Creating or editing a View

The View Builder page opens when you click View Builder from the menu on the left-hand side of the HRMS Employee Self Service workspace.

When you to create or edit a View (on the New View page or the Edit View page), make entries in the following tabs:

Format View tab
Select Fields tab
Group & Sort tab
Define Output tab
Set Filter tab

Click Back to List in the upper right-hand corner of the View Builder page at any time to return to the View Builder Home page.

Note: HRMS Employee Self Service displays the View Builder menu item only for employees assigned the View Creator role on the Assign Admin Roles page.

Using the Format View tab

Use this tab to configure View details such as the name, description, access level, and page title.

To format the View

For View Name, type a name for the View.
Note: The name can contain letters (A-Z), numbers, spaces, and an underscore (_). The name cannot include special characters such as ?, *, and /.
(Optional). For Description, type a description for the View.
For Status, select a status for the View:
- Active: Displays the View on the View Builder Home page and in the list on the Views page when searching for Views.
- Inactive: Hides the View on the View Builder Home page and only display it in the list on the Views page when searching for Views. Note that inactive views cannot be accessed by any security level. The user will receive a warning if they attempt to access an inactive view.
Page Title initially displays the name you entered for View Name, but you can type a different name.

For example, you could type EE Phone List for the View Name and Employee Contact Numbers for Page Title.
The URL is automatically created for the link to the view.

Click Copy to Clipboard if you want to copy the URL to the Microsoft Windows Clipboard so you can paste the URL into an email message or document.

Select the access level for the View output: Employee, Executive Viewer, Manager, or Custom View Builder Role. These security settings are based on the HRMS Employee Self Service security roles.

Note: If the Security Role is a custom role, the View Output depends on the criteria set for the selected role.

Access details

Security roles and access
ESS Security Role	View Access Level	View Output
Employee Only	Employee	View employee data
	Manager	None
	Executive Viewer	None
Employee + Manager	Employee	View employee data
	Manager	View reports data
	Executive Viewer	None
Employee + Manager + Executive Viewer	Employee	Employee data
	Manager	View reports data
	Executive Viewer	View all company data
Employee + Executive Viewer	Employee	View employee data
	Manager	None
	Executive Viewer	View all company data

If you select Manager, select the number of levels a manager can drill down to see their indirect reports in the View output. Selecting All allows them to drill down to the furthest level. Note that in order to set the Show Indirect Report Levels setting, the View Indirect Reports setting on the System Setup page must be set to Yes.
To create the view as an IQY file (Microsoft Excel Web Query file):
1. Click the Create IQY File button.
2. In the File Download window, click one of the following buttons:
  - Open - Downloads the View output as a Microsoft Excel Web Query (*.iqy) file and opens it in Excel.
  - Save - Opens the Save As dialog box, where you can select the folder in which you want to save the IQY file. This allows you to save the file so you can open it in Excel at a later time.
  - Cancel - If you want to cancel creating an IQY file for this View.
    
    Note: In order to create the view as an IQY file, you must have Microsoft Excel installed. If Excel is not installed, when you click the Create IQY File button, an error message will open in a new browser window. If you receive this message, you can click the browser back button and return to the View Builder window.
When finished with the Format View tab, click one of the following:
- The Select Fields tab, Group & Sort tab, Define Output tab, or the Set Filter tab to configure more View settings.
  Note: HRMS Employee Self Service automatically saves your selections on each page of the View Builder. This allows you to go to another tab without losing your selections on the previous page.
- Preview (only available when editing a view) to open the Preview View page to select an employee and then see the view output as that employee will see it. The view output is based on the selected employee's security rights.
- Save to save the View and return to the View Builder Home page.

Using the Select Fields tab

Use this tab to select the data that to include in the View and to change the order of columns in the View output.

Note: If you are editing a view that includes Custom fields and one or more of the custom fields were deleted from Sage Toolkit, the following message appears when you open the view: "One or more Custom fields in this view have been deleted from the system."

To select fields for the View

From the Data Source list, select the type of data you want to add to the View:
- Benefit Enrollments. To select benefit fields such as Employee Coverage Begin Date, Reason for Change, and Date Eligible.
- Course Catalog. To select course catalog fields such as Course Code, Course Fee, and Total Hours.
- Personnel. This category contains five subcategories; Personal, Job and Pay, Benefits, Career, Training, Time Off, and Custom (available only if there are Custom Detail pages in Sage HRMS). Expand a subcategory to access related fields such as Ethnic Origin, Termination Reason, Pay Effective Date, and Courses Taken.
- Required Courses. To select required course fields such as Course Code, Course Description, and Priority.
- The fields in the Available list change according to the type of data you select.
From the Available list, select the fields you want to add to the View.
Note: You can change how the list displays by selecting Grouped or Alphabetical in the Display Available Fields field on the System Setup page (select System Administrator > System Settings > System Setup).
- Select a group check box if you want to include all of the fields in the group.
- Expand a group to display all of the fields then select specific fields.
- Make individual selections from an alphabetical list of fields.
  Note: If the view is going to be used in a Crystal report, make sure that you have selected all the fields you want to display in the report. This is especially important if you are selecting by the Group Box method. Remember that a group may also contain a subgroup and a subgroup may contain another subgroup. When you click Update in the next step, make sure that all the fields you want in the report are included in the Selected list.
Click Update to add the selected fields to the Selected list. To remove a field from the list, clear the field (remove the checkmark) in the Available list then click Update.
Note: If you add or remove fields, you must click Save then reopen the View to show the changes in the View preview.
Optionally, change the order of columns in the View output by dragging and dropping fields in the Selected list.
When finished with the Select fields tab, click one of the following:

