Rogr.io makes this task a breeze. Let's see how using a client example.
The author perspective
First, we create a new fetch by clicking on the orange Plus (+) symbol in the work space and fill it out with the purpose of the fetch (project status reporting) and the recipients (project managers).
After clicking on the orange "next" button, we start defining the data we want to receive. First, we just type down the names of all the data elements. We'd like to get the project name, the name of the responsible manager, their contact data, the project status and the financial summary of the project.
Now, we're adding some drill-down to a few of the data fields. Let's start with the contact data. We actually want that separated into phone and email contact data. In rogr.io, this is very easy: we add a dimension (we chose the name type) to the data element contact data and add the value ranges phone and email. Note how the icon in front of contact data changes to indicate that we just create a table with one dimension.
Also the project status is more complex in our client example. They want the project managers to report it individually for each category (which is technology, business requirements, or resources) an for each quarter (previous and current). Again, easier done than said: just add the two dimensions and add the value ranges. Note how the icon in front of financial project status changes to indicate that we just create a two-dimensional table.
Many things involving finance tend to be pretty sophisticated, and so it is here. The financial data for the project has to be reported by budget type (CapEx, OpEx), by type (cash out, inter company), and by status (requested, approved, remaining). Add the three dimensions and the value ranges as in the previous examples. Note, how the icon in front of financial summary changes to indicate that we just created a multi-dimensional data cube.
That's all right? Almost! Not all the data we want is text. We change the data type of the project status to STATUS (which means it can only be red, yellow, or green) and the data type of financial summary to currency. This step is optional, but it ensures higher data quality by validating your users input automatically.
Clicking on the orange envelope symbol sends out the fetch. DONE.
The recipient perspective
The recipient gets notified about the fetch in his inbox. We'll show you how the fetch we created looks when it is being opened. Note how the data elements with dimensions have been converted in tables or collections of tables and how the data type STATUS offers a drop-down field showing the possible values.
How to track, view, use the data?
Read our next post.
