Template Terminology

Table of Contents

Data Types
Field Transforms
Operators
Filter Values

Data Types

Every field that displays in the Source Path pane of the Report Template Editor is associated with a data type. This indicates what kind of information is stored in the field, and Evergreen will handle the information differently based on the data type. Each data type has its own characteristics and uses.

Data Type	Description	Notes
Boolean	Contains either "true" or "false".	Examples in Evergreen: "deleted" in item/patron record, "circulate?" in item record.
ID	Unique number assigned by the database to identify a record	IDs look like numbers, but the ID data type is treated specially by the software for determining how tables are linked. ID is a good candidate field for counting records.
Integer	A number like 1, 2, 3.	Examples in Evergreen: "remaining renewal count" in circulation record, "claimed returned count" in patron record.
Interval	Time intervals, such as "2 weeks" and "6 months"	Examples in Evergreen: "loan duration" and "grace period" in circulation record,
Link	It is similar to the id data type. It is the id of a record in another table.	Examples in Evergreen: "user id" and "item id" in a circulation record. Link outputs a number that is a meaningful reference for the database but not of much use to a human user. You will usually want to drill further down the tree in the Sources pane and select fields from the linked table. However, in some instances you might want to use a link field. For example, to count the number of patrons who borrowed items, you could do a count on the "user id" in the circulation record.
Money	Monetary amount	Examples in Evergreen: "price" in item record, "billing amount" in billing record.
Org_unit	Organizational unit. It is a number. It acts like a link data type.	In Evergreen, libraries are organizational units. In some contexts, they are organized into a tree structure with consortium, library systems, and branches for library systems. To filter on a library, make sure you choose the field having org_unit data type. To display a library, it is a better option to drill down to the org unit record to display the "name" of it.
Text	Text field. Usually it takes whatever is typed into the field.	Examples: "call number label" in call number record, "patron’s names".
Timestamp	A very detailed time such as 2018-11-25 17:54:26-07	Example: checkout time in circulation record, last status date in item record.

Data Type

Description

Notes

Boolean

Contains either "true" or "false".

Examples in Evergreen: "deleted" in item/patron record, "circulate?" in item record.

Unique number assigned by the database to identify a record

IDs look like numbers, but the ID data type is treated specially by the software for determining how tables are linked. ID is a good candidate field for counting records.

Integer

A number like 1, 2, 3.

Examples in Evergreen: "remaining renewal count" in circulation record, "claimed returned count" in patron record.

Interval

Time intervals, such as "2 weeks" and "6 months"

Examples in Evergreen: "loan duration" and "grace period" in circulation record,

Link

It is similar to the id data type. It is the id of a record in another table.

Examples in Evergreen: "user id" and "item id" in a circulation record. Link outputs a number that is a meaningful reference for the database but not of much use to a human user. You will usually want to drill further down the tree in the Sources pane and select fields from the linked table. However, in some instances you might want to use a link field. For example, to count the number of patrons who borrowed items, you could do a count on the "user id" in the circulation record.

Money

Monetary amount

Examples in Evergreen: "price" in item record, "billing amount" in billing record.

Org_unit

Organizational unit. It is a number. It acts like a link data type.

In Evergreen, libraries are organizational units. In some contexts, they are organized into a tree structure with consortium, library systems, and branches for library systems. To filter on a library, make sure you choose the field having org_unit data type. To display a library, it is a better option to drill down to the org unit record to display the "name" of it.

Text

Text field. Usually it takes whatever is typed into the field.

Examples: "call number label" in call number record, "patron’s names".

Timestamp

A very detailed time such as 2018-11-25 17:54:26-07

Example: checkout time in circulation record, last status date in item record.

Evergreen uses icons to indicate data type on the report interface.

Field Transforms

Transforms determine how data is processed when it is retrieved from the database. Different data types can be transformed differently. Not all transforms are available for a certain data type.

This table lists the commonly used transforms. Some data types, like timestamp, will have additional transforms available when adding fields or filters to a template.