The Format View, Group & Sort tab, Define Output tab, or the Set Filter tab to configure more View settings.
Note: HRMS Employee Self Service automatically saves your selections on each page of the View Builder. This allows you to go to another tab without losing your selections on the previous page.
Preview (only available when editing a view) to open the Preview View page to select an employee and then see the view output as that employee will see it. The view output is based on the selected employee's security rights.
Save to save the View and return to the View Builder Home page.

Using the Group & Sort tab

Use this tab to group and sort the data in up to six columns within the View output. Before you start, make sure all the fields you want to appear on the view are selected and ordered properly (on the Select Fields tab).

Using the Define Output tab

By default, HRMS Employee Self Service uses the field names you selected on the Select Fields tab as column headings for the View output. You can edit the field names, which customizes the column headings in the View output. Additionally, use this tab to select output setting options for each field in the View.

To define output settings

Select Show Summary Totals Only if you want the View output to include only subtotals and totals and to hide the record details used to calculate the totals.

If you clear this option but select Count Number of Records or select Sum or Average in the Total column for a numeric field, HRMS Employee Self Service includes subtotals, totals, and all record details used to calculate the totals in the View output.
Select Count Number of Records if you want the View output to display a count for all subtotal or total rows in the View output.
The Field column shows the fields selected (and way they were sorted) on the Select Fields tab.
The Description column shows the default description for the field. You can click inside the field and change the name as needed.
In the Mask column, select the level of privacy necessary for each field in the view:
- Hide Data - Hides all data for this field and displays the field as Hidden in the View output. Note that if your database does not contain data (for example, if you are working in a new installation), the View output displays a blank field instead of Hidden.
- Hide Year - Hides the year in date fields. For example, you can hide employee birth years or hire dates.
- Show Data - Displays all data for this field in the View output.
- Show Last 4 - For SIN/SSN numbers, shows asterisks for all numbers except for the last four numbers. For example, the SSN shows as ***-**- 5678.
Optionally, select how to total a numeric field in the View output in the Total column:
- None - By default, HRMS Employee Self Service displays this option for all non-numeric fields. Select this option if you do not want to total a numeric field.
- Average - Displays an average total for this field in the View output.
- Sum - Displays a sum for this column in the View output.
When finished with the Define Output tab, click one of the following:

The Format View tab, Select Fields tab, Group & Sort tab, or the Set Filter tab to configure more View settings.
Note: HRMS Employee Self Service automatically saves your selections on each page of the View Builder. This allows you to go to another tab without losing your selections on the previous page.
Preview to open the Preview View page, where you can select an employee to preview the View output based on the selected employee's security rights.
Save to save the View and to return to the View Builder Home page.

Using the Set Filter tab

Use this tab to create expressions to filter View output.

For example, to show all courses for a specific company that are 10 hours or more and five sessions, add the following expressions:

Expressions for the example
Field	Relationship	Value	Value Description
Course Catalog.Company Code	Equal	ZSI	ZSI is the company code.
Course Catalog.Total Hours	Greater than or equal to	10	Number of hours
Course Catalog.Total Sessions	Equal	5	Number of sessions

To create an expression

Select a database field from the Field list. The fields in the list are for the type of data selected in the Data Source field on the Select Fields tab.

Note: If you select a Benefit Enrollments field, historical data is included in the View output. If you want to filter out the historical data, create an expression that is not equal to ID type N or V.

For Relationship, select one of the following relationships .

