Creating Reports

Lambda Predict gives you the ability to generate template-based reports for your predictions. A basic report template is provided for each reliability prediction standard that is included with your license, as well as one for generic standard items (which can be used to combine data from different prediction standards).

You can customize the appearance of these predefined report templates, and also manage and build your own custom report templates. Reports can be generated in Microsoft Word and/or Excel. This provides maximum flexibility for customization and distribution as well as the ability to create HTML and PDF versions of the reports, as desired.

To create a report, select the standard item (i.e., , , , , or ) that represents the system or assembly you want to generate the report for, then choose Prediction Tools > Data Views > Report.

The report will include data for this system and any subsystems it may contain.

Using the Select Report Window

In the Select Output Type area, select whether you want to generate the report in either Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word. Note that the appearance, especially headers and footers, may be different.

The Available Reports area presents a list of the existing reports and stored plots that are available for the type of standard item you selected (Generic, MIL-217, etc.). This may include:

Defined Templates, which are customizable report templates (*.lpr9) that have been saved to the default report template location (C:\Users\[user name]\My Documents\ReliaSoft\Lambda Predict 9\Reports) or recently opened from the current computer.

If you want to create a new template, click the Add icon. If you want to edit or delete an existing template, select the cell and then click the Edit or Delete icons that become visible when a particular template is selected.

Tip: Custom report templates that are stored in the default location are always available and do not need to be individually loaded.

Default Reports, which are predefined ("canned") reports that are built-in to Lambda Predict. (These include the "Calculation Information" report that is also available when you choose Prediction Tools > Data Views > Calculation Information, and, for FIDES standard items, the "FIDES Phases" report that is also available when you choose Prediction > FIDES > Item Phases.)
Plots, which are stored plots that have been saved with the project. This is the same list of stored plots that is visible in the current project explorer. Since the report will include the plot graphic only, it does not matter which prediction standard was used for the analysis.

Use the check boxes to select which reports will be generated. For each selected template, if you wish to sort the records, choose a data field in the Sort Field drop-down list. Note that only the fields that appear in every block/component within the selected data set can be used for sorting. Use the Sort Type drop-down list to specify the order (ascending or descending).

Click OK to generate the report. For documents created in Excel, the individual reports and plots will be placed on separate worksheets within the same Excel file. For documents created in Word, the individual report forms and plots will be separated by section breaks within the same Word file.