In this blog post, we are going to cover in detail the options auto draft, versioning, publish, and mark as public in our Bold Reports Server. First, we will discuss how these options are used to overcome challenges like data loss and how to save time while designing. Let’s start the discussion with how to make use of these options effectively in our Bold Reports Server.
Auto draft
Auto draft means an automatic saving of data while editing a report. Sometimes, the editing tab or window is closed accidentally during report designing. This auto draft feature will prevent the impact of data loss. The draft you’re working on is saved in the backend server. Whenever something is changed in the design surface, the draft will be automatically saved and the time of the save will be displayed as shown in the following image.
The designed report will be in the Reports tab in the Drafts category with the time and date it was last saved in the server displayed.
Publish
In Bold Reports Designer, you can move a desired report into the Report Server using the publish option. Once the report is published, it is moved to our live site. We can publish the report under desired categories in the Report Server. Under category name, you can name your report and enter the description if needed. Click Publish, as shown in the following image.
The report is published under the Demo Reports Category and is saved in our Report Server as displayed in the following image.
Now, you can click the edit option and the report will be rendered in the design surface. You can make changes and click Publish in the top-right corner of the enterprise server page to publish your changes in the report.
Publish As
This option is like the Save As option, used to save reports under desired categories and store them in our Report Server. For sample, you can publish the Ticket Sales Analysis Report to other categories, also, with another name.
Mark as public
The mark-as-public option is used to allow access to a report to an anonymous user. Only the owner of the report can set this option. It can be enabled in two ways: while publishing the report or in a published report.
Only if this option is enabled can we allow access to unregistered users. The admin can enable the Mark reports as public option in Report Settings or in the notification dialog launched by clicking the Make public option. Then you can share the reports with the required users, as shown.
We can enable the check box Mark As Public and have the report publish as a public report, as shown in the following screenshot.
We can also enable this option in a published report by clicking the context menu options as displayed in the following image.
Once we have published the report, the Get Link option will be shown in its context menu. After clicking Get Link, the copy link clipboard will be displayed. We can share the copied link to give access to the reports to an anonymous user.
Versioning
The versioning option is used to view the version history of a report and restore it to a required version. The versioning of each report is maintained in the Report Server and the changes are updated in corresponding reports. With the help of this option, we can save time. We can just restore the report to a specific point of its creation, no need to redesign it from scratch. The versions of reports are saved under the Versions tab. They can be edited in the Report Designer at any time and a specific version can be restored using the restore option available in the context menu.
The version history is available in the report context menu.
Under the Versions tab, I am going to edit Version 2 by clicking Edit in the kebab menu for it. In Version 2, I have added the chart report item, but the table is not included yet.
For demo purposes, I have restored Version 1 using the Restore option to help to minimize the rework.
Conclusion
I hope this blog provided you a clear explanation on the uses of the report management options and how to utilize them in our Bold Reports Server. To explore further, check out our sample reports and Bold Reports documentation.
If you have any questions, please post them in the comments section below. You can also contact us by submitting questions through our contact page, or if you already have an account, you can log in to submit them. Bold Reports now comes with a 15-day free trial with no credit card information required. We welcome you to start a free trial and experience Bold Reports for yourself. Give it a try and let us know what you think!
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