Report Columns

The Columns Tab, found in various Report property views, enables you to:

• Select the columns to include in the report.
• Order the columns.
• Define custom regular expression driven columns.
• Sort by multiple columns.
• Group by multiple columns.

The Column definitions:

The Column definitions control lists all columns included in the report.

• Use the Enabled check box to either enable or disable a column in the report.
• The Key column lists the unique key for each column. The built-in column definition keys are read-only.
• The Name column lists the column header's display string. By default, the key value is used to look up the locale specific string from resource DLLs. Use the Name text box to override the locale specific string that is assigned to the column's key.

  Once modified, regardless of locale, the value you specify is used in the report. To once again use the locale specific values, re-create the report.

• The Data Type column lists the column's data type. The built-in column definition Data Types are read-only.
• Use the Up and Down buttons found on the right side of the table control to change the column display order.
  

  Sample column definition properties

How to create a custom regular expression driven column:

Some reports enable users to define column content using one or more regular expressions. This format enables multiple log entry types to display different values to the same column. The last regular expression to match is applied.

• Click the Add button. A new empty column definition is created at the bottom of the list.
• Use the Key text box to specify a unique key to be used by filters.
• Use the Name text box to specify the column header's display string.
• Use the Data Type drop-down to select the data type to assign to the column.
• From the RegEx column, click the Down button to display the Regular expressions control.
• From the Regular expressions control, click the Add . A new Regular expression is added to the bottom of the list.
• Use the Value text box to specify the regular expression that defines a key value pair. For example, when reporting on Event ID 4624(S): An account was successfully logged on., use the following regular expression to apply the new logged in user's account name to the TARGET_ACCOUNT_NAME column:
  New Logon:\r\n\s+Security ID:[^\r\n]+\r\n\s+Account Name:\s+(?<TARGET_ACCOUNT_NAME>[^\r\n]+)

  To successfully validate, a regular expression variable must be defined that matches the key. For example, if the key is TARGET_ACCOUNT_NAME, there must be a corresponding variable ?<TARGET_ACCOUNT_NAME> The regular expression is validated against the current column key after you tab out of the text box or move focus to another control.

• Use the Up and Down buttons to change the regular expression order of execution.
  

  Sample regular expression definition properties

Sort By:

• Use the Select from list drop-down to select an alternate column to sort by when the values in the prior column are identical. You can sort by as many columns as necessary to get the desired results.
• Use the Sort Order column drop-downs to assign the sort directions.
• Use the Up and Down buttons found on the right side of the table control to change the order of sorting.
• To delete an item, either select a single line item or use the shift and/or ctrl keys to multi-select, then either press the Delete key or press the Delete button.
• To clear all listed items, press the Clear button.
  

  Sort by properties

Group By:

• Use the Select from list drop-down to select each column to group by.

  When reports are emailed or saved to a file, a table is generated for each unique set of Group By columns.

• Use the Sort Order column drop-downs to assign the sort directions.
• Use the Sort By Count column checkbox to sort the groups by the count of rows rather than the names.
• Use the Up and Down buttons found on the right side of the table control to change the order of grouping.
• To delete an item, either select a single line item or use the shift and/or ctrl keys multi-select, then either press the Delete key or press the Delete button.
• To clear all listed items, press the Clear button.
  

  Group by properties