User Document External Test Reports

Applies to QESTLab

Contents

Overview

External reports may act as substitutes for QEST Platform test reports when the report contains formatting or calculations not catered by the QEST Platform - as with Dynamic Worksheets, this is generally because one or more of the associated test methods has not been implemented in the QEST Platform.

External test reports may include:

• Reports with proprietary formatting not handled in the standard QEST Platform test reports

• Reports with calculations not currently handled by the QEST Platform

• Once-off reports created outside of the QEST Platform that need to be stored, signed and published in the QEST Platform

An external test report is a Microsoft Excel document that acts as a complete replacement for a QEST Platform test report. They are accessible and act in much the same way as normal test reports. Similar to dynamic worksheets, data can automatically be imported into the document from any QEST Platform document.

External test reports support a subset of features of the standard QEST Platform reports, including:

• Signing

• Archiving on subsequent issues

• Locking on completion

Pre-Planning

An Excel template will first need to be created to be used for the report. For report consistency within the QEST Platform, it is often useful to design a template that mimics the native QEST Platform reports. This means mimicking the design of the header, footer, colour scheme and layout.

Preparing a template which mimics a native report prior to creating any external test report means it can be re-used for any additional external test report added to the platform for the sake of report consistency.

Creating the Report Template

Create User Document

External test reports are a type of User Document. So the process for creating an external test report begins with creating a User Document with its type set as an External Test Report.

XSD File

An XSD file that includes the structure of the created user document and any related QEST Platform objects in an XML schema should be exported by a system administrator. This is the identical process used when creating Dynamic Worksheets.

Map Excel Template

The Excel template is mapped the same way as Dynamic Worksheets, except that the fields will not be configured as Export fields because all of the fields will only import data.

There are a few special elements used when mapping external test reports but not when mapping dynamic worksheets that should be considered. The special elements are discussed below.

Signature and Logo Images

It is possible to insert images from the QEST Platform to Excel templates. This is primarily useful for external test reports, as it allows the display of:

• the laboratory/company logo

• the accreditation logo

• the signature of the person who signs a report

When images are inserted to an Excel template, a dummy image is inserted into the template as a placeholder. When the report is viewed in QESTLab, the dummy image will be replaced with the appropriate image from QESTLab.

The dimensions of the dummy image do not need to match the dimensions of the image that the QEST Platform will insert, although effort should be made to ensure they are generally the same size. The QEST Platform image will automatically resize to fit the dimensions of the dummy image, without stretching the image.

For example, if the dummy image has dimensions 200x50, and the QEST Platform image to be inserted has dimensions 300x100, the image inserted into the document will have dimensions 150x50. The final image does not exceed the original boundaries, but does not lose its original proportions.

Open

Depending on where the image is placed it is possible to apply many of the standard Microsoft Excel effects to the image, including rotations, coloring, shadow effects and so on. The only special format that should not be applied is brightness, as QESTLab uses this property to remove images (for example, to "white-out" a signature if the report is unsigned).

Report Number, Issue Number

External Test Reports can be configured to have a report and issue number similar to the native QEST Platform reports.

A report number field can be mapped directly to the Excel template and will automatically include the report prefix. QEST Platform report numbers have the default text “Report No.:” followed by the report number.

Similarly, a issue number can be mapped to the template and will include the default text “Issue No.:" followed by a issue number. Additionally, if the issue number is increased from one or greater additional text will follow the issue number, similar to:

This report replaces all previous issues of report no 'REPORT NUMBER'.

Where REPORT NUMBER is replaced with the actual report number.

Open

To configure report and issue numbers to a external test report:

• Both the Report No. field and the Issue No. field should be mapped from the relevant external test report user document as import fields. In this example we will assume that the report number data will appear in cell A5 on the Data Only worksheet, and the issue number will be C5 on the same worksheet after being mapped on the actual report.

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• The fields where the report number and issue number should be displayed on the report itself will require the use of formulas to display these in the same way as they are displayed on native QEST Platform reports.

Associating the Report Template to User Document

As a dynamic worksheet is associated with a test user document the Excel report template must be associated with the test report user document. In this case the new external document should be of the class External Reports.

Open

Granting Access to a User Document

Finally, once a user document has been created and a mapped Excel template associated with it, it will need to be made available to:

• Laboratories via Regions & Labs

• Users via their roles