This topic describes the items that must be defined to create a valid template. The Simple Report example template (EX_RT101), which is a simple report template with only one sheet and one area, is used to illustrate the process. More complex templates are described in the following chapters.

Basic concepts of an input or report template:

•sheet: the sheets of the Excel workbook

•area: portion of a sheet where a specific set of data is shown

•definition column: columns telling what data is shown on the row, for example account code, unit name

•data column: columns showing the facts data, for example euros, pieces or percentages

•dimension: data classification factors used to limit the data retrieved (to a row, column or the entire template)

The first thing to do when creating a new template is to plan the data content and layout. The example template shows actual figures for two months and the change between months. The following figure depicts how it looks when opened in Clausion FPM.

Figure 12: Simple Report