Report Configuration Examples
Project Name
Drag a Label box from the Toolbox into the desired band.
Double click inside the label box and enter the text Project Name. Stretch the box to the desired size by dragging one of the square handles on the edges of the field. You can format the text for font, size, etc., using the text functions in the formatting toolbar or in the Property Grid tab.
Select the Field List tab and open the Project Fields group. Drag the Project field into the report next to the label box. Re-size this box as needed and format the text.
When the report is generated, the Project field will be replaced with the name of the current project. Example:
Project Name: Paintline 2
Table (Columns)
A table defines columns for data, causing the information in each row of the report to line up properly. To create a table, begin by dragging the Table control from the toolbox into the desired band of the report.
The default table has three cells (columns). You can re-size the table by dragging the handles on the edge. You can also set the width and height of the table using the Size fields in the Property Grid tab.
To add more columns, cells or rows to the table, select one of the cells, right click, and use the Insert function from the menu.
Page Numbers
To add page numbers to the report pages, begin by dragging the PageInfo control from the toolbox into the desired band of the report. The PageFooter band would usually be the best place for page numbers.
You can make many formatting settings in the Property Grid tab. The PageInfo box you inserted must be selected (handles visible) in order to see its properties. If you click the + icon in the Font field, a variety of font setting fields become available.
If you click in the PageInfo field, a drop-down list will be available that provides a number of predefined formats. NumberOfTotal is the default format. RomLowNumber is a lowercase roman numeral. RomHiNumber is an uppercase roman numeral.
You can make additional settings in the Format field of the Property Grid tab. Clicking in this field displays a Browse button which displays the Format String Editor dialog.
Here you can select an appropriate data type in the Category column and then select from various formats in the Standard Types tab. You can also go to the Custom tab and see a list of individual elements which you can type in the field at the top of this tab. The Sample field shows an example of what that format will look like with a real value.
If you want to use the Number of Total format but don't like the default "/" character that divides the two values, you can select NumberOfTotal in the PageInfo field, and make the following entry in the Format field:
{0} of {1}
When the report is run, the {0} will be replaced with the current page number and the {1} will be replaced with the total number of pages in the report. If you prefer, you can use any word or character in place of "of".
Data-Time
Drag a PageInfo control into the desired band.
Select the PageInfo box so that the handles are visible. Then, in the Property Grid tab, click in the PageInfo field. A drop-down list will be available that provides a number of predefined formats. Select DateTime.
Click in the Format field of the Property Grid tab to display a Browse button. Click this button to display the Format String Editor dialog.
Select DateTime in the Category list. You will then be able to select various date and time combinations in the Standard Types tab. You can also go to the Custom tab and see a list of individual date/time elements which you can type in the field at the top of this tab. The Sample field shows how your selected format will appear in the report.
Sort Numerically
To support numerical sorting in a report, you must add the relevant ANUM variable into the template and hide it. For example, if you wish to sort device tags numerically, you must find the DeviceTag_ANUM variable in the Field List tab and drag it into the Details section of the report. Then, in the Properties for this variable, set the Visible property equal to False.
In the Bill of Materials reports, for example, there are ANUM variables for balloons, device tags, drawing sets, installations, locations, pages, and terminal numbers.
Text on Drawing Templates
Special conditions must be met for creating templates that will place a report on a drawing page (Text on Drawing). The predefined Text on Drawing reports provided with the software are indicated by the word - Drawing in the report name.
Follow these rules when creating Text on Drawing report templates:
- Each column heading must be in the cell of a table and this table must be inside the PageHeader band.
- Each data column must also be in the cell of a table and this table must be inside the Detail band.
- Any variables placed outside of these tables will be ignored.
- You can use plain text entries in other bands of the report, but variables will be ignored.
- An exception to rule 2 is a Quantified Bill of Materials report. In this report the table containing the data columns must be placed in the GroupHeader1 band. This allows the sum of quantities to function properly.
- Also in the Quantified Bill of Materials report provided with the software, the Item heading corresponds to a blank cell in the data table; no variable is used in this cell of the data table because the value of this field is automatically calculated by a script.
- In the report template, the number of columns must be the same for each table. Cells in one row of a table cannot span multiple cells in another. For example, the table in the Page Header band must have the same number of TableCells in the TableRow (same number of columns) as the table in the Detail band. Remove or insert columns as necessary. In the Report Template Designer, open the report template and right click the appropriate cell in the Designer or Report Explorer areas and select Insert or Delete.
- There are two global settings for text on drawing reports that can be made in the Property Grid tab of the template designer:
