Report Designer Dialog

This dialog lets you create your own custom report formats.

Accessed from:

Clicking the Edit Report Template option from the Output Manager.

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.

Menu Bar

Setting	Description
File Menu	Displays various options to save and close the report template file. When you use the Save As option, you are prompted with the Save Report Template dialog providing the ability to specify a name and location for the report.
Edit Menu	Provides standard editing functions to be applied to items in the report template such as Cut, Copy, Paste, etc.
View Menu	Provides different view options for the active report template (Designer view, Preview, etc.) as well as options to display toolbars, and different editing windows in the Report Designer.
Format Menu	Provides various formatting options to use when editing the report template such as Foreground/Background color, font settings, spacing etc.
Windows	Offers different layout options for the designer windows.

Toolbars

Outlined in blue above, the toolbars provide 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.

All of the toolbar options can either be docked, or left floating in the working area.

Setting	Description
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.
Gauge	Inserts a gauge graph (data presented in a semicircular dial)into the report.
Sparkline	Inserts a sparkline (small line graph) into the report.
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 (outlined in red above) 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. Each band contains a title bar with the name of the band type. Each band can be collapsed by click the arrow icon to the left of the title in the title bar.

The following types of bands are available. Note that the title bar of each band informs you of how many bands of that type are permitted.

Setting	Description
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.

Standard Controls

The Standard Controls toolbox contains the controls that can be placed within the report. To add a control to one of the report Bands, click a control type and use the mouse to pick the location for the control and to re-size if necessary.

To enter text in a control box, double-click inside the box and type in the text.

Use the Properties Grid to define information for the control as necessary.

Report Explorer

Outlined in green on the right side of the dialog above, 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.

The Report Explorer section provides a tree view of the items inside of the current report. It allows for quick selection of the different controls in the report. Any control that is added to the report will be listed here. You select the control just by clicking on it here and it will become highlighted in the report. This will also load the control into the Property Grid for more detailed editing. The Report Explorer also lists the headers, footers and bands along with the other general items added to 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.

Field List

This is a list of all the available fields from the data. The classes that were selected in the Create Report process should appear as the top node while the properties for each class should show up under them. You can either assign the property to an existing label or tool from the Tool box detailed above or simply drag a field onto the Design Area. This will place a label that is linked to that field. The fields also show what type of data they are in the icons. There is also a field called Parameters but this is used when a report needs a value defined at run time of the report, such as a time stamp.

Property Grid

This area gives the properties for a selected Tool. These properties can be modified here. For example, if a label needs some padding, it can be set under the "Padding" property. Some properties use pull downs to have their data changes while others have text fields or special popup windows. Testing each one should show how they work. Most of the properties show a description in the bottom grey area of the dialog when they are selected.

Setting	Description
Appearance	This determines how the control will appear in the report. Formatting Rule - this determines if the control will have any formatting in its displayed text. Pressing the arrow button that is displayed when selecting this property will show the Formatting Rules Editor. Styles - styles can help when you want to apply the same look to multiple controls. You can created a style with all the same appearance properties set in that style rather than in the control. Then when you apply that style, it will override all the control's appearance properties with those from the style.
Behavior	These properties determine how the control will act under certain conditions. The following properties are used the most by OpenPlant Support Engineering along with basic descriptions of each. IF you click in a property field a description is also provided at the bottom of the Property Grid panel. Anchor Vertically - This will anchor the control vertically so it doesn't move Angle - Sets the angle of rotation on the control Auto Width - This will allow the control to get its size based on the text inside it Can Grow - Tells the control if it can increase its height based on the contents. Can Shrink - Tells the control if it can decrease its height based on the contents. Process Duplicates - this tells the control whether or not to skip duplicate data. Process Null Values - this tells the control whether or not to skip null values or values with no data in them. Note: Both Process options work with the data passed into them. For example, if either is set on a Label control that is tied to a column and the null process is set to Suppress, it will skip any entry in that column that is null. However, if a table uses this option, then it will only skip when the whole row is missing data. Also note, that this can affect how groups are handled. If a group is being sorted by a field that may contain null values and these are suppressed, than that group will be skipped. Scripts - This allows a saved script to be applied to the control, more on scripts later. Visible - Determines if the control will be visible in the generated report. Word Wrap - Determines if the text will wrap once it it's the maximum width of the control.
Data	Some of these properties are not used by OpenPlant Support Engineering because of the data is handled. The data properties below are currently used: Null Value Text - this is the text that will be showed when a null or empty value is found, for example, one can have N/A or No Value placed into the control when a field is missing instead of a blank space. Summary - this allows for calculations to be done on Pressing the arrow button brings up the Summary Editor Note: The Summary Editor allows you to do calculations on fields stored in the controls. Text - the text that will be displayed Xlsx Format String - used when export the report to Excel and allows the user to change how the string will appear when exported
Design	(Name) - this is the name of the control which will be displayed in the Report Explorer Layout - used to set the location, size and margin of the control Navigation - this allows the addition of URLs and links into the control, using it one can add a link to a web page or file that will open when the control is clicked.

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.

Setting	Description
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.