It can be practical to have the contents of a BriefBuilder model available as a Word report. This article covers how to generate and predefine such reports.
First, we will explain how you can generate a Word report, which is something that can be done by any user of the model.
Next, we will explain how you can make a report definition, which is a predefined report that is available to all users of a project model. Making report definitions can only be done by users with the right permissions (typically the requirements manager).
Please note: Word reports contain requirements only. If you want to make a report of data concerning analysis, verification and/or RFC’s, you can use the related tables in Excel.
Do you want your environment or company logo to be visible on your Word reports? Read this article on how to do so.
Generating Word reports
The video below explains how you can generate Word reports.
As the video explains, you can generate Word reports from two places:
- The report button in the main menu
- The report button in the tree menu at the top of each individual tree.
See below for step-by-step explanations.
Word reports – via the main menu
In the navigation menu, there is an item called Requirements reports. This is where you can create reports of the entire model or of parts of it. It is also where you can find predefined reports created and saved by other users.
When you access the Requirement reports page, there might already be a set of predefined reports present. If one of these reports fits your needs, all you need to do is click on the Generate button in front of the report’s name.
Good to know: generated reports are placed in the download folder of your computer.
If there are no predefined reports yet—or if you want to generate your own report—you have to do the following:
1. Click on the button New report
2. Select the trees that you want to include in your report or click on Select all if you want a report of the entire model
3. Optionally: (de)select specific parts of a tree by clicking on the filter icon ()
4. Optionally: (de)select specific block/tables by clicking on the table icon ()
5. Optionally: (de)select what kinds of additional information has to be included in the report:
- Project home (the image and the information you see on the model’s first page)
- Requirement IDs (the IDs of all requirements)
- Comments (possible comments made by BriefBuilder users)
- Images (images that have been uploaded in the model)
- Files (files that have been uploaded in the model; if included, they will be generated as a separate zip folder)
- Related objects (detail information of related objects in case you have selected only one tree)
6. Click on the Generate button.
Note: depending on the size of the report (number of trees and tables), it may take some time to generate a report.
Word reports – via the tree menu
Word reports can also be generated for each of the trees in BriefBuilder by clicking on the icon that can be found in the little menu above the tree.
This way of generating a report also gives you the possibility to include only a part of a tree. You can do so by clicking on the ) icon.
And you can choose to exclude particular tables or blocks if you want to by clicking on the icon.
(Pre)defining Word reports
If you have the appropriate permissions, you can not only generate reports, but also (pre)define reports.
This means that you can make a specific selection of trees and tables (as explained above) and save this report as a standard report that is available to all users.
This is useful for specific reports that need to be generated multiple times throughout the duration of your project. For example, a dedicated report concerning the electrotechnical installations or a dedicated report concerning a specific building part.
Check out the video below or take a look at the step-by-step guidance below it.
To create a report definition, you follow the same steps as explained earlier in this article to define what you want to have in your report, and then:
1. Optionally: click on Generate to check whether you are satisfied with your report definition
2. When ready, click on Save
3. Add a name to your report and click on Add
Once you have saved the report, you can also add a description that explains the report’s purpose or contents.
Note: your reports will be visible and available to all model users.