Transform	Applicable Data Types	Description	Notes
Raw Data	All Data Types	To display the data exactly as it is stored in the database.	Most commonly used transform .
Date	Timestamps	This transform presents a timestamp as a human-readable date in yyyy-mm-dd format.	For example, timestamp 2018-11-25 17:54:26-07 will be displayed as 2018-11-25.
Year \+ Month	Timestamps	Presents a timestamp as the year and month in yyyy-mm format.	For example, 2018-11-25 17:54:26-07 will be displayed as 2018-11. If filtering on a timestamp transformed to Year + Month, all days in the calendar month are included.
Upper Case	Text	Transforms text to all upper case.
Lower Case	Text	Transforms text to all lower case.
Substring	Text	This transform can be applied to filters, not display fields. It matches the given value with a continuous string of characters in the field.	For example, if a given value is "123" and the match is with a call number field, call numbers like "123.34", "ANF 123.34", "JNF 233.123", etc. will be in the result list.
First Continuous Non-space string	Text	The first word (or string of numbers and/or characters until the first spacing) in a field is returned by this transform.	For example, this transform will return "E" from text "E DOR", "E 123", etc.
Count	Text, Integer, ID, Money, Timestamp, Org_unit	This transform counts the records found.	Though you can count by any field, very often id field is used.
Count Distinct	Text, Integer, ID, Money, Timestamp, Org_unit	This transform counts the number of records with unique value in the field. If two records have the same value in the field, they will be counted once only.	A typical example of using Count Distinct is counting the number of active patrons who borrowed items at a library. Each patron can be counted once only but they may borrow multiple items. Transforming the patron id in circulation record with Count Distinct will result in the required number. Since each patron has a unique id, they will be counted once only.
Max	Text, Integer, Money, and Timestamp	It compares the values in the field of all result records and then returns the one record with the highest value. For timestamp, the highest value meansthe latest date.	For example, if a checkout date is transformed by Max, the returned date is the last checkout date.
Min	Text, Integer, Money, and Timestamp	It works the same way as Max except that it returns the lowest value.

Transform

Applicable Data Types

Description

Notes

Raw Data

All Data Types

To display the data exactly as it is stored in the database.

Most commonly used transform .

Date

Timestamps

This transform presents a timestamp as a human-readable date in yyyy-mm-dd format.

For example, timestamp 2018-11-25 17:54:26-07 will be displayed as 2018-11-25.

Year \+ Month

Timestamps

Presents a timestamp as the year and month in yyyy-mm format.

For example, 2018-11-25 17:54:26-07 will be displayed as 2018-11. If filtering on a timestamp transformed to Year + Month, all days in the calendar month are included.

Upper Case

Text

Transforms text to all upper case.

Lower Case

Text

Transforms text to all lower case.

Substring

Text

This transform can be applied to filters, not display fields. It matches the given value with a continuous string of characters in the field.

For example, if a given value is "123" and the match is with a call number field, call numbers like "123.34", "ANF 123.34", "JNF 233.123", etc. will be in the result list.

First Continuous Non-space string

Text

The first word (or string of numbers and/or characters until the first spacing) in a field is returned by this transform.

For example, this transform will return "E" from text "E DOR", "E 123", etc.

Count

Text, Integer, ID, Money, Timestamp, Org_unit

This transform counts the records found.

Though you can count by any field, very often id field is used.

Count Distinct

Text, Integer, ID, Money, Timestamp, Org_unit

This transform counts the number of records with unique value in the field. If two records have the same value in the field, they will be counted once only.

A typical example of using Count Distinct is counting the number of active patrons who borrowed items at a library. Each patron can be counted once only but they may borrow multiple items. Transforming the patron id in circulation record with Count Distinct will result in the required number. Since each patron has a unique id, they will be counted once only.

Max

Text, Integer, Money, and Timestamp

It compares the values in the field of all result records and then returns the one record with the highest value. For timestamp, the highest value meansthe latest date.

For example, if a checkout date is transformed by Max, the returned date is the last checkout date.

Min

Text, Integer, Money, and Timestamp

It works the same way as Max except that it returns the lowest value.

Operators

Operators describe how two pieces of data can be compared to each other. They are used when creating filters in a template to determine which records should be included in the result. The record is included when the comparison returns "TRUE". The possible ways of comparing data are related to data type and data transforms.

