Presenting reports using Excel templates

Reports can be presented using Excel templates (.XLT or .XLTX) to take advantage of features in Excel. This is useful if you want to use report data in pivot tables or charts, etc. Templates are created based on an Legal Enterprise data source and then attached to reports in Report Design. When the reports are run the data source is updated, plus any dependant objects. Templates can be applied to your own reports or a limited number of fixed reports, i.e. system reports created by Advanced.

These are the fixed reports to which you can attach a template:

Accruals - Prepayments Balance Sheet
Accruals - Prepayments Profit and Loss
Cash Flow
Costs Received & Written-Off Analysis by Branch
Costs Received & Written-Off Analysis by Department & Work Type
Costs Received & Written-Off Analysis by Fee Earner
Costs Received & Written-Off Analysis by Fee Earner, Dept & Work Type

Important: To create a template for a fixed report you need to copy the desired fixed report first.

To create an Excel template:

Run the report in Excel format to which you want to attach the template. A spreadsheet is created with an Legal Enterprise Source Data worksheet containing the contents of the report.

Use a blank worksheet to create your summarised data, pivot tables or charts, based on the source data. Blank worksheets 1, 2 and 3 are automatically created, but you can add more.

On the File menu, click Save As, and save the updated spreadsheet on to your PC's desktop or temporary folder.

Drag the template into the Merge Templates folder in Document Management, making sure it has an extension of .XLT or .XLTX. Complete the Document Details dialog box as required. The filename is automatically versioned, i.e. it has a number appended to it (e.g. MyTemplate.1.xlt). However, this can be removed if desired.

Note Do not drag the template into the Legal Enterprise Standard Report Templates folder. This is for Advanced use only.

To attach an Excel template:

In Report Design, on the Details tab, select the desired report and use the Template lookup to attach the template.

In Report Manager, run the report. The Legal Enterprise Source Data is refreshed with the latest data from the Legal Enterprise database and any summary information in the other worksheet(s) is automatically updated.

Notes

You can edit the Legal Enterprise Data Source worksheet, for example, if you want to remove certain rows from your summary information (i.e. pivot tables, etc.). However, do not delete the worksheet completely as this will break the links with your summary information.

This facility can only be used if you are running Excel Professional.

Some standard reports also use Excel templates to format their output. These templates are stored in Document Management in the Legal Enterprise Standard Report Templates folder. However, it should be noted that this folder is read-only and the contents are updated with the latest Advanced templates as part of the upgrade routine. To prevent your templates from being accidently removed, it is therefore not possible to add/amend templates, add new subfolders or delete templates from this folder. Also, if an attempt is made to copy/move a file into this folder, then a message is displayed preventing you from proceeding.