Relationships
Relationships	Function	Common Uses
Equal	All records for value entered.	Searching for specific criteria such as job title equals Manager. Results will return all employees with Manager as the job title.
Not equal	No records for value entered.	Excluding certain criteria such as job title not equal to President. Results will return all employees except those with a job title of President.
Greater than	All records > than value entered.	Searching for a criteria baseline not including the current value such as salary greater than $25,000. Results will return all salaries greater than $25,000.
Less than	All records < than value entered.	Searching for a criteria baseline not including the current value such as salary less than $25,000. Results will return all salaries less than $25,000.
Greater than or equal to	All records > or = to value entered.	Searching for a criteria baseline including the current value such as salary greater than or equal to $25,000. Results will return all salaries $25,000 or greater.
Less than or equal to	All records < or = to value entered.	Searching for a criteria baseline including the current value such as salary less than or equal to $25,000. Results will return all salaries $25,000 or less.
In the list	This value or that value.	Searching for criteria on multiple values such as benefit plan equal to medical, dental and vision. Results will return all medical dental and vision plans.
Not in the list	All but this value or that value.	Searching for criteria to exclude multiple values such as benefit plan not equal to 401k or life insurance. Results will return all benefit plans except 401k or life insurance.
Contains	All records for all values listed.	Searching for all records that contain values such as all employees whose job title contains the word Manager. Results will display all employees who have Manager in their job title
Does not contain	All records except for all values listed.	Searching for all records excluding the values such as all employees whose job title contains the word Manager. Results will display all employees except those who have Manager in their job title.
Month is equal to	Returns all records for month entered for any day and any year.	Searching for all records within a certain month regardless of day or year such as employee birth date equal to March. Results would display all employees with a birth date in the month of March.
Year is equal to	Returns all records for year entered for any day and any month.	Searching for all records within a certain year regardless of day or month such as all employees hired in 2009. Results would list all employees hired in 2009.
Day is equal to	Returns all records for day entered for any month and any year	Searching for all records for a specific day regardless of month or year such as all employees who have enrolled for regularly scheduled training class held on the 15th of the month. Results would display all employees who enrolled in the class scheduled on the 15th of every month.
In last n Days	Returns all records Between System Date and day entered i.e. <= System Date - n. You enter a value for n.	Searching for criteria that can be reused ongoing based on data such as all employees hired within the last 30 days. Results will update each time the View is opened to display all employees hired within the last 30 days of when the View is accessed.
In next n Days	Returns all record Between System Date and days entered i.e. >= System Date + n. You enter a value for n.	Searching for criteria that can be reused ongoing based on data such as all employees eligible for a performance review within the next 30 days. Results will update each time the View is opened to display all employees eligible for a performance review within the next 30 days of when the View is accessed.
In current month	Returns all record of current month i.e. Month of System Date any day and any year.	Searching for criteria that can be reused ongoing based on data such as all employees enrolled in a benefit plan within the month. Results will update each time the View is opened to display all employees who enrolled in the month the View is accessed regardless of year.
In next month	Returns all record in next month i.e. Month (System Date) +1 any day and any year.	Searching for criteria that can be reused ongoing based on data such as all employees enrolled in a benefit plan within the next month. Results will update each time the View is opened to display all employees who enrolled within the next month the View is accessed regardless of year.
In last month	Returns all record in previous month i.e. Month (System Date) -1 any day and any year.	Searching for criteria that can be reused ongoing based on data such as all employees enrolled in a benefit plan within the previous month. Results will update each time the View is opened to display all employees who enrolled in the month previous to the View being accessed regardless of year.

For Value, enter a number or text (depending on the relationship you selected). If you selected a code table field, HRMS Employee Self Service displays the Lookup button. Click the binoculars button to open the Value Lookup panel, which displays all of the values for the selected field for all employers. You can sort the list of values by:
- Selecting an employer in the ER column to filter the list by employer.
- Entering a letter in the Code column to display all values that start with that letter.
- Entering a letter in the Description column to display all value descriptions that start with that letter.
- Clicking the arrows next to the ER, Code, or Description column headings to change the sort order of the list by employer, code, or description.
Review the list and enter the value you want for Value.
Click Close to close the Value Lookup panel.
Click Update to add the filter to the Filter Expression list.
Repeat these steps to create additional expressions or click:
- The Format View tab, Select Fields tab, Group & Sort tab, or Define Output tab to configure more View settings.
  Note: HRMS Employee Self Service automatically saves your selections on each page of the View Builder. This allows you to go to another tab without losing your selections on the previous page.
- Preview to open the Preview View page, where you can select an employee to preview the View output based on the selected employee's security rights.
- Save to save the View and to return to the View Builder Home page.

Distribute the View

When you enter a name for View Name on the Format View tab, HRMS Employee Self Service automatically creates the URL to the View output. Click Copy to Clipboard to copy the URL to the Microsoft Windows Clipboard. This enables you to paste the URL into another document such as an email message for easy distribution.

To use View output in an IQY file or a Crystal report

IQY File: Save as a Microsoft Excel Web Query file (*.iqy). This is useful if you want View recipients to be able to manipulate the View output. For example, some employees may want to create their own spreadsheets that reference data in the View output. To do this, click the Create IQY File button on the Format View tab. When you click Save, HRMS Employee Self Service opens the File Download window, where you can click Open or Save to view the file or to select the folder where you want to save the file.

If you choose to distribute the View as a URL link, View recipients can save the View as a web query file on-demand by clicking the Download IQY File hyperlink on the View output window.

Crystal Report: Create a Crystal report from a view. Unlike a view that is accessible in standard Excel or HTML formats, you can design and format the report with the features and functionality of Crystal. Save the view, open SAP Crystal Reports, create the data source connection to the view, and then create the report as normal.

For additional security, you can set HRMS Employee Self Service to open View output only on specific servers. If the URL the View recipient receives does not contain a valid server name, HRMS Employee Self Service will not display the View output.