Use reports

A report is a script that can be applied to similar database content. You can use a report, for example, to collect database content and group it according to specific aspects, output the relationships between database elements, generate comparison tables, or display multiple uses of database items. You can also use reports to change database content, such as entering attribute values or correcting the layout of models.

With ARIS reports, you evaluate any number of similar database items. You can analyze processes and document the results taking into account various aspects. To start a report, select the content in the Explorer tree, in models, or in search results, etc., and click either a report or Start report Start report on the Evaluate tab bar. The Report Wizard always offers you those reports that enable plausible evaluations. Depending on the output format selected, the data is automatically transferred to the locally installed programs, such as Microsoft® Word, Microsoft® Excel, or Microsoft® Internet Explorer, and Adobe® Acrobat®.

The Report Wizard assists you in outputting a report. It accesses ARIS report scripts that are included in the package. Information on the reports is located in the Description box in the wizard. For example, you can automatically output content for translation and insert the translated text back into the database.

A report includes only those models, objects, relationships and attributes that are allowed in the current evaluation filter.

Reports are opened in the program that is linked to the result format. For example, if you have selected the DOC output format, the result is displayed in Microsoft® Word on the computer where ARIS Designer is installed. If Microsoft Word® is not installed, the report is displayed in your Internet browser.

Write your own scripts or adapt copies of existing scripts. To do this, you require knowledge of the JavaScript and ARIS Script programming languages. If you have no experience in writing scripts, you can create simple report scripts as template-based reports.

ARIS is supplied with numerous standard scripts. We generally recommend documenting all changes to scripts externally so that the documentation can be used to ensure that they are incorporated correctly during the update process.

Reports/Macros/Report templates and files

Do not make any changes to the standard scripts we supply. Always adapt copies of report, macro, and JS files, and any other files. There are exceptions, for example, the file atsall<language code>.js.

When updating ARIS, all ARIS standard scripts and files are overwritten and customer-specific changes to these files are discarded. Copied scripts and files and those you have created yourself are not overwritten.

If you have changed files we supplied but not copied them, before the update (updatesystemdb) they must be exported and then imported after the update. This enables you to retain your adapted standard scripts from the previous version. However, in this case you do not receive any corrections or updates to the files we supplied.

Semantic checks

We recommend creating custom rule types and custom profiles for semantic checks, in which the ARIS standard rule types and rules are referenced.

This is not possible for configurable rule types (relationship attribute rules, model attribute rules, object attribute rules, existence rules, and allocation rules). If you have added rules to these rule types, you must export the rule types before the update and then import them after the update.

Script administrators can adapt reports in ARIS Designer that can only be generated in ARIS Risk and Compliance.