Overview
The Report Designer is the authoring surface in Lens for building Reports, Charts and filters that present data to viewers on the Dashboard. A Report lives inside a Workbook under a Project (or Sub-project), and is composed of widgets dragged from the report designer’s left navigation onto the canvas. The Designer’s toolbar exposes canvas-level controls; each widget exposes a three-dot menu with per-widget options; a Preferences tab governs Report-wide behavior on the Dashboard.
The Report Designer is accessed from Lens → Design by clicking the Report icon under add new, or by opening an existing Report from Library Reports or from the Designer’s Open Existing action. Authoring requires a Lens Designer role on a tenant with an active Lens subscription.
When to use it
- A new Report layout is needed — combining Charts and filters into one Dashboard-ready view.
- An existing Report needs structural changes that go beyond what’s possible from Library actions.
- A landing page is needed — built from Cards widgets that link to other Reports or external URLs.
- A pinned multi-view Report is needed — stacking several Reports under one navigation surface (tab, dropdown, button, radio, toggle, carousel, gallery).
- A Report needs to be converted to a System Report so it is visible environment-wide.
Surface anatomy
| Top toolbar | Canvas-level controls — save, reset, refresh, preview, export, rename, responsive layout, background, loader, system-report conversion, ruler, and widget-insert actions (Editor, HTML DOM Content, Cards, Template). |
| Left navigation | Source content panel — Charts, Reports, Filters, Dimensions, Custom Scripts, and Workflows available to drag onto the canvas. |
| Main canvas | Where widgets are placed and arranged. Each widget exposes a three-dot menu with per-widget options. |
| Bottom tab strip | Navigation between multiple Reports in the same Project. Includes an add icon for inserting a new artifact or opening an existing one via Open Existing. |
| Preferences tab | Report-wide behavior settings — filter state, Dashboard menu options, breadcrumb formatting. |
Toolbar controls
| Save | Saves the Report. First save prompts for name, save target (Report or Template), and Show in Dashboard. |
| Reset | Discards unsaved changes after a warning prompt. |
| Refresh | Re-renders the Report with the latest Chart and Report content. Used after editing a referenced Chart. |
| Preview | Renders the Report as it would appear on the Dashboard. |
| Export | Downloads the Report as an RPT file. The RPT can be imported via Library Reports. |
| Rename | Renames the saved Report. |
| Responsive Layouts | Switches the canvas between Desktop, Mobile Portrait, Mobile Landscape, Tablet, and TV layouts. |
| Dashboard Background | Sets a background color for the Report on the Dashboard. |
| Dashboard Background Image | Sets a background image for the Report on the Dashboard. |
| Loader | Toggles a Dashboard-side loading indicator while the Report is loading. |
| System Report (R / S) | Converts the Report to a System Report (visible environment-wide) or back to a regular Report. R indicates regular; S indicates System Report. |
| Ruler | Enables an alignment ruler. Widgets snap to the ruler when dragged near it. Click again to disable. |
| Editor (widget) | Adds a text/editor widget to the canvas with font and formatting controls. |
| HTML DOM Content (widget) | Adds a widget that accepts arbitrary HTML. |
| Cards (widget) | Adds a card widget for landing-page-style layouts. Cards carry title, description, image, custom icon, and a link to a Datanyx Report or external URL. |
| Template | Opens the Template picker for authoring a Report from a Template. |
Three-dot widget menu
Each widget on the canvas exposes a three-dot menu with per-widget options. The set varies slightly by widget type (Chart, content widget, HTML DOM, Card).
| Bring Forward / Send Backward | Z-order control when widgets overlap on the canvas. |
| Widget Properties | Border width, style, radius, color; vertical and horizontal offset; rotation (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°). |
| Set Size | Sets Height and Width. Can be applied to multiple Charts in the current Report at once. |
| Background | Applies a color from theme or custom to the widget. |
| Loader | Enables a loading indicator on the widget when published. |
| Show Options | Exposes the three-dot menu on the Dashboard for this widget. Sub-options: Export (direct download as PDF/Excel/CSV) and Send to Inbox (delivers the widget to the user’s Inbox). |
| Disable Drilldown | Prevents drilldown when the widget is clicked on the Dashboard. |
| Create Group | Groups Charts by name. Charts sharing the same group name are categorized together on the Dashboard. |
| Excel Download Preference | Configures how this widget renders when the Report is exported to Excel. |
| Security Tag | Attaches a Security Tag to this Chart. Tag must be configured in Lens Security Tags and paired with a Role in Roles Management to take effect. |
| Vertical Align | (Content / HTML DOM widgets) Vertically aligns the widget content. |
| Properties | (Content / HTML DOM widgets) Key/value pairs usable from the widget’s HTML. |
| Behavior | (HTML DOM widget) Video, Q&A, or scroll event behavior. |
| Attach Data Source | (Content / HTML DOM widgets) Binds a Datasource to the widget. |
Preferences tab
| Filter → State | Classic | Inline filter bar on the Dashboard. Filters apply immediately on value selection. |
| Filter → State | Pop-up | Filter opens in a modal pop-up on the Dashboard. |
| Filter → State | Accordion | Filter appears as a collapsible accordion panel on the Dashboard. |
| Filter → State | Global Linked Filter | Cross-chart filtering — selecting a value on one Chart filters all other Charts in the Report by that value. |
| Settings | PDF / Excel / CSV | Toggles each download format on the Dashboard’s three-dot menu. |
| Settings | Column Preferences | Exposes a Column Preferences option on the Dashboard for adjusting columns per Chart. |
| Settings | Refresh | Toggles the Refresh control on the Dashboard. |
| Settings | Save Filter | Toggles the Save Filter option — saved filters apply instantly on next Dashboard load. Includes Clear and Delete affordances for managing saved filters. |
| Settings | Add Filter and Three Dots as a Widget | Adds the filter icon as a widget on the canvas, allowing widget-level formatting to be applied. |
| Bread Crumb Property | Format options | Font family, font size, font weight, font style, and background color for the breadcrumb shown when navigating between Cards on a landing page. |
Filter framework
Filters narrow the data shown on a Report. They are added from a Datasource dataset or referenced from a Custom Script, and configured per-filter through a dedicated dialog with extensive presentation and behavior toggles.
