Reporting and Printing

After performing a site survey and viewing its results in the main application window, you can create a report that contains all the information and visualizations related to your survey. To configure the report options and generate a report, click Project => Generate Report in the main application menu.

The report generation dialog allows you to configure the following report options:

  • Plans and Surveys. This frame lists the available floor plans and survey paths to be included in the report. Depending on where and when the surveys were conducted, you may want to check all or only some of the survey checkboxes. By default, the selection is the same as in the main application window. If you are working with a predictive model, data from this model is shown as a “Virtual Data” item. If you are working with a survey that contains spectrum analysis data, that data is shown as a “Spectrum Data” item. At the bottom of this frame, you can also see the indication of the Current AP selection mode, which tells you if the report will be generated for all or for only the selected APs. Again, the selection is the same as in the main application window. If you want to change the AP selection mode, close the report dialog and change the mode, using the corresponding buttons on the toolbar of the main window. By default, TamoGraph merges the data collected during all the selected surveys. Check Don't merge surveys if you want to get a separate report for each of the survey paths. This might be useful if you want to generate a report illustrating the changes in WLAN characteristics depending on varying conditions, e.g. multiple surveys of the same office when you test different AP placements at the deployment stage. Normally, Don't merge surveys should not be checked.
  • Project information. Use the Surveyor, Location, and Description fields to specify additional information about your project.
  • Visualizations. This list allows you to select which visualizations you would like to see in the report by checking or unchecking the corresponding boxes. Check Map with no visualizations if you would like to have the original site map / floor plan included. Add per-AP visualizations is an important option that allows you to add additional visualizations for each of the selected APs. For example, if you want to create a report for five APs and include the Signal Level visualization with the Add per-AP visualizations option, the report will contain one cumulative signal level visualization for all the five APs and, additionally, five separate visualizations for each of the APs. Without the Add per-AP visualizations option, the report will contain only one cumulative signal level visualization that includes data on all the five APs. The Add per-AP visualizations option is available only when the Don't merge surveys option is turned off. The Split visualizations by band option makes the application generate separate visualizations for each band. For example, when this option is enabled, if a certain location is covered by three APs in three frequency bands (2.4, 5, and 6 GHz), then the Signal Level visualization would produce three separate heatmaps for the three bands. When this option is disabled, a single heatmap would show the strongest signal, regardless of the specific band.

    For passive surveys and predictive models, you can also add visualizations for secondary and tertiary coverage, i.e., coverage provided by the second- and third-strongest AP. To do that, you should click on the rectangle to the right of the visualization type. The rectangle displays the AP rank(s) to be included into the report: 1 for the default, standard visualization, where the metrics are shown for the strongest AP, 1+2 for the strongest and second-strongest AP, and 1+3 for the strongest and third-strongest AP. For more information, see AP Rank and Secondary Coverage.

  • Additional items to include. Check the corresponding boxes to include additional information pertaining to your site survey. Checking Walkabout paths will add survey paths to the site map(s) (not available if you do not include the Map with no visualizations item); checking AP list will add the table that lists all the APs observed during the survey; checking Map descriptions will add the descriptions (if any) of the floor plan(s) entered by the user; checking Survey comments will add the comments (if any) for specific surveys entered by the user; checking Virtual Obstructions will display virtual obstructions, such as walls or attenuation areas, on the floor plan. This option is applicable to predictive models only. Checking Media Objects will add photographs taken during the surveys.
  • Output settings. Use the Format drop-down list to select the report format. You can choose between PDF, ODT (OpenDocument Text format that you can edit in Microsoft® Word or OpenOffice), HTML, HTML (single file), and KMZ (Google Earth™) formats. The difference between the HTML and HTML (single file) is that in the former, images are stored in a separate subfolder, whereas in the latter, images are embedded into a single .MHT file, which can be natively viewed only in Microsoft Internet Explorer. KMZ files can be used for viewing results of GPS surveys in Google Earth; see the Google Earth Integration chapter for details. The Paper size drop-down list can be used to specify the size of the report pages: A4, A3, or Letter. You can also select a Page orientation: Portrait or Landscape. If you generate reports in PDF format, you can control the JPEG quality (the higher the quality is, the larger the file size will be) and the Embed fonts option. Embedding fonts increases the output file size considerably, but ensures that the file looks correct on any system, even if the fonts used in that file are not installed.
  • Object size factor. Depending on the floor plan dimensions and report page size, the objects in the report, such as AP icons, may appear too small or too large. Although the application tries to compute the best icon size for the given combination of plan dimensions and page size, you may want to adjust the object size manually by using this control.
  • Language. This control allows selecting the report language that does not necessarily match the language of the application user interface. For example, if the TamoGraph UI is English, you can generate a report in German.

Once you have configured all the options, you may want to customize its look (fonts, colors, logos, etc.) by clicking Customize and then clicking Save to select the file name and have TamoGraph generate the report. Check the Open report after generation box to have the file opened by the associated viewer upon generation. If you would like to print the report without saving it to a file, click Print. Alternatively, you can first save the report and then print it from the associated viewer (Adobe Acrobat in the case of PDF files or your favorite browser in the case of HTML files).

Customizing Reports

Report customization is available to Pro License users only.

The report customization dialog can be accessed by clicking the Customize button and checking the Enabled report customization box. By using the customization functionality, you can change text colors, fonts, logos, or add additional text to PDF or HTML reports.

The following customization elements are available:

  • Heading #1 and Heading #2 – use these fields to modify the default report heading and subheading on the first report page.
  • Footer – use this field to modify the default footer text that is placed at the bottom of every report page except the first one.
  • Additional summary row and Additional summary text – use these fields to add a row to the report summary located on the first page.
  • Logo – this element allows you to replace the default logo on the first page. You can select an image in any common graphic format.
  • Colors – use this frame to set custom colors. #1 is for the heading on the first page; #2 is for other headings; #3 is for the background of the tables; #4 is for the table heading text color; #5 is for the main text color.
  • Fonts – use this frame to modify the default fonts. #1 is for the heading font; #2 is for the main text font.

Additionally, you may want to Add a page before the report and/or Add a page after the report by checking the corresponding boxes. Clicking Edit opens an editor window where you can enter and format any text and specify the headings for the additional pages.

To apply the new settings, click OK. To restore the default settings, click Default.