The available operators are:

Operator	Description	Notes
Equals	Compares two operands and returns TRUE if they are exactly the same.
Contains Matching Substring	This operator checks if any part of the field matches the given parameter.	It is case-sensitive.
Contains Matching Substring (Ignore Case)	This operator is identical to Contains Matching Substring, except it is not case-sensitive.
Greater Than	This operator returns TRUE if a field is greater than your parameter.	For text fields, the string is compared character by character in accordance with the general rule that numerical characters are smaller than alphabetical characters and uppercase alphabeticals are smaller than lowercase alphabeticals For timestamps, "Greater Than" can be thought of as "later than" or "after".
Greater than or equal to	This operator returns TRUE if a field is greater than or equal to your parameter.	For text fields, the string is compared character by character in accordance with the general rule that numerical characters are smaller than alphabetical characters and uppercase alphabeticals are smaller than lower case alphabeticals. For timestamps, "Greater Than or equal to" can be thought of as "later than or equal to" or "after or equal to".
Less Than	This operator returns TRUE if a field is less than, lower than, earlier than, or smaller than your parameter.
In List	It is similar to Equals, except it allows you to specify multiple parameters and returns "TRUE" if the field is equal to any one of the given values.
Not In List	It is the opposite of In List. Multiple parameters can be specified. TRUE will be returned only when none of the parameters is matched with the value in the field.
Between	Two parameters are required by this operator. TRUE is returned when the field value is Greater Than or Equal to the smaller given value and Less Than or Equal to the bigger given value.	The smaller parameter should always come first when filling in a filter with this operator. For example: between 3 and 5 is correct. Between 5 and 3 will return FALSE on the Reports interface. For timestamp, the earlier date always comes first.
Is NULL	Returns TRUE for fields that contain no data.	For example, an overdue report will include a filter for Check In Date/Time is NULL as an item is no longer overdue if there is a value for Check In Date/Time.
Is NULL or Blank	Returns TRUE for fields that contain no data or blank string.	For most intents and purposes, this operator should be used when there is no visible value in the field.

Operator

Description

Notes

Equals

Compares two operands and returns TRUE if they are exactly the same.

Contains Matching Substring

This operator checks if any part of the field matches the given parameter.

It is case-sensitive.

Contains Matching Substring (Ignore Case)

This operator is identical to Contains Matching Substring, except it is not case-sensitive.

Greater Than

This operator returns TRUE if a field is greater than your parameter.

For text fields, the string is compared character by character in accordance with the general rule that numerical characters are smaller than alphabetical characters and uppercase alphabeticals are smaller than lowercase alphabeticals For timestamps, "Greater Than" can be thought of as "later than" or "after".

Greater than or equal to

This operator returns TRUE if a field is greater than or equal to your parameter.

For text fields, the string is compared character by character in accordance with the general rule that numerical characters are smaller than alphabetical characters and uppercase alphabeticals are smaller than lower case alphabeticals. For timestamps, "Greater Than or equal to" can be thought of as "later than or equal to" or "after or equal to".

Less Than

This operator returns TRUE if a field is less than, lower than, earlier than, or smaller than your parameter.

In List

It is similar to Equals, except it allows you to specify multiple parameters and returns "TRUE" if the field is equal to any one of the given values.

Not In List

It is the opposite of In List. Multiple parameters can be specified. TRUE will be returned only when none of the parameters is matched with the value in the field.

Between

Two parameters are required by this operator. TRUE is returned when the field value is Greater Than or Equal to the smaller given value and Less Than or Equal to the bigger given value.

The smaller parameter should always come first when filling in a filter with this operator. For example: between 3 and 5 is correct. Between 5 and 3 will return FALSE on the Reports interface. For timestamp, the earlier date always comes first.

Is NULL

Returns TRUE for fields that contain no data.

For example, an overdue report will include a filter for Check In Date/Time is NULL as an item is no longer overdue if there is a value for Check In Date/Time.

Is NULL or Blank

Returns TRUE for fields that contain no data or blank string.

For most intents and purposes, this operator should be used when there is no visible value in the field.

Filter Values

If you enter hardcoded values for filter fields, the data must match exactly how it displays in Evergreen. For example, if the status is Missing in Evergreen, you must use Missing; a value of missing will not return results.

Multiple filter values can be included separated by commas.

If hardcoding a value for a library filter, you must use your library’s unique Evergreen ID. Single-branch libraries may be able to find this by opening their public catalog and looking at the URL that displays on the initial load. This URL will contain physical_loc=X. The value of X is your Evergreen ID. Multi-branch libraries may need to contact their system administrator as the URL for your public catalog will only show you the ID for your system, not your branches.

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