This document outlines the methods and processes used to get data and reports from the Colleague database.
What is SSRS?
At Carleton, we use SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) as our primary reporting tool for Colleague. When you hear the term 'SSRS', you can think of it as a system used to extract data. It's not just an isolated reporting tool, but also a space in which to collect your reports. When you go into SSRS, you'll see a collection of reports and spreadsheets that are pertinent to your position in the college.
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If you prefer to work in Excel for certain projects, ITS also builds template spreadsheets for you in SSRS. Whenever you start a new spreadsheet report, you should pull up a template, make your modifications, and save it under a different name. We try to simplify the underlying Colleague data for you in the spreadsheets, while still leaving you lots of opportunity to extract a wide variety of data. We have links to documentation on each template, so please review that prior to creating a new spreadsheet.
Remote Work with Colleague Reporting (SSRS) |
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Colleague Reporting can be accessed for remote work while maintaining the following:
Recommended References: |
How do security and accounts work?
Each folder, report, and template is assigned to a 'department' at the college. When a person is employed, they are assigned to one or more departments. This information flows through to our provisioning software. When you log in to your Windows machine (PC or laptop), your credentials are stored. Software like SSRS can read these credentials and can then associate you with your department and it's associated security. Thus when you pull up SSRS in Internet Explorer, you don't have to log in - it already knows who you are. And when employees come-and-go, they are automatically provisioned and de-provisioned into SSRS.
There may be exceptions to the rule, in cases where a person from outside of your department needs access to your reports. A call to the ITS Helpdesk can begin the process of provisioning this access.
How do I access SSRS?
To get into SSRS, pull up Internet Explorer (don't use Mozilla Firefox) and go to collreports.ads.carleton.edu\Reports. You'll see a screen that look something like this:
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Function | Description |
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Move | This option will come in handy if you are creating new folders and organizing your reports. If you'd like to move this report to a new folder, choose the 'Move' option and select the appropriate new folder. |
Delete | Most reports are written by ITS and should remain in your folders. If, for some reason, you really need to delete a Report Builder report, this is the proper way to do so. |
Subscribe | Subscriptions are requests to have reports sent to you automatically on a pre-arranged time schedule. For example, you may want a particular report emailed to you on the first of every month. While this option will let you set up your own subscriptions, we do not support this at Carleton because the subscription will keep your password and when you change your password in a few months, the subscription will no longer work. If you are interested in getting a subscription to a particular report, please place an ITS helpdesk call and a Colleague support person will assist you with your request. |
Create Linked Report | |
View Report History | |
Security | You are able to view the security settings of this report. |
Manage | |
Download | |
Edit in Report Builder | If you have been trained in Report Builder, this is how you modify reports. We do not secure Report Builder at Carleton, so anyone can try to write reports against the views that they have access to. However, it is highly encouraged that you gain knowledge in Report Builder prior to doing this. |
Run a Report Builder report
You can run Report Builder reports by double-clicking on them. They will open in an SSRS screen. If there are parameters in the report, you will see prompts at the top of the screen. If you look to the right-hand upper corner of the report, you will see a blue question mark. Click on this symbol to pull up the documentation for the report.
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