Permissions Reporter

The contents of a file system permissions report can be exported in a number of file formats:

 

•XML - Permissions report data exported as XML can re-loaded (via the Import function) at a later date. All report columns are exported when this format is selected.

•HTML - Allows report data to be viewed via a web browser. Suitable for exporting limited report data only. Includes template support (see below).

•Excel - Exporting in this format creates a MS Excel file with separate tabs (worksheets) for each included data report type.

•PDF - Portable document format. Excellent for printing and sharing report with limited amounts of data. Exporting large amounts of data to PDF will consume significant memory.

•CSV - Exports data as a series of comma-separated text values, with each permissions entry on a separate line. Includes folder permissions data only.

 

Important: HTML, Excel, and CSV export file formats will not include permissions entries currently hidden via the application of View Filtering. If you find that such reports are missing data elements, please ensure that you disengage view filtering prior to the export process.

 

Choosing An Export Format

 

There are a number of important considerations when choosing a data export format. Let's walk through some of the pros and cons of each.

 

XML exports can be reloaded into Permissions Reporter at a later time. If you need to export large report data sets and view them later, this is the best way to do it. They are also excellent for third-party integration (e.g. if you need to consume the data through a custom script, etc.). XML data exports include all report data (e.g. all columns).

 
HTML exports have the advantage of being easily accessible via any modern web browser. They can also render their contents in the form of a collapsible tree that is very similar to what's presented in the Permissions Reporter main interface. However, web browsers do not work well with extremely large HTML files - they may be very slow to load or fail to load entirely. HTML exports are suitable only for exporting limited amounts of report data, such as a filtered view or representation of modestly sized file system nodes. The appearance of HTML export files can be managed via HTML template support (see below).

 

Excel exports are a great option when you need to manipulate data outside of Permissions Reporter, since Excel offers many data processing features. Excel exports segregate report data through worksheets, improving usability. Export data is streamed directly to file, resulting in good performance and minimal memory usage.

 

PDF exports are a good choice when you need to share or distribute limited amounts of permissions reporting data.

 

Finally, CSV files are easily consumable by many third-party tools (including MS Excel) or custom scripts and are fast to create. However, because they cannot contain sectioned data they are limited to representing folder report data only.

 

Export Options

 

•Include folder report data - Turn this off if you don't want Folder Report data included in the export.

•Include file permissions data - Turn this off if you don't want File Report data to be included in the export.

•Include owner map report data - Turn this off if you don't want Owner Map report data to be included in the export.

•Include share report data - Turn this off if you don't want Share Report data to be included in the export.

•Include group membership data - Use this option to create a separate worksheet (Excel) or table (HTML) containing group membership information.

•Include event log data - Allows you to attach the application event log (if available) to your data export.

 

Folder and File Report Columns

 

Use the Report Columns tab to select which columns should be included in the export file.

 

Note that XML file type exports will always include all available report data (e.g. all columns). Also, only Folder Report columns are included when exporting to CSV.

 

Saving and Loading Export Configuration

 

Use the Save Export Config and Load Export Config buttons to save and re-load export configuration data, including export options and report column selections.

 

Export configuration data files can be consumed by the command line interface or the scheduler.

 

HTML Templates

 

Permissions Reporter installs "header" and "footer" HTML templates into the Windows common application data area of the file system:

 

%ProgramData%\Key Metric Software\Permissions Reporter\Templates

 

These template files are merged into the final output file when exporting to HTML file format, thereby allowing you to alter the appearance of said files. For example, you could add a company logo or header graphic to the "header.html" template file or modify the CSS styles according to your preferences.