Filter a Report - Creating Running Date Filters

Filtering a report for a specific date/day when a course section is running is a common request. Filtering an InSight report for a running date takes more than one filter to obtain the desired outcome. Follow these steps to create the five filter fields needed to correctly filter a report to obtain all the course sections running on a specific date. The five filter fields must be in the order listed here to correctly match the filter logic added towards the end of the process.

Assuming you are working on a report you designed or a copy of a XenDirect report that already contains the [Sections] table, remove all existing filters. You can add other filters later.

• Add the Course Section > DateStart field as filter 1:
  
  • Alias = Date Start 1
    
  • Required = Yes
  • Visible = Yes
  • Cascading = No
  • Operator = Comparison >> Is Less Than
  • Default = Leave blank
• Add the Course Section > DateEnd field as filter 2:
  
  • Alias = Date End 1
    
  • Required = Yes
  • Visible = Yes
  • Cascading = No
  • Operator = Comparison >> Is Greater Than
  • Default = Leave blank
• Add the Course Section > DaysofWeek field as filter 3:
  
  • Alias = Day of Week
    
  • Required = Yes
  • Visible = Yes
  • Cascading = No
  • Operator = String >> Like
    
  • Default = Leave blank
• Add the Course Section > DateStart field as filter 4:
  
  • Alias = Date Start 2
    
  • Required = No
  • Visible = No
  • Cascading = No
  • Operator = Date & Time >> Null
• Add the Course Section > DateEnd field as filter 5:
  
  • Alias = Date End 2
    
  • Required = No
  • Visible = No
  • Cascading = No
  • Operator = Date & Time >> Null
• Enter Filter Logic: This part instructs InSight how to handle the combination of the five filter fields to obtain the correct outcome.
  • (1 OR 4) AND (2 OR 5) AND 3
• Save the report.

To get all records for a specific single date:

• Determine the date desired. Example 10/5/2022.
• Enter the day after in Date Start 1. Example 10/6/2022.
• Enter the day before in Date End 1. Example 10/4/2022.
• Enter the full name for the Day of Week that matches the date desired.
• Enter other filters as desired.
• Click the [Update Results] button to update the report output.

The reason we use day after and day before is because the Date 1 and Date 2 filters use "less than". There is not a "less than or equal to" option. If we don't use the day before and day after, it is possible some records could be missed that have the actual date such as a course section that starts and ends on the same date.

You can add more filters if desired. However, for every filter you add, the filter number must be used in the logic and used in the correct syntax to perform correctly. If you add more filters but exclude them from the logic statement, they are ignored during the [Update Results] process.

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