REPORTS OVERVIEW

Reports Overview

A report returns a set of records that meets certain criteria, and displays it in organized rows and columns. Report data can be filtered, grouped, and displayed graphically as a chart. Reports are stored in folders, which control who has access.You must have “Read” permission on the records included in your reports; otherwise, when you run them, they may be missing data or appear blank.

To help you monitor your organization, Salesforce offers a wide range of standard reports, accessible in standard report folders on the Reports tab. You can also create new custom reports to access exactly the information you need. Subtotal and limit your data to help you analyze trends and get a concise picture of what is happening in your organization.

Salesforce supports three report formats, each with varying degrees of functionality and complexity:

Format	Description
Tabular	Tabular reports are the simplest and fastest way to look at data. Similar to a spreadsheet, they consist simply of an ordered set of fields in columns, with each matching record listed in a row. Tabular reports are best for creating lists of records or a list with a single grand total. They can't be used to create groups of data or charts, and can't be used in dashboards unless rows are limited. Examples include contact mailing lists and activity reports.
Summary	Summary reports are similar to tabular reports, but also allow users to group rows of data, view subtotals, and create charts. They can be used as the source report for dashboard components. Use this type for a report to show subtotals based on the value of a particular field or when you want to create a hierarchical list, such as all opportunities for your team, subtotaled by Stage and Owner. Summary reports with no groupings show as tabular reports on the report run page.
Matrix	Matrix reports are similar to summary reports but allow you to group and summarize data by both rows and columns. They can be used as the source report for dashboard components. Use this type for comparing related totals, especially if you have large amounts of data to summarize and you need to compare values in several different fields, or you want to look at data by date and by product, person, or geogr

Dashboards Overview

A dashboard shows data from source reports as visual components, which can be charts, gauges, tables, metrics, or Visualforce pages. They provide a snapshot of key metrics and performance indicators for your organization. Each dashboard can have up to 20 components. Administrators control access to dashboards by storing them in folders with certain visibility settings. Dashboard folders can be public, hidden, or restricted to groups, roles, or territories. If you have access to a folder, you can view its dashboards. To view a dashboard component, users need access to the folder for the underlying source report. Follow a dashboard to get updates about the dashboard posted to your feed.

Dashboard filters let viewers choose which data to display on a dashboard using a drop-down menu. You no longer have to clone the dashboard and all the underlying filtered reports for each subset of data; instead, you can use a single dashboard with one set of source reports to serve a wide audience. Each dashboard filter is based on a single field and can have up to 10 options defined by operator and value. Contact salesforce.com if you want to increase this limit.