Report Template Designer

The Report Template Designer lets the user create custom report formats.

Accessed from:

Output Ribbon > Reports Group

Drag elements such as text boxes, picture boxes and lines from the Toolbox area into any of the bands. You can also select the Field List tab to display a list of available data fields and drag these into the bands. Configure the report elements by selecting the element and then making settings in the Property Grid tab. To generate the report, select the Run Reports function.

Setting	Description
File Menu	The following commands are available from the Report Template Designer File menu: New - Displays the New Report Template dialog, which enables you to create a new Report Template. Open - Displays the Open Report Template dialog, which enables you to open an existing Report Template for editing. Save - Saves changes to the current Report Template. Save As - Enables you to save the current Report Template as a different name. Exit - Closes the Report Template Wizard.
Menus and Toolbar	Provides access to major file-handling and formatting functions.
Toolbox	Provides a selection of standard controls that you can drag into the report template. To use them, drag them into one of the bands in the report formatting area. Once there, you can select them and format them in the Property Grid tab like other report elements. Pointer - A tool that allows you to select bands and report elements. Label - Inserts a label in reports. Use this control to place single-line or multi-line text in a report. Check-box - Inserts a check-box in reports. Use this control to allow a user to display a true/false or Checked/Unchecked/Indeterminate state. RichTextBox - Inserts a control that can be used to display, enter, and manipulate formatted text. PictureBox - Inserts a control that can be used to insert images into your report. Panel - Inserts a control that can contain other controls. Use this control to group controls together which makes it easier to manipulate them. Table - Inserts a table into the reports. Line - This control places a line in your report. Shape - Inserts a shape into the report. The type of shape can be defined in the Property Grid. Barcode - Represents a barcode in reports. ZipCode - Inserts a control that displays a zip code in a report. Chart - Inserts a chart in reports. Use this control to show different data in a report using one or several Series View Types. A chart wizard allows you to format the chart once inserted. PageInfo - Use this control to display auxiliary information on report pages such as page numbers, the current date or user information. PageBreak - Inserts a page delimiter into the report. Subreport - Subreport controls are used if there is a particular report structure that needs to be included in many reports and it needs to have a consistent appearance and functionality. A good example is a report header that always contains the same company information, who generated the report, the date, etc.
Report Formatting and Preview	The central area of the dialog is where you place and arrange the elements of the report. Select the Designer tab at the bottom of this area when you are placing or editing report elements. The report formatting area is divided into horizontal bands that represent different parts of the report page (header, body, footer, etc.). Select the Preview or HTML View tabs when you wish to see what the report output will look like. If you have a page open, data from that project will appear in the preview. Create the bands that will make up the main areas of the report page. The different bands are marked by horizontal bars with the name of the band type. The following band types are available: TopMargin - The area defined by the top margin value. Used for placing content at the top of each report page. ReportHeader - For content that will only appear at the beginning of the first page of the report, below the top margin. PageHeader - Used for placing content at the top of a report page, below the TopMargin. Mainly intended for displaying the header of a table, which has been continued from the previous page. Detail - The main content area of the report. GroupHeader - A header for a sub-section of data within the Detail band of the report (example: one cable within a field wiring report). The group header appears above the Detail band. GroupFooter - A footer for a sub-section of data within the Detail band of the report. Appears below the Detail band. ReportFooter - Used for placing content at the end of a report. PageFooter - Used for placing content at the bottom of a report page, above the BottomMargin band. Mainly intended for displaying the footer of a table, which is continued on the following page. BottomMargin - An area defined by the bottom margin value. Used for placing content at the bottom of each report page.
Report Explorer, Properties and Fields	On the right side of the dialog is an area that has several purposes. Select the Report Explorer tab to see an outline view of the report's structure and the elements used in the report. You can use this view to select individual fields or controls and view their properties or delete them by means of the right-click menu. Select the Property Grid tab to set the properties of the currently selected report element. Select the Field List tab to display a list of available data fields. You can drag these fields into the report formatting area. You can adjust the size of these dialog areas by pointing the cursor at the edge of the area and dragging. You can close the dialog area by clicking on the X button for that area and re-display it using the View > Window menu. You can drag the Toolbox and the Report Explorer/Fields/Property Grid area so that they are free-floating windows. To dock them again with the Report Template dialog, drag them to either the right or left end of the ruler bar.
Global Settings for the Report	When you select the button, a limited group of fields will appear beside the button. However, you can select the Property Grid tab and access all global settings for the report. Note: You must select the global settings button first before you will see these fields in the Property Grid tab. The properties which display here are subject to change depending on the type of report template loaded. Landscape - Select True in this field if you wish the report to be in landscape mode. Select False if you wish the report to be in portrait mode. Margins - Sets the page margins for the report. If you click the + icon beside the Margins field, you will see separate fields for top, bottom, right and left margins. PageHeight, PageWidth - Set the paper size here. Units are hundredths of an inch or tenths of a millimeter as set in the Report Unit field. Report Unit - Here you select whether the space units you enter for margins, paper size, etc., will represent hundredths of an inch or tenths of a millimeter. TextOnDrawingMultiColumn - If the template is for a Text on Drawing report, select True if you wish the report to occupy multiple columns on the drawing page. Select False for the report to appear within a single column. TextOnDrawingSpaceBetweenColumns - If the template is for a Text on Drawing report that will occupy multiple columns on a drawing page, enter a value for the gap between columns.
Preview Tab	If you have a drawing page open, data from that project will appear in the preview.