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This text refers to program version 8.5  

Creating a Report Using the Report Generator

This page describes the first step in creating a new Report Generator report in Standard ERP. For the subsequent steps, please refer to the links at the bottom of the page.

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To create a new report, first go into the Report Generator by clicking the [Switch Module] button in the Navigation Centre and double-clicking 'Report Generator' in the subsequent list. If 'Report Generator' is not included in the 'Modules' list, the likely causes are that you have logged on as a Person that does not have access privileges for this module, or you are not subscribing to the Report Generator module and so the Report Generator option has not been enabled in the Configuration setting in the System module ('HAL' card).

The Report Generator module contains three registers, of which the most important one is the: Report register. The other two registers, Form Templates and Styles, are also present in the System module: please follow the links for full details. Each record in the Report register will contain the entire definition of a single report, as outlined in the bullet points in the introduction to this documentation. To open the Report register, click the [Registers] button in the Navigation Centre and then double-click 'Reports' in the subsequent list. The 'Reports: Browse' window will be opened, listing any reports that you have already designed:

To create a new Report, select 'New' from the Create menu in the Button Bar or use the Ctrl-N (Windows) or ⌘-N (macOS) keyboard shortcut. Alternatively, highlight a Report similar to the one you are about to design and select 'Duplicate' from the same menu.

The 'Report Definition: New' window will open, empty if you selected 'New' or containing a duplicate of the highlighted Report.

Apart from the Code and the Report Name fields in the header, the 'Report Definition: New' window contains four named cards, which you should use as follows:

Data

Use this card to program the report. This includes designing the report's specification window (e.g. providing variables where the user can specify search criteria), searching for information in the database in response to what was entered in the specification window, sorting and filtering the results, calculating totals and bringing in information from other registers.

Layout

Use this card to design the appearance of the printed report i.e. the report output. Here you should specify what information will be printed, and where on the page it will be printed. This includes headers and footers, column headings, fields from the database, subtotals and totals.

Input

This card contains an illustration of the report's specification window. Use this card to place check boxes and radio buttons in the specification window.

Settings

Use this card to specify the default print destination of the report, the window sizes of the specification and report windows and to set other miscellaneous options.

The 'Data', 'Layout' and 'Input' cards each consist of a set of buttons and a report display area.

To add an element to a report, click a button above the report display area. A dialogue box will then open, where you can configure the element that you are adding to the report. When you click [OK], the dialogue box will close and the new report element will appear in the report display area. In some cases, you should click on an existing element before clicking a button above the report display area. This will ensure the element you are about to add will appear in the correct section of the report.

If you need to change an existing element, double-click it to re-open the dialogue box and make the change. If you want to delete an element, click once on it and then press the Backspace key on your keyboard, select 'Clear' from the Edit menu or click the [Delete] button above the report display area. Be careful because you cannot undo deletions, and because dependent elements will be removed as well.

Press the [Save] button in the Button Bar to save the changes you have made to the report. As you design a report, particularly if it is a long one, you might want to save it periodically for safety.

In this documentation, we will illustrate the use of the Report Generator by designing a Customer List with various features. Please follow the links below for more details about:

• Specifying the Primary Register
  

• The Appearance of the Report
  

• Choosing a Print Destination
  

• The Width of the Report Window
  

• Printing the Report
  

• Adding White Space to Improve Readability
  

• Adding Searches
  

• Adding a Secondary Register
  

• Using Variables and Formulae
  

• Printing Information from Matrices
  

• Bringing Information in from Other Registers
  

• Page Breaks
  

• Filtering Records - Print If
  

• Adding Check Boxes to the Specification Window
  

• Adding Radio Buttons to the Specification Window
  

• Searching for Records within a Period
  

• Break Points, Subtotals and Totals
  

• Blocks
  

• Syntax for Print If conditions, Formulae and Code
  

• Useful Functions
  

• Example - Listing Sales Figures
  

• Common Error Messages

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