This page helps you find out why a report, dashboard, subscription email or record print is not doing what you expect, and what to change to fix it. In nearly every case the cause is access, the definition or the app you opened, not the data. So check those first.
Overview
Analytics in xMatix has only a few moving parts, and you can inspect each one:
- A report is a stored query with saved columns, filters, grouping and totals. It runs each time you open it.
- Visibility is an explicit list of who may open a report or dashboard: its creator, everyone, or chosen roles, profiles and teams. Administrators get no automatic exception. See Sharing & access.
- A dashboard is a set of tiles. Each tile reads its own source under the viewer's access, and its result is cached for a short time.
- A subscription is a stored schedule. The background worker runs it as the subscriber and emails the result.
- A record print is a print template that a record's Print or Preview action points at.
When to use it
Use this page when:
- a report or dashboard you expect is not in your library, or a link says it was not found;
- a report opens but shows no rows, blank columns, or a message that it is too large to show live;
- a report's columns or filters changed and nobody remembers editing it;
- a dashboard's tiles are empty, look out of date, or the whole dashboard will not open;
- a subscription email does not arrive, arrives at the wrong hour or arrives without the file;
- a record's Print or Preview button fails or is missing.
Procedure
Step 1 — Note exactly what you see
Write down the report or dashboard name and its folder, because the same name can exist in several folders. Also note who is affected, which app you opened it from (Sales, Finance, Data Studio and so on), whether the viewer was on Live or Archived, the exact wording of any message, and whether you saw the problem on screen or in a scheduled email.
Step 2 — Open the source directly
For an empty dashboard tile, open the report or entity behind the tile. For a subscription problem, open the report or dashboard yourself. If the source is wrong too, the problem is upstream: fix the source first.
Step 3 — Check access before data
Ask whether the person can open the item at all (visibility), and whether they can read the records inside it (record security). Sharing decides who can open a report or dashboard. It never decides which rows they see in it.
Step 4 — Find the symptom below
The sections that follow are grouped by what you see. Each one gives the cause and the fix.
Common problems: finding reports and dashboards
A report or dashboard is missing from my library
Your library lists only what the visibility rule gives you. Check these in order:
- The app you opened it from. Every app except Data Studio lists only Live reports and dashboards. Data Studio content appears only in the Data Studio app, and only for users who hold Data Studio. If your administrator has turned on Show Live / Data Studio tabs, use the Live / Data Studio switch at the top of the list. See Analytics & Reporting.
- Whether it was shared with you. New and duplicated reports and dashboards start visible to their creator only. Ask the creator, or an administrator, to open the row's Edit and set Visibility to All users, or to Selected users with one of your roles, profiles or teams.
- Whether it is inactive. An inactive report or dashboard is hidden from every list, its creator's included. The Reports and Dashboards screens have no Active switch. An administrator can see the state in the group tabs described in the next step.
- Whether it still exists. An administrator opens Setup → Access control → Roles (or Profiles / Teams), opens one of the affected user's groups, and chooses Reports (or Dashboards) → Add. That list offers every report or dashboard in the organization, whatever its sharing or active state, with its Folder. Selecting it there and choosing Save shares it with that group. The group's tab shows an Active column for the content already shared with it.
"Report not found"
The page says The selected report could not be found. The report was deleted, it is no longer shared with you, or the link was copied from another organization. Choose Back to Reports and search for it. If it should still be yours, ask an administrator to check it as described in the previous section.
Nobody can see a report, not even the administrator
Content with no grants is visible only to its creator. If the creator has left, or the content arrived through an import or a package with no grants, nobody sees it in the libraries. It still exists. An administrator shares it from a role, profile or team's Reports or Dashboards tab, using Add.
An invoice layout or a pivot report has disappeared
The banded document reports and the Document Prints list were removed. Records now print from print templates, which an administrator manages under Setup → Entities → the entity → Layouts (Type Print). Your organization's own designs were converted to templates whose names end in _c. See Document prints. Pivot reports were removed and existing ones deleted. Rebuild one as a grid report with buckets, or as a pivot table on a dashboard.
Common problems: report contents
"This report has no rows yet" or "No rows match these filters"
The query ran and returned nothing. The empty state tells you which kind of empty it is:
- No rows match these filters means you have a search, a column filter or a report filter set. Remove the filter chips above the table and clear the search box, then look again.
- This report has no rows yet means no records match the report's own query, with no extra filters of yours on top. Check the saved filters: open More (…) → Report → Edit to see them in the report wizard. A fixed date window that has slid past your data, or a status condition that no longer matches, empties a report honestly.
Also check the relationships in the wizard. Only matched records keeps only rows that have a match in the joined entity, so one such relationship to a lookup that is often blank can drop nearly everything. Switch it to Keep all base records to see what was being excluded.