This article covers the framework at overview level; the dedicated Filter how-to documents each toggle in detail.
| Dataset | Click the filter icon on the left navigation, select a Datasource, choose a dataset, and drag the desired column onto the canvas. |
| Custom Script | Reference the filter inside the script using @Filter.dataset_name.column_name or @Filter.customscript_name.column_name. Add isEmpty handling so the script returns all records when no filter is applied. |
Save targets
| Report | Saves to the current Workbook as a regular Report. If Show in Dashboard is on, appears on the Dashboard subject to publish state. |
| Template | Saves as a Template into Library Templates. Other Designers can apply the Template as the starting point for new Reports. Optionally checkable as a System Template, which makes it available environment-wide; System Template requires an image upload. |
Pinned Reports
A pinned Report stacks multiple Reports under a single navigation surface. To pin: drag a Chart or Report onto the canvas, hover at the center, and enable the pin icon. Drop additional Reports onto the first; they appear in tab form by default.
| Tab | Pinned Reports appear as a row of tabs. Default. |
| Dropdown | Pinned Reports appear in a dropdown selector. |
| Button | Pinned Reports appear as buttons. |
| Radio | Pinned Reports appear as radio buttons. |
| Toggle | Pinned Reports appear as a toggle switch between options. |
| Carousel | Pinned Reports appear as a carousel. Optional arrow navigation with configurable color via Carousel Properties. |
| Gallery | Pinned Reports appear as a gallery. |
Pinned Report navigation can be aligned left or right via the three-dot menu’s Alignment option. The Tab Type selected here applies inside the Report and is separate from the Dashboard-level Tab Type that controls navigation between Dashboards.
Cards and landing pages
The Cards widget is used to build landing-page-style Report layouts. A Card carries a title, description, image (default or custom-uploaded), icon, and a link to either an existing Datanyx Report or an external URL.
| Title | Card heading. Font type, size, weight, color, and style are configurable. |
| Description | Card body text. Same font controls as Title. |
| Image Placement | Where the image sits relative to the card layout. |
| Image Position | Image alignment — start, center, or end. |
| Image Area | Adjusts the area allocated to the image inside the card. |
| Select Icons | Icon selector from a built-in icon set. |
| Upload Custom Image | Uploads a custom image to the card. Default image is restored if the custom image is removed. |
| Report Type — Datanyx Report | Links the card to an existing Report in Lens. |
| Report Type — URL | Links the card to an external URL. No restriction on the URL. |
The Bread Crumb Property in the Preferences tab styles the breadcrumb shown on the Dashboard when navigating between Cards on a landing-page Report. The Cards widget is distinct from the Dashboard’s Classic View Tab Type, which controls navigation between Dashboards.
Key behaviors
Report Designer is the authoring surface, not the consumption surface. Reports authored here appear on the Dashboard, in Library Reports, in scheduled deliveries, in the Inbox, and in embedded views. Editing a Report in the Designer affects every downstream surface that consumes it.
Show in Dashboard is the publish bridge to the Dashboard. A Report exists in Library as soon as it is saved, but its presence on the Dashboard is governed by Show in Dashboard set at save time (and toggleable later from Library Reports).
Widget-level Loader vs. Report-level Loader. The Loader toolbar control toggles a Dashboard-side indicator for the whole Report; the Loader option on a widget’s three-dot menu does the same for an individual widget. Both apply on the published Dashboard view, not in the Designer preview.
Custom Script filters need isEmpty handling. A Custom Script that references @Filter and does not handle the empty case will return no rows when no filter is selected. The isEmpty handler is added after the WHERE condition with an OR, allowing the script to fall back to all records.
Identifier Name disambiguates two filters on the same column. When a Custom Script Report has two filters bound to the same column, the Identifier Name on each filter distinguishes them. Edit the Identifier Name from the filter configuration dialog.
Security Tags are applied per-Chart, not per-Report. The Security Tag three-dot option attaches a tag to an individual Chart within a Report. Different Charts in the same Report can carry different tags, controlling visibility per audience. The tag must be paired with a Role in Roles Management to take effect.