Query Maker

QUERY MAKER

Tracker gives you the ability to create your own reports through the Query Maker. To access the Query Maker, click the reports menu and choose ‘Query Maker – District Specific Custom Reports’.

CREATING A QUERY
To create a query that will include data from your Demographics, Special Services 1, or Special Services 2 tabs – choose Demographics (most queries will be made through this selection). If you need to create a query that will include data not found on these main screens, you will need to choose the appropriate choice (i.e. Attendance or Related Services).

Once you determine the type of query you need, Tracker will bring up a list of available queries.

SELECT – Highlight a query, then click ‘SELECT’ to run query.

ADD – Click ‘ADD’ to start a new query

EDIT – Highlight a query, then click ‘EDIT’ to edit an existing query COPY – Highlight a query, then click ‘COPY’ to copy an existing query

RENAME – Highlight a query, then click ‘RENAME’ to rename an existing query

DELETE – Highlight a query, then click ‘DELETE’ to erase the selected query

DONE – Click ‘DONE’ to exit the Query Maker

SHOW ONLY MY QUERIES – Check this box to filter the query list to show only queries created by you.

To create a new query click Add, then Tracker will bring up a screen asking you to name the query. Type a title that describes the query you are about to create.

Click OK then Tracker will ask if you would like to make the query only viewable by you. Click ‘ Y es’ and you will be the only user that will see the query, or click ‘ N o’ and the query can be viewed and used by other Tracker users.

RECORD FILTERS
Once you choose to ADD a new query, Tracker will put you on a 3-step screen; this is where you will filter your query. (For an example - we will create a query that only shows us students in a specific grade, and we will show their last name, first name, and grade).

STEP 1: Pick a Field – This is where you will choose a field to compare against another value. (We will choose Grade for our example, click ‘Grade’, then click ‘ N ext Step>’).

STEP 2: Pick an Operator – This is where you tell the Query Maker how to filter the field you chose in step 1. (For our example we will choose ‘Exactly matches’, then click ‘ N ext step>’).

STEP 3: Enter a Value – This is where you will enter a value to compare to the field chosen in step 1. (For our example type ‘10’ in the box and click ‘D o ne’).

 A SK LATER – You can use the ‘ A sk later’ feature to have the Query Maker prompt you for a value each time - rather than hard-coding the value in your query. (For our example, if we chose ‘ A sk later’ rather than typing ‘10’ in the box, each time we ran our query, Tracker would ask which grade we would like to include students for).

Once you click ‘D o ne’, you have successfully created your first ‘record filter’. If this is the only filter you need for your query, click ‘D o ne’. (For our example we will only have 1 record filter, so we will click ‘D o ne’.)

ADD – Click ‘Add’ to add more filters to your query

EDIT – Click ‘Edit’ to change a created filter

SWITCH – Click ‘Switch’ to switch between and/or

MOVE – Click ‘Move’ to move a filter up or down in your list

BRACKET – use brackets to specify filters connected by and/or

DELETE – Click ‘Delete’ to delete a filter

CANCEL – Click ‘Cancel’ to cancel an action

DONE – Click ‘D o ne’ to proceed

TOGGLE –Shows Visual FoxPro language syntax

Click ‘Yes’ to run the query now; click ‘No’ to run it at a later time.

OUTPUT FIELDS
This is where you tell Tracker what data you would like to see for the students. Double-click fields on the left hand side and they will move to the right-hand side of the screen. (For our example we will choose Student Last Name, Student First Name, and Grade, and then we will click ‘Done.’)

After we select our fields, Tracker will show us a screen that shows the setup of our query.

EDIT RECORD FILTER – Will show you your record filters and allow editing EDIT OUTPUT FIELDS - Will show you your output fields and allow editing

EDIT SORT ORDER – Will let you adjust the way the data is sorted. By default, Tracker’s Query Maker will sort the data in the order you chose the fields.

BROWSE QUERY RESULTS – By default, Query Maker has this checked. This will allow you to preview your query data in a table. Uncheck this box and click run query to proceed directly to the printable query.

RUN QUERY – Click to run the query.

PICK OUTPUT TYPE – If you would like to send the query data to a different program, you can change the output type. (i.e. – if you would like the data to go to an Excel worksheet rather than a printed column layout report, you can click ‘Microsoft Excel Version 5 Worksheet’ and specify a file name and path at the bottom of the screen next to ‘File name:’. The example below would create an Excel spreadsheet on your c:\ drive called QMF_TEMP.XLS).

SETUP FOR COLUMN LAYOUT REPORT
START REPORT – Click to show query. EDIT FORM – Allows you to format the column layout report. BROWSE RESULTS - This will allow you to preview your query data in a table. DONE – Click Done to close.

RESET FORM – Removes any custom formatting done through ‘Edit Form’.

VIEW TEXT FILE – Writes query data to a basic text file.

PRINT PREVIEW
Once you click Start Report, Tracker will show the report on your screen.

PRINT PREVIEW TOOLBAR
Notice the floating ‘Print Preview’ toolbar at the top of your screen – use this toolbar to navigate through your query and to print.

First page

Previous Page

Go To Page

Next Page

Last Page

Zoom

Close Preview

Print Report

CLOSING OUT OF QUERY MAKER
To close and exit the Query Maker, click the ‘Close Preview’ button, then click ‘Done’ on the ‘Setup for Column Layout Report’ screen. Click ‘Done’ on the query setup screen, then click ‘Done’ one last time on the ‘Query List Manager’ screen.

RUNNING YOUR QUERY AT A LATER TIME
Your query can be ran at a later time by going to your ‘Reports’ menu, clicking ‘Query Maker>District Specific Custom Reports’, choosing your query and clicking ‘SELECT’.