A report template's inputs are the details it needs each time a report is made from it, such as the site to cover, the day or the shift the report is for. The template stays the same; the inputs change from one report to the next. Two reports from the same template with different inputs are two different documents: one for Monday's shift and one for Tuesday's, or one for each site.
What a template asks for
The assistant decides a template's inputs when it writes the template, from the report you describe. A daily site summary asks for a site and a day; a shift report might ask for the shift's details as a whole. Each input has a name a person reads, and some are required: a report cannot be made until every required input has a value.
To change what a template asks for, ask the assistant, for example "ask for a date range instead of a single day" or "make the site optional and cover every site when it is left empty". The assistant changes the template and its inputs together, so the two always agree. A change to the inputs counts as a new version of the template, and each report records the version it was made from.
Dates and time zones
A report prints its dates and times in its own time zone. When an automation makes the report, it can give the time zone; when you preview it, the preview uses your own. The footer of every page shows when the report was made, in that same time zone.
Filling in the preview
The editor's preview is made with inputs you fill in yourself:
- Select Edit preview inputs. Pyron shows a form with a field for each input the template asks for.
- Fill in the fields, or choose a report under Use the inputs of a report made from it to copy exactly the inputs that report was made with.
- Select Update preview.
The Preview inputs strip above the preview shows the values the preview was made with. Until every required input has a value, Update preview stays unavailable and the strip shows how many are missing. Your inputs are saved on the template when you update the preview, so the next person to open it starts from the same values. They belong to the preview only: a real report takes its inputs from whatever makes it.
Choosing a report under Use the inputs of a report made from it previews the template with that report's exact inputs. It is the quickest way to see how a change to the template would have changed a report that was already sent.
Inputs from an automation
Reports are made by automations. When an automation makes a report, it passes the template its inputs from what set the automation off: the entry that was logged, the details another system sent, or the period a scheduled run covers. The automation must give every required input, and each value must be the kind the template expects, otherwise the report is not made and the automation's run says why.
You set this up by describing it to the assistant on the automation, for example "when a shift is submitted, make the shift report for that shift and email it to the site manager". The assistant connects the automation's details to the template's inputs for you. Every report made this way keeps the inputs it was made with, so you can always tell what a report covers and preview the template with the same values.
For making reports on a timetable, see Report schedules.