BIRT custom report in project accounting not displaying latest status values after configuration update

[donald_hacker]

We recently updated our project status values in the configuration (added new statuses “On Hold - Budget Review” and “Completed - Pending Closeout”) but our BIRT custom report for project accounting continues to show only the old status values. The report is used by senior management for weekly project portfolio reviews, so this is causing confusion.

When I run the report, projects that have been updated to the new statuses appear with blank values in the Status column. If I view those same projects in the UI, the statuses display correctly. I’ve checked the report definition and the data source appears to be pointing to the correct project status field. The report was working fine before we added the new configuration values. Has anyone experienced BIRT reports not picking up updated configuration values? Do we need to refresh something or rebuild the data source connection?

I’ll walk you through the complete resolution covering all three key areas:

1. BIRT Data Source Refresh: First, you need to update the report’s connection to the latest Workday configuration. Open your report in BIRT Report Studio:

• Navigate to Data > Data Sources > your Workday connection
• Right-click and select “Edit”
• Click “Test Connection” to verify connectivity
• Then go to Data > Data Sets > your project data set
• Right-click and select “Edit”
• Click “Refresh Metadata” button

This pulls the latest field definitions including your new status values. However, this alone won’t fix your issue because of the calculated field dependency.

2. Calculated Field Mapping Update: Your Status_Category calculated field needs to be updated to recognize the new status values. In BIRT Studio:

• Open the Data Set editor
• Find the Status_Category computed column
• Update the expression to include the new mappings:

Original expression probably looks like:

CASE
  WHEN Project_Status IN ('Active','In Progress') THEN 'Active'
  WHEN Project_Status IN ('On Hold') THEN 'Paused'
  WHEN Project_Status IN ('Completed','Closed') THEN 'Closed'
END

Update it to:

CASE
  WHEN Project_Status IN ('Active','In Progress') THEN 'Active'
  WHEN Project_Status IN ('On Hold','On Hold - Budget Review') THEN 'Paused'
  WHEN Project_Status IN ('Completed','Closed','Completed - Pending Closeout') THEN 'Closed'
END

This ensures your new statuses are properly categorized in the report output.

3. Project Status Configuration Verification: Before deploying the updated report, verify the configuration in Workday:

• Navigate to Configure Business Objects > Project
• Find the Status field configuration
• Confirm both new statuses have these settings:
  • “Include in Reporting” = checked
  • “Active for Transactions” = checked
  • Proper sequence/order defined

If “Include in Reporting” isn’t enabled, the BIRT data source won’t include those values even after metadata refresh.

4. Additional Considerations: If your report has any filter parameters that use the status field, those also need updating:

• Check report parameters section
• If you have a cascading parameter for status selection, refresh its value list
• Update any default values or validation rules

Deployment and Testing: After making these changes:

1. Save the report in BIRT Studio
2. Deploy to your Workday tenant (test environment first)
3. Run the report and verify:
   • New statuses appear in the Status column
   • Status_Category field shows correct groupings
   • Filters and parameters work with new values
4. Compare report output with UI data for projects using new statuses

This is a good reminder to document calculated field dependencies whenever you create custom BIRT reports. When configuration changes happen, you’ll know exactly which reports need updates. Consider creating a mapping document that lists all your custom reports and the configuration values they depend on.

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This draft is based on general Workday knowledge. It has not been verified against your specific version and environment. Practitioners: verify the steps and share your experience below.

[davidadmin]

This is a common issue with BIRT reports after configuration changes. The report’s data source cache needs to be refreshed. Go to the report definition in BIRT Studio, right-click on the data source, and select “Refresh Metadata”. This will pull the latest configuration values including your new status options.

[akashops]

Just refreshing metadata might not be enough if you have calculated fields involved. Check if your report uses any calculated fields that reference the project status. Those calculated field definitions also need to be updated to recognize the new status values. I had a similar situation where a calculated field was filtering based on a hardcoded list of status values, so new statuses were being excluded.

[kevinsolver]

Good catch on the calculated fields. I do have a calculated field called “Status_Category” that groups statuses into “Active”, “Paused”, and “Closed” categories. It’s using a CASE statement based on specific status values. That would explain why the new statuses are showing as blank - they’re not included in any of the CASE conditions. How do I update that calculated field definition to include the new values?

[carol_solver]

You’ll need to edit the calculated field expression in your BIRT report. Open the report in BIRT Studio, find the Status_Category calculated field in the data set, and modify the CASE statement to include your new statuses. For “On Hold - Budget Review” you’d probably want to map it to “Paused” category, and “Completed - Pending Closeout” should map to “Closed”. After updating the expression, save the report and redeploy it to Workday. Make sure to test thoroughly before rolling out to production.

[gregory_tech]

There’s another aspect to consider here - the project status configuration itself. When you add new status values, you need to verify that they’re properly configured in the Project Status business object. Check that the new statuses have the correct attributes set, particularly the “Include in Reporting” flag. If that’s not enabled, the statuses won’t be available in report data sources regardless of whether you refresh the metadata.