Report Templates

Appendix A — Configuration Reference

Report templates define what gets exported to Excel and what gets read back on import. A template is a collection of sheet definitions, each describing one tab in the output file: what data it iterates over, which columns to include, and how to format them. The same template structure drives both export and the spreadsheet import workflows described in Chapter 6 and Chapter 10.

The Templates List

Three buttons at the top manage the template list: Add Template, Duplicate Template, and Delete Template. New workbooks include four default templates. Select a template in the list to edit it in the detail form below.

The list shows five columns: Name, Description, Sheets (count), Version, and Modified (last edit date). Duplicate is useful when building a new template that's similar to an existing one — duplicate first, then modify.

Template Name and Description

At the top of the detail form are the Name and Description fields for the template itself. The name appears in the export and import dialog dropdowns. The description should say what the template produces or what workflow it supports, so it's easy to choose the right one at export time.

Sheets

Below the name and description is a tabbed interface for sheet definitions. Each tab represents one sheet in the output Excel file. Sheets in the exported file follow the left-to-right tab order here. Click the + tab to add a new sheet. Right-click any sheet tab to Rename Sheet, Move Left, Move Right, or Delete Sheet.

Inside each sheet tab, two fields define what the sheet contains:

Iterator — The entity type the sheet produces one row per instance of. The available iterators are:

• Mappings: MappingsInCurrentProject, MappingsInAllProjects
• Project tables: SourceTablesInCurrentProject, TargetTablesInCurrentProject, SourceTablesInAllProjects, TargetTablesInAllProjects
• Library tables: LibrarySourceTables, LibraryTargetTables
• Project columns: SourceColumnsInCurrentProject, TargetColumnsInCurrentProject, SourceColumnsInAllProjects, TargetColumnsInAllProjects
• Library columns: LibrarySourceColumns, LibraryTargetColumns
• Source group members: SourceGroupMembersInCurrentProject
• Projects: CurrentProject, AllProjects
• Configuration: StatusCodes, NotationTypes, IndicatorDefinitions, LogicTemplates, ExceptionCodes, CommonFunctions
• Schema import: CsvSchemaImport

Orientation — Radio buttons selecting Row-Oriented or Column-Oriented. Row-Oriented is the default and by far the most common: column headers appear in the first row, and each iteration produces a new row. Column-Oriented transposes this — column names run down column A, and each iteration produces a new column (B, C, D…). Column-Oriented is useful for summary sheets where you want entities across the top rather than down the side.

Columns

Below the iterator and orientation fields is a second tabbed interface for column definitions. Each tab represents one column in the output sheet, named by the column header. Columns in the exported file follow the left-to-right tab order. Click the + tab to add a new column. Right-click any column tab to Rename Column, Move Left, Move Right, or Delete Column.

Each column tab contains the following fields:

Source Path(s) — The Bridger source path that provides this column's value. Right-click inside the source path text box to open a grouped picker showing all available paths for the sheet's iterator type — the picker is populated when the iterator is selected, so set the iterator first. This is the recommended way to select paths rather than typing them by hand. Each path row has up and down arrow buttons for reordering and a remove button. Click + Add Source Path to add a path entry.

A column can have more than one source path. When multiple paths are present they are concatenated into a single cell value — this is the combined path feature used to assemble qualified identifiers or to join content from multiple notation types into one column. See Appendix B for combined path syntax.

Width — The column width in the Excel output, in character units.

Format — An optional Excel format string applied to the output cells (e.g., yyyy-mm-dd for dates, #,##0 for numbers). Leave blank for general format.

Round-Trip Writable — A checkbox, checked by default. When checked, this column's values are written back to the workbook when the spreadsheet is re-imported. Uncheck for columns exported for reference only that should not overwrite existing data on re-import — computed identifiers, display-only values, or columns the SME should read but not edit.

Sort By

Below the columns section is the Sort By area, which controls the order rows appear in the output sheet. Click + Add Sort Level to add a sort entry. Each sort level has a source path (right-click to pick, same as column source paths) and Asc/Desc radio buttons. Multiple sort levels are applied in order from top to bottom — use the up and down arrow buttons to change priority. New sheets are pre-populated with a sensible default sort order for the selected iterator.

Notes

On import, Bridger matches incoming sheets to template sheets by sheet name and incoming column headers to column definitions by column name. Both must match exactly. If you rename a sheet or column in the template after exporting a spreadsheet, re-import will not match correctly. Plan your sheet and column names before distributing a spreadsheet for review.

Source path names are case-sensitive. The right-click picker inserts the correct casing; typing paths by hand is a common source of silent failures where a column exports empty. When in doubt, use the picker.