Building a Report: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough

Overview

The GO Report Designer lets you build custom reports using live data from your business unit. This walkthrough teaches the core pattern — adding a data source, understanding how to work with fields, building a header, and using Data Bands with Child Bands to lay out multi-line rows. The same pattern applies regardless of which data table you're reporting on.

Step 1: Open the Report Designer

1. In the GO sidebar, click Reports.

2. Click an existing report name to open it, or click New Report to create one.

3. The Report Designer opens in a new view with a blank canvas.

Step 2: Add a Data Source

GO has around 10–12 reporting tables covering different areas — projects, tasks, resources, time, financials, and more. Before you can display data, you need to add at least one.

1. In the designer, click Add Data Source (in the top toolbar or the Dictionary panel).
2. A list of available tables appears. Browse the list and select the table relevant to your report.
3. Click Add. The table and its fields appear in the Dictionary panel on the right under Data Sources.

Adding multiple tables: You can add more than one data source. Each gets its own entry in the Dictionary panel. Use the appropriate one in each band depending on what data you need.

Note: The Business Unit data source is always available automatically — you don't need to add it manually.

Step 3: How to Use Fields in Your Report

Once a data source is added, its fields appear in the Dictionary panel. Here's the pattern for using them:

Dragging fields onto a band

1. Click a band on the canvas to select it (bands are the horizontal containers — more on this below).
2. In the Dictionary panel, expand Data Sources → your table.
3. Drag a field onto the band. This creates a Text component with the field expression pre-filled, e.g. {TableName.field_name}.

Typing expressions manually

You can also click the Text tool in the toolbar, draw a text box on a band, then type an expression directly:

• Inside a Data Band: use {TableName.field_name} — this iterates through rows.
• In the Report Title Band or Page Header Band: use {VariableName} for business unit fields — see Step 4.

Using the Expression Editor

Double-click any text component to open the expression editor. Click the {x} button to switch to expression mode and drag fields from the Dictionary panel directly into the expression.

Step 4: Add a Report Title Band (Header)

The Report Title Band renders once at the top of the entire report — perfect for your logo and business unit details.

1. In the designer, click the Insert tab in the top ribbon. A row of band type icons appears.
2. Click Report Title Band to add it to the canvas.

You can also right-click on the canvas and select Insert Band → Report Title Band if you prefer.

Add your Business Unit logo

1. Click the Image tool in the toolbar and draw a box in the title band.
2. In the properties panel, set the Image URL expression to {bu_logo_url}.
3. Enable Stretch and Aspect Ratio to prevent distortion.

Important: Always use {bu_logo_url} from the Variables section of the Dictionary — not from Data Sources → Business Unit. Variables work in all bands; data source fields only work inside a Data Band.

Add Business Unit details

1. Click the Text tool and draw a text box next to the logo.
2. Use expressions from the Variables section of the Dictionary panel:

3. Drag these from Variables in the Dictionary panel — not from Data Sources.

Gotcha: Dragging from Data Sources → Business Unit gives you {Business_Unit.bu_name} syntax, which renders blank in the title band.

Step 5: Add a Page Header Band (Column Labels)

The Page Header Band renders at the top of every page — use it for column headings above your data rows.

1. Right-click the canvas and select Insert Band → Page Header Band.
2. Add Text components with your column labels (e.g. "Project", "Task", "Amount").
3. Align them to match the fields you'll place in the Data Band below.

Tip: Use a Line component at the bottom of the Page Header to visually separate the heading row from the data rows.

Step 6: Add a Data Band with Child Bands

This is the core pattern for displaying rows. A Data Band iterates through every row in your data source. Child Bands let you add additional rows of content directly beneath each parent row — useful when you need to show more information than fits on a single line.

Add the Data Band

1. Right-click the canvas below the Page Header and select Insert Band → Data Band.
2. In the Data Band's properties, set the Data Source to your table.
3. Drag the primary fields onto the band — these appear as the first line of each row.

Add a Child Band (first sub-row)

1. Right-click the Data Band and select Insert Band → Child Band.
2. A Child Band appears directly beneath the Data Band. It renders once per parent row.
3. Drag secondary fields onto it — details you want on a second line for each row.

Add a second Child Band (optional)

If you need a third line per row — for example, a notes field, a sub-total, or a visual separator:

1. Right-click the first Child Band and select Insert Band → Child Band.
2. A second Child Band appears below the first.
3. Add components as needed — additional fields, a Line component as a row divider, or a calculated expression.

What this looks like when rendered:

[ Data Band:    Project Name       Client          Total ]
[ Child Band 1: Task description line                   ]
[ Child Band 2: ---------------------------------------- ]
[ Data Band:    Project Name       Client          Total ]
[ Child Band 1: Task description line                   ]
[ Child Band 2: ---------------------------------------- ]

Step 7: Add Grouping (Optional)

If you want to group rows by a field (e.g. all tasks under their project):

1. Right-click above the Data Band and select Insert Band → Group Header Band.
2. Set the Group Condition to the field you're grouping by, e.g. {TableName.project_uuid}.
3. Add a text component showing the group label, e.g. {TableName.project_name}.

Gotcha: Do not set Bold directly on text components inside a Group Header Band — the text will silently disappear. Instead, enable Allow HTML Tags on the component and use <b>Your Text</b>.

Step 8: Preview Your Report

1. Click the Preview tab at the top of the designer.
2. The report renders with your real business unit data.
3. If something looks wrong, switch back to Design and adjust.

Common things to check:

• Logo appears and is not distorted
• BU name and address show real values (not blank)
• Data rows are populated
• Child Bands appear beneath each row correctly
• Groups are correct if using grouping

Step 9: Save a Draft

1. Click Save Draft in the designer toolbar.
2. The live/published version is not affected — users still see the previously published version.
3. Come back and continue editing at any time.

After saving, the designer reloads automatically. BU variables ({bu_name}, {bu_logo_url}, etc.) are re-injected by the server on reload.

Step 10: Publish

1. Click Publish in the designer toolbar.
2. The draft is promoted to the live version.
3. All users with access to the report will now see your published design.

Tips & Gotchas Summary