From the Edge: Report Designer Tips for R:BASE 7.x and V-8 "Turbo"
Section: Report Designer
Chapter: Running R:BASE Your Way!
Platform: R:BASE 7.x and V-8 "Turbo" for Windows
Build: 7.1.79.30128 and higher
Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of R:BASE 7.x
and V-8 "Turbo" Report Designer:
. Maximize the Report Designer window and use the speed menus
as much as possible.
. Set up the Page Size and Margins before placing any controls
on any bands.
Report Designer | File | Page Setup...
Leave the Printer as 'Default' unless required for special
circumstances where a hard-coded printer is assigned to only
print on that particular printer.
Verify the Paper Size, Width, Height and Orientation.
Leave the Paper Tray as 'Default' unless required for special
circumstances where a hard- coded paper tray is assigned to
only use assigned paper tray.
Leave Layout settings as default, unless designing columnar
reports.
Adjust the Top, Bottom, Left and Right margin as required.
. The width of the page (white space) displayed in Report Designer
is the actual width after taking the Page Margins in consideration.
. Controls displayed in Report Designer are the ones which are
checked for Toolbar. To display additional controls, use View |
Toolbars option.
Report Designer | View | Toolbars
. To set report units, either use Report Designer | Report | Units
option or Right-click on the top or vertical ruler and select
the appropriate unit from the available speed menu options
. To hide Report Ruler, right-click on the top or vertical ruler
and select 'Hide' from the speed menu options.
. While in Report Designer, the [Report Preview] option only
displays the first 100 records.
. To set display formats, use the speed menus to access the Format
dialog. The Format dialog will determine the data type of the
Data Field assigned to the control and display several formats
appropriate for that data type. For example, a field of type date
would provide a list of commonly used date formats. Once you
select the appropriate format, you may also customize that format,
if you wish.
. To resize the band using the mouse, position the mouse over the
gray rectangular area below the white space of that band, press
the left mouse button, and drag.
. While working with the Report Designer in its maximized window
state, you can bring the "Object Tree" to the top by selecting
the Report Designer's View | Toolbars | Object Tree.
. While working with the Report Designer in its maximized window
state, you can also bring the "Data Tree" to the top by selecting
the Report Designer's View | Toolbars | Data Tree.
. You can cut, copy and paste one or more report controls at a time
either in the same report or between different reports.
. Pre-Define all global variables used in Report. You may access R>
prompt window to define all global variables or use [Global] option
while defining Report Expressions.
. Use DB Calc control when you need to calculate a SUM, COUNT, MIN,
MAX or AVG for a break, page or an entire report.
. The COUNT option of DB Calc can also be used in the Detail Band to
display the