Table of Contents

Creating and Modifying Reports in CATS

CATS allows full customization of reports. This page will serve as a detailed description of how to create reports in CATS. This guide will get you started with understanding how reports work and how you can use them to make the most out of your CATS data. Users can change the filters, columns, and order format to control which records, which information about those records, and in what order records are displayed on the report.

Choosing a Report

The first step is determining what type of report you want to use. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will be taking a look at creating a Traffic/Insurance report. Traffic reports use information from location screens to display your current position. A single traffic screen is considered one record on the report.
From the main menu, pick Position Reports > Traffic/Insurance.

Select Traffic/Insurance from the Menu

CATS will display a list of previously created and saved formats to choose from.
All reports in CATS are stored as saved report formats. There is no limit to the number of formats you can store in CATS. Users can also take ownership of report formats and prevent other users from changing them.

Lists of saved reports are unique to each report type. You cannot view a report you created under the Overall Position report area in the Open Position report area.

If you click on a report name, you can see details about that report.

List of Saved Reports with Filters and Last Run Data

In the red box, we see a list of currently applied filters and their values. In the green box, we see details on who last saved the report and when it was last printed. Items highlighted in blue in the list indicate a favorite report for your user ID. See the wiki on Recent and favorite reports for more details.

Modify - Choose modify to make changes to an existing report.
Print - Print without changing any parameters.
Blank - Create a new report by clicking blank.
Close - This will close the select format screen and go back to the previous screen.
Buttons on the right are available for quick printing: Printer, HTML, Excel or PDF.

Click the Modify button to continue to the report designer.

The Report Designer Screen

CATS will display all currently selected filters, orders, and columns for this report.

The Report Designer Full Page


The different parts of the screen are broken down into different functions: Title/Options, Actions/Settings, Orders, Filters, and Columns.

Title, Icons, and Actions

First, we will take a look at top-level options, at the very top of the screen.

Title, As Of Date, Icons, Etc.

Here we have settings that will affect what records are shown on the report, as well as actions we can take to change the report.

Title, Etc, With Explanations

From left to right, we have:

Changing Filters

In the top left section, you can see the filters currently selected for this report. The Filters let you limit which records will appear on this report.

Report Designer selected filters.

Here is a review of all these options in more detail.

Detail on filters section.

To the right of the Filters label, the number displayed (8) is the current number of filters you have set for the report.

To change a filter currently set, simply click on a dropdown box and change the value selected. If you are required to enter a value, you will be given a dialogue to do so.

Filter Options

If you click on the dropdown arrow for a particular filter, you will see the options available for that filter. Most filters have similar options, though Date filters have more specific options. See more about filter options here.

Adding Filters

Click on the green + sign to open up the list of unused filters.

List of unused filters.

Search using the blank box.
See filters based on the old list of pages by using the Page dropdown arrow.
Use the scrolldown bar to see more filters.
Use a dropdown arrow to set a filter, or click on the green button to add that filter to the report.

Use a dropdown arrow to set a filter, or click on the green button to add that filter to the report.

Here, we can see that when we select Any Date for the DO Date filter, this filter gets added to the list of used filters.

Added DO Date filter

Keep adding or changing filters as needed to get the records you need.

Setting Up Groups & Subtotals

Under the Groups & Subtotals area, you can set how records are grouped and in what order they are displayed within each group. In the top right section, you can see a list of subtotals and groups available for this report format.

List of Subtotals and Groups available for this report format.

Grouping names with numbers to the left of them are selected for this report.

Adding and Removing a Grouping

Enter a number to the left of the group name to add that grouping to the report.
You can also click on the green + button to add a grouping.
Use the blank Search bar to look for groups by name.

To remove a grouping, zero out the number or click on the red - button. You can also click on the arrow icons to move the grouping up or down in hierarchy.

Subtotals and Page Break

To Subtotal by a particular group, click the check box. In our example here, we have chosen to subtotal by Account Sale - Buyer, then by Grade/Description. After that, we order by Purchase Contract and Location Screen, with no subtotals on those orders.

Annotated list of groups

Modifying Columns

Columns are the details that CATS will show about each record. You can choose which information to display about the records on your reports using the column selection feature. In the bottom of the screen, you can see a list of the columns available for this report format.

List of columns available for this report format


Column values are shown left to right across the top of the reports, with the column numbered 1 starting on the left, 2 the next in line, etc.
Click on a heading in the columns scan (such as “Description”) to sort by that value. You can also use the search box to find all or part of a column description.

