will cover aggregated reports in detail.
Tip: Use regular reports when you want to see individual records (for example, a list of all overdue jobs). Use aggregated reports when you want summarised values (for example, total jobs per customer per month). |
Starting a New Report and Selecting a Module
Every report in FieldEx is built from a single module. The module you select decides which fields are available (for example, Job fields vs Asset fields) and what each row in the report represents.
Path: Reports > + New
From the Reports page, click + New in the header. This opens the Select Module popup.
In the Report Modules dropdown, choose the module you want to base the report on (for example, Jobs, Assets, Sites, Projects). This field is mandatory.
Leave the slider “Do you want this report to have aggregated fields?” set to Off for a regular report. If you switch it on, the report will support aggregated fields and use the aggregated report layout instead.
Click Next to confirm your selection and open the report builder, or Cancel to close the popup without creating a new report.
Once the report builder opens, the first few default fields from your selected module are displayed as columns. You can then refine the field selection, sorting, grouping, and filters from the sidebar.
Using the Overview Tab (Fields, Sorting, and Grouping)
The Report Builder sidebar appears on the left-hand side. For regular reports, it contains the Overview and Filters tabs. The Overview tab controls the module, fields, sorting, and grouping of your report.
1. Select Module
The Select Module dropdown shows the module you chose when you created the report. To change the module you will need to discard the report and create a new one.
2. Select Fields
Use the Select Fields dropdown to choose which fields should appear as columns in your report.
As you add fields, they appear in the sidebar list and as columns in the table. You can usually rearrange columns directly in the table to change their order.
If a field is a number, a “#” icon is displayed before its name in the selection list to make it easier to spot numeric fields for sorting or calculations.
Click the Remove icon next to a field in the sidebar to remove it. This removes the field from both the sidebar and the report table.
Only a maximum of 20 fields can be selected for a single report. If you reach this limit, you will no longer be able to add new fields until you remove some existing ones.
3. Sorting
The Sorting section lets you sort your report by one or more fields. This step is optional.
Use the sorting dropdown to choose a field you have already added under Select Fields.
After selecting a field, click on it to toggle between sort orders: Ascending (for example, A–Z, oldest–newest) or Descending (for example, Z–A, newest–oldest). The icon beside the field changes accordingly.
Use the Remove icon to clear a sort. The report will then no longer be sorted by that field unless you re-add it.
Only a maximum of 5 sorting fields can be selected for a single report. If you reach this limit, you will need to remove one of the existing sort fields before adding another.
4. Grouping
The Grouping section allows you to group rows by one or more fields (for example, group jobs by Customer, or assets by Site). This step is optional.
Use the grouping dropdown to select fields from your Select Fields list. The report will then group rows by the distinct values of those fields.
Click the Remove icon next to a grouped field to ungroup by that field.
Only a maximum of 5 grouping fields can be selected for a single report. If you reach this limit, you will need to remove an existing grouping field before adding another.
Tip: A common pattern is to group by a high-level field (for example, Customer or Site) and sort by a date field (for example, Job Start Date) within each group. This makes it easy to see records in a logical order for each customer or location. |
Using the Filters Tab
The Filters tab lets you narrow down which records appear in your report (for example, only open jobs, only assets in a specific region, or only tickets created this month).
1. Adding filters
Use the Filters dropdown to choose a field to filter by. Available filter fields are based on the fields you selected in Select Fields.
When you select a field, a filter configuration popup opens where you can choose the operator (for example, equals, contains, greater than) and the values for that filter.
Use Apply to confirm the filter and add it to the filter list, Cancel to discard your changes, or the close button to exit without applying the filter.
2. Allowing users to edit filters
Tick “Users can edit the filters for this report” if you want other users to adjust filter values when they open the report. This is useful for reusable templates, such as “Jobs by Customer”, where users may change the customer value.
3. Requiring filters before the report loads
Tick “Users must select the values of this filter to load the report” if the report should not run until specific filter values are chosen. For example, you might require a date range or customer before any data can be displayed.
When this option is enabled, users will be prompted to select values for the required filters before they can run the report.
4. Managing existing filters
Each filter in the list has a dropdown icon which opens the filter configuration so you can adjust its operator or values.
Use the Remove icon to delete a filter from the report.
Running, Saving, Exporting, and Discarding a Report
Above the table, the report builder header shows the report name and action buttons. For a brand-new report, the default title is “New Report”.
Editing the report name
Click the Edit report name icon next to the title to rename the report inline. Use a short, clear name that makes it obvious what the report shows (for example, “Open Jobs by Region”).
Header buttons
Cancel – opens the Discard Report popup. Use this if you want to leave the builder without saving your latest changes.
Save – validates your configuration and saves the report to the current folder. You will be returned to the reports list, where the new report appears.
Export – opens the Export Report popup, where you can export the current report to CSV, Excel, or PDF and optionally email it to users, groups, or external email addresses.
Run – executes the report based on your selected fields, sorting, grouping, and filters, and displays up to a fixed number of records up to 2,000 rows in the table. To see all records, export the report.
Discard Report popup
If you click Cancel while editing, the Discard Report Confirmation popup appears. It warns that unsaved changes will be lost.
You can choose:
Cancel – close the popup and stay on the report, keeping your unsaved changes.
Discard – discard the report and go back to the reports list without saving changes.
Save Report – save the report and return to the reports list in one step.
Tip: Get into the habit of clicking Run first to check that your fields, sorting, and filters behave as expected, then click Save once you are happy with the result. |
Working with the Report Table
The report table shows one column per selected field and one row per record returned by the report. You can adjust columns and sorting both from the sidebar and from the table itself.
Columns and sorting in the table
Columns in the table are driven by your selections under Select Fields. Removing a field in the table also removes it from the sidebar, and vice versa.
Each column header has a Column dropdown menu. From this menu, you can:
Choose Sort Ascending to sort the report in ascending order by that field. An ascending icon appears on the column header.
Choose Sort Descending to sort in descending order. A descending icon appears on the column header.
Choose Remove Column to remove that field from both the table and the Select Fields list in the sidebar.
Empty States
Report not run yet: If you have not clicked Run, the table shows a message such as “No records displayed yet. Run the report to view records. Note: Running the report will only display up to a fixed number of records. Export the report to see all records.”
No data: If you run the report and no records match your fields and filters, a message appears such as “No records found for your selected fields. Create some records to view them when running this report.”
Real-World Examples of Regular Reports
Open jobs by region: Module = Jobs. Fields for Job Title, Status, Region, Customer, and Target Date. Filtered to open statuses, grouped by Region, sorted by Target Date.
Assets due for inspection: Module = Assets. Fields for Asset Name, Site, Next Inspection Date, and Custodian. Filtered to assets with Next Inspection Date in the next 30 days, sorted by date.
Tickets by priority: Module = Tickets. Fields for Ticket ID, Priority, Status, Assigned Team, and Created Date. Grouped by Priority, with filters for Created Date this month.