Purpose

1. This article will review the Ad-Hoc Criteria Information within the Reports module. 
   

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Information

1. The Criteria section in the ad-hoc reporting module allows users to apply filters that narrow down the data included in the report. By setting specific criteria, users can focus on only the most relevant data, whether it’s incidents within a certain time frame, personnel from a specific station, or equipment used for particular calls. This feature is essential for generating targeted, customized reports that meet specific needs.

Steps to Configure Criteria

1. Navigate to the Criteria Section: When setting up your report, locate the Criteria section where you can define these for your report.
   
2. Choose the Field to Filter
   
1. Select the field or column you want to apply the criteria to (e.g., “Incident Date,” “Incident Type,” “Personnel Name”).
   
2. The criteria options will be based on the type of data in the field (e.g., date, text, or numerical data).
   
3. Set the Condition: Choose the condition you want to apply, depending on the type of field:
   
1. For dates, you can use conditions such as “before,” “after,” or “between” specific dates.
   
2. For text fields, you can filter using conditions such as “equals,” “contains,” or “starts with.”
   
3. For numeric fields, you can apply conditions like “greater than” or “less than.”
   
4. Enter the Value: Input the specific value that the condition should match. For example:
   
1. If filtering by “Incident Date,” you may set the condition to “after” a certain date.
   
2. If filtering by “Incident Type,” you might use “equals” and enter “Fire” to only show fire-related incidents.
   
5. Add Additional Criteria (Optional): You can apply multiple criteria to refine your report further. For example, you might filter by both “Incident Date” and “Incident Type” to see only fire-related incidents from the last 30 days.
   
1. The system uses AND logic when applying multiple criteria, meaning all conditions must be true for the data to be included in the report.
   
6. Apply the Criteria: Once you’ve configured the criteria, run the report or move to the next section to view only the data that meets the specified conditions.

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Best Practices for Using Criteria

1. Focus on Relevant Data: Apply criteria to filter out irrelevant data, making your report more focused and easier to analyze.
   
2. Combine Criteria for Targeted Reports: Use multiple criteria for more granular reporting (e.g., filtering by both incident type and date range).
   
3. Avoid Over-Filtering: Be careful not to apply too much logic, as this might exclude necessary data from your report.

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Example Use Cases for Criteria:

1. Incident Reports: Filter by incident date to show only incidents from the past month.
   
2. Personnel Records: Filter by personnel rank to show only firefighters or specific teams.
   
3. Equipment Reports: Filter by equipment type to show usage of specific apparatus in incidents.