Adding a Column

Enter a number in the Pos column next to each column name that you wish to see on the report. Column names with zeroes will not be printed on the report.
Alternatively, you can click on the green + button to the left of a column name to add it to the report. You can also use the arrow keys to move a column name up and down in line, which will change its number and thus its position on the printout of the report.

The column numbers do not need to be unique; CATS will re-number them if you save and re-enter the report designer.

Removing a Column

Simply click on the red - button to remove that column name from the report.
Or, you can put a 0 in the Pos field.
Finally, click on the blue Remove all option to remove all columns from the report.

More Column Options

Annotated list of columns

Total Options

Certain columns will allow you to display totals or other summing information, assuming you have subtotals set to display. Here are the options for totaling columns.

Options for column totaling.

Creating Custom Columns

The CATS report designer allows you to create custom columns, using other columns as a basis.

Here are several uses for custom columns:

  1. Calculations Based on a Fixed Amount: For example, you could enter a fixed market level per pound, then reference the weight on an open contract and figure out the market value of that material. Or, you could enter a ratio or percentage to use to figure out an insurance factor.
  2. Relative Column Calculation: In the example below, we see the creation of a custom column that figures out a flat sale-purchase price and multiplies it by the weight on the inventory. You could reference any number of columns and figure out a very complex calculation that is unique to the situation or to your business.
  3. Custom Formatting for Import/Export of Data: If you work with data in other programs, you can use a custom column to truncate or add information to columns.

First, find the column with the Heading called Blank and the Description of Wildcard column for use with calculated values Click on the green + button to add the column to the report.

Click the green plus button to add a custom column.

Next, click on the paper and pencil icon to access the customize column area.

Click on the paper and pencil icon to customize a column.

A new box will pop up for you to fill out. This is the basis for your custom column.

Basis for custom column

The fields for this box are:

Column Formula

Hover over the Column Formula field to see the instructions for creating a custom calculation.

Tooltip for using custom columns.


Place the number of each column you reference in regular parentheses (#).
Use curly brackets to indicate mathematical functions {(14)-(12)}

Custom column by reference to column number.


In the column we have created, we are taking the values of column 14 (Sale Price) minus the values of column 12 (Purchase Price) and multiplying the result by column 7 (Weight in Lb).

If you remove or add a column, you will need to manually change the column numbers and letters used for reference in these calculations.

Number Format

Excel Formula

Hover over the Excel Formula field to see the instructions for calculating a custom column for output to Excel.

Hover to see the Excel column calculation tooltip.


The Excel formula relies on the alphabetical nomenclature that Excel uses (A-Z, then AA-ZZ, etc.).
Enter the Excel names of the columns followed by the number of the row to start with in parentheses.A(10). Use A(?) to calculate for the whole column.
Enter mathematical expressions using parentheses as well (N(?)-L(?)).

Custom Excel Formula
If you remove or add a column, you will need to manually change the column numbers and names used for reference in these calculations.

Excel Format

Hover to see how to find a custom Excel format.

Hover over the field for Excel Format to see instructions for how to find a custom Excel Format.

Printout Settings

By clicking on the gear icon, you can see the current printout settings for this report.

Report Printout settings.
Settings changed here only apply to this one saved report format, not to all reports or one type of report.

For more detailed examples of each report option setting, click here.

Report Header Options

On the left, we have Report header options. Use these options to simplify the printout of the report and remove confusing or confidential information from the header.

PDFs can only be encrypted if PDF encryption is enabled for your instance. Contact New Data Systems for more information.

Styles & Colors

In the center, these options control HTML output settings.

More Options

On the right, we have more options for printed and HTML reports.

This overrides what you have set for the Groups & Subtotals you picked above.

Use the buttons on the top menu screen to print the report.

report designer print menu

File - The CATS main menu. Selecting an option here exit the report designer and revert all your changes to the current report format.
Print… - Select the output using the standard print dialog.

The following menu options will open the report in the style that you prefer. Any option you choose will ask if you want to save the report. See Saving a Report Format below.

Saving a Report Format

There are three ways to save a report:
1. CATS will prompt you to save after printing a report if you are coming from the report designer screen.

2. If you click on the Save icon (an image of a file) on the top of the report, you can save this report format.

3. If you make any changes to the report format in the designer, then pick Exit from the top of the screen, CATS will prompt you to save the report.

You can either save with the same name, or you can enter a different report name to create a new report format and leave the old one untouched.

Enter a report format name to save this format.

Save After Printing

After you print, CATS will offer you three options involving saving the report:

Three options after printing.