Setting Up Report Designer
Before you start using the Report Designer, it is important to set up basic properties for the report templates you will be using.
The Report Designer includes a number of different pods that contain various features and functions:
|
Feature |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Menu |
Click |
|
Toolbox |
Located on the left-hand side of the Report Designer. Use the various options in the toolbox to drag-and-drop features from the toolbox into a report template. |
|
Toolbar |
Often used functions are located in the toolbar above the main display. |
|
Main display |
Located in the middle of the Report Designer and displays a selected report template. |
|
Properties bar |
Located on the right-hand side of the Report Designer. Select the other options - Expressions, Fields as needed. The Field List displays all of the available fields (data sources) that can be used for a selected report template. Drag-and-drop a field from the Field List to include it in a report template. Click Add Data Source in the Field List to drag-and-drop a selected data source to add to your custom report. |
|
Report Explorer |
Located on the right-hand side of the Report Designer as an option on the Properties bar. The Report Explorer lists all of the sections of the report template in a hierarchical tree structure. It lists the styles and components used in the report template. Click a listed section to highlight it in the report template. |
to access the menu options. It is located above the toolbox.
- Access the Report Designer.
- Select a listed report or Add New Report.
- Make sure no objects are selected.
- On the Properties bar, make sure Properties is selected.
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Set some basic report functionality:
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Expand the Behavior section, to select a Measure Units from the drop-down list.
This sets the distance that a value of 1 is equivalent to when determining the size of objects, like the page size.
Options are:
- Hundredths of an Inch - a measurement value of 1 is 1/100". For example, a field of width 500 and height 100 is actually 5" wide and 1" high.
- Tenths of a Millimeter - a measurement value of 1 is 1/10mm. For example, a field of width 500 and height 100 is actually 5cm wide and 1cm high.
- Pixels - a measurement value of 1 is a single screen pixel (a dot). This format is not suitable for physical printing.
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Expand the Appearance section and set the options as need for color, borders and font.
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Expand the Design section and set up your grid lines.
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Expand the Page Settings section and choose the page setup and margins.
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Expand the Printing section and select if right to left layout is needed and the print options.
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- Click the Preview tab on the toolbar to preview the report's layout and formatting.
- Click Save in the menu options.