Some columns are blank while the rows are there
Those columns come from a joined entity, and the relationship found no match for those rows. With Keep all base records that is expected: the row is kept and the joined columns stay empty.
"This report could not be loaded"
The report's query failed on the server. Choose Refresh to try again. If it keeps failing, open the report in the wizard (More → Report → Edit) and check its fields and filters.
"Too much data to show live"
The report's main entity holds more records than reports run live, and your filters do not narrow it enough. The message names the size and the fix, for example narrow the date range to 4 days or less, or add a filter such as Branch or Owner. Do one of those. When your organization uses Data Studio, the message also offers Save as Data Studio report (for a report without joined entities) or Build a dataset, so the question can run on the analytics copy instead.
Two quieter lines explain related limits:
- Up to N days of … run live beside the filters tells you how wide a date range runs live, and what happens to longer ranges.
- … from the analytics copy — too much data to read live; archived records are not included above the table means this run was answered from the analytics copy. That copy can be up to an hour old.
A report's columns or filters changed and nobody edited it
Someone used Save view (More → View → Save view). It writes the current columns, grouping, sort, filters and totals into the shared report, so everyone sees the change. It is not a personal view. To restore the intended layout, open the wizard with Edit or arrange the report and Save view again. For a private variation, use Duplicate and save on the copy. See Reports in xMatix.
My changes disappeared when I reopened the report
Apply in the Customize panel changes only your screen. Reopening the report starts from the saved definition. Use Save view to keep a change for everyone, or Duplicate first if the report is not yours to change.
A colleague sees different numbers in the same report
Check, in order: that you both opened the same report (same name, same folder); that neither of you has filters applied; that you are both on the same side of the Live / Archived switch. If all three match, the difference is record security: each person sees only the rows they may read.
"This report reads from the archive, and … has no archive table … yet"
The viewer is on Archived, but one of the entities the report reads has not been archived yet. Switch the viewer back to Live, remove that entity from the report, or ask an administrator to archive it. See Archived records.
There is no Live / Archived switch
The switch appears only when every entity the report reads, joined entities included, has an archive rule. A Data Studio report never shows it, because it chooses its own table.
"Couldn't export the report to Excel. Try again."
The export failed while the file was being built. Refresh the report and try again. For a very large result, narrow the filters first, or use Preview and download from there.
Common problems: dashboards
The dashboard opens but some tiles are empty
Tile data loads under the viewer's own access. A viewer who can open the dashboard but cannot open the report behind a tile, or cannot read the records a tile counts, sees an empty tile, not an error.
- For a report tile, share the report with the same audience as the dashboard.
- For an entity tile, check the viewer's record access.
- For a dataset tile, check that the dataset's row security rules cover the viewer's roles. A viewer no rule covers sees nothing.
If the tile is empty for the dashboard's owner too, open its source directly. If that is empty as well, the problem is the source, so use the report sections above. Also check the filter bar: a Last 90 days preset over data that stopped last quarter is empty by definition.
A tile has an amber mark, or Refresh data says "some tiles show their last result"
A data read for that tile failed, so the tile still shows its last good result instead of going blank. Hover the mark: it says Last result from the time it was computed, followed by the reason. Fix the cause it names, then choose Refresh data. If the viewer has lost access to the source, the tile shows nothing instead, because a last result is never served to someone who may no longer see it.
The numbers look out of date
Each tile's result is cached per viewer, for 60 seconds unless the dashboard's designer chose a different interval. The viewer does not reload on a timer. It loads when you open the dashboard and when you change a filter, page or period. Refresh data becomes available a minute after the last load, and its tooltip shows when the data was last refreshed.
"This dashboard's definition is invalid"
The stored layout of the dashboard is damaged, usually by an edit made outside the designer. The viewer refuses to guess and shows what is wrong instead. Rebuild the dashboard in the designer and save it. Never edit a stored dashboard layout by hand.
A page of the dashboard is missing for some people, or the dashboard will not open
Each page (tab) of a dashboard can be limited to some roles, profiles or teams. People who match none of a page's grants do not get that page. If they match no page at all, the dashboard is not available to them. Open Design → Share to see each page's audience, and leave at least one page open to everyone who can see the dashboard.
"This dashboard reads from the archive, and …"
The viewer is on Archived, and that tile cannot be answered from the archive: its entity has no archive table yet, the tile groups or filters by a field of a related record, or the tile type has no archive form. Switch the viewer back to Live, change the tile, or ask an administrator to archive the entity.
Common problems: subscription emails
The subscription email never arrives
Work through these in order:
- Confirm you are still subscribed. The library's Subscribed scope lists your active subscriptions, and the bell on the row is filled. Unsubscribe stops deliveries but keeps the settings.
- Check the timing. The first email comes at the next scheduled time after you saved. A monthly subscription saved on the 5th for day 1 sends next month.
- Check the mailbox and the address. The email always goes to your user account's email address. Check that it is correct, and look in spam or your filtering rules. An account with no email address receives nothing, and neither do its additional recipients.
- Check that the content still exists and is licensed. A deleted report or dashboard ends its deliveries. Content that reads a product your organization is no longer licensed for is skipped until the licence returns. Removing a report's visibility does not stop deliveries.
- Check the format against the size. A PDF report delivery over 20,000 rows fails every time. Switch the subscription to Excel or CSV, or narrow the report.
- Ask an administrator to check the Message Log. Subscription emails are recorded in Setup → Platform → Monitoring → Message Log. No entry means the delivery fails before sending. Failed deliveries are retried about every 15 minutes, so a mail-service outage, or for dashboards a PDF-renderer outage, shows up as repeated retries rather than as a bounced email.
A colleague I added never gets the email
For reports, Additional recipients is a comma-separated list, and everyone on it gets the same attachment, so check the addresses. Dashboard subscriptions do not keep additional recipients at all: ask the colleague to subscribe themselves. See Subscriptions.
The email arrives at the wrong hour
The Subscribe dialog shows the time in the time zone of the browser you saved from, and stores it in UTC. If you saved from a device set to another zone, or your region has since moved its clocks, the stored time no longer matches your local hour. Reopen the subscription from your usual device, check Time, and choose Save.
The email says the report was too large to send
At send time the report was over your organization's limit for live queries, so the email explains this instead of attaching the file. Narrow the report's saved filters, or ask its owner to.
I got several emails after an outage
Each missed scheduled time is sent once the worker is back, one per check, so you may receive a short burst of catch-up emails. They stop by themselves.
Common problems: printing records
A record's Print or Preview action fails
The message says which piece is missing:
- "No document report is configured for this action." The action has no Print layout. An administrator picks one of the entity's print templates in the entity's Actions setup.
- "No such document print." The action's Print layout names something that is not a current print template, such as a deleted template or a leftover of the removed banded prints. Pick a current template.
- "Please select at least one record." The action needs a selection and ran from a list with nothing selected. Select the rows first.
- "The record does not exist, cannot be read, or has no print template." You cannot read the record, or no active template applies to it.
Every case is covered in Document prints.
The Print button is missing for some users
The action is not ticked on their security profile's Actions tab. An administrator ticks it under Setup → Access control → Profiles → the profile → Actions.
Permissions
| To fix this | You need |
|---|---|
| Clear your own filters, switch Live / Archived, refresh, unsubscribe | Only access to the report or dashboard |
| Change a report's or dashboard's name, folder or definition, Save view, Duplicate, Delete | The analytics administration capability |
| Change Visibility in the Edit dialog | The security administration capability as well |
| See every report and dashboard and share it with a group | Access to Setup → Access control and the security administration capability |
| Read the Message Log | Access to Setup → Platform → Monitoring → Message Log |
| Assign a print template to an action, or tick an action on a profile | Access to Setup → Entities and Setup → Access control → Profiles |
A user without the analytics administration capability still sees the save and delete buttons. When the server enforces the capability, the action fails with a message such as Failed to save report. The full list is on Reports in xMatix and Sharing & access.
Training
Quick reference
- Note the folder as well as the name: duplicate names are allowed.
- Data Studio content shows only in the Data Studio app.
- New and duplicated content starts private; share it from Edit → Visibility.
- Administrators find every report under a role, profile or team → Reports → Add.
- Save view changes the report for everyone; Apply changes only your screen.
- "Too much data to show live": narrow the date range or add a Branch or Owner filter.
- Empty tile for one viewer: share the report behind it, not just the dashboard.
- Dashboard tiles are cached for about a minute; Refresh data waits a minute.
- A PDF report subscription over 20,000 rows never sends; use Excel or CSV.
- Subscription times are saved in UTC from your browser's time zone.
Common questions
Why can't our administrator see a report that a colleague created?
The libraries have no administrator exception: they list only what is shared with you, or what you created. This keeps each person's library to the content meant for them. An administrator who needs to find or share any report opens a role, profile or team under Setup → Access control and uses Reports → Add, which lists every report in the organization, including private and inactive ones. Adding it there shares it with that group.
Does sharing a dashboard share the data in it?
No. Sharing lets people open the dashboard, but every tile still reads its source under the viewer's own access. A tile built on a report they cannot open, or on records they cannot read, is empty for them. Share the reports behind the tiles with the same audience as the dashboard, and check record access for entity tiles and row security rules for dataset tiles. This is deliberate: a dashboard is never a way around record security.
Why does a report work on screen but fail as a subscription?
The two runs differ in a few ways. The subscription runs at its scheduled time as you, with the report's saved filters, not the filters you happen to have on screen. A PDF delivery is limited to 20,000 rows, and a run over the live-query limit sends an explanation instead of a file. A licence change can also skip deliveries. Compare the subscription's format with the report's size first, then check the Message Log.