Date printed: 03-29-2024   Last updated: 08-31-2021

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Applies to versions: 3.1, 3.2



Using Expressions in Custom Report / Custom Payroll Export



There are various types of expressions in a Custom Report, each of which serve a different purpose and have access to a certain set of Expression Variables.
See the Supported Functions for Expressions article for more information on using expressions, and a list of available functions.
See the Expression Variables article for a detailed list of the variables available as Input Data Variables and General Report Variables .
All expressions for custom reports/custom payroll exports also have access to the [report_source] variable.

 

 

There are several special commands that will result in actions taken by the custom payroll/report engine. To use these, simply have the column evaluate to the Special Command and the Result will happen.

Special Command Result Example Command Example Return
action_remove_this_row The entire row will be removed from the report.  Note: The report engine checks for this after evaluating each column, left to right.  If it is found, additional columns are not evaluated.  This can be helpful, for example, when a column to the right does something, such as setting a custom tracking field.
action_new_page A new page will be created.  Requires the report to be run in a mode that supports pages, such as PDF.
duplicate(list)

Causes the current row to be duplicated.  The first row gets the value at the beginning of the list. Subsequent rows will be created and given values from the comma (or array) of values passed in.  If a list, format as "row1,row2,row3".

Columns without duplicate will simply have the data copied.

duplicate("Labor,Machine,Setup")

duplicate([payrollEventType].",Bonus")

Three rows, the first with "Labor" and the second with "Machine" and last with "Setup"

Two rows, the first with the payroll type, a second with "Bonus"

  • reportSourceIsCustomReports
  • reportSourceIsPayrollExport
  • reportSourceIsAutomaticReports
  • reportSourceIsPAPI
For Custom Payroll and Custom Reports these functions will tell if the report is being ran from Custom Reports, a Payroll Export, Automatic Reports, or PAPI respectively. This is used when you want to show different information or take different actions for a report being ran as a payroll export, for example, that you do not normally want to do. reportSourceIsCustomReports() "1"

 

 

 

Column Values

 

 

 

Preamble/Footer Values

Using expressions for preamble/footer columns is similar to using them in the columns tab, however preamble/footer expressions only have access to  General Report Variables.

 

 

 

Subtotal Expressions

In the subtotals tab there are two types of expressions (as well as some style expressions, see below section about style expressions).

 


Filter Expressions

To use a filter expression simply input an expression into the "Filter by Expression" section for the desired column.

 

 

 

Format Expressions

In addition to just formatting the subtotal result, the "Format" field can contain an expression to change the value after the data is totalled.

 

 

 

Style Expressions

Expressions can be used to more dynamically change the style of a report output for advanced formats like xls, xlsx, pdf, or html.

 

 

 

Style Selecting Expressions

Wherever there is an option to choose a style for part of the report, the style can also be determined by an expression.

 

 

 

Expressions in Styles

In the Styles tab, every element of a style can be determinded using an expression instead of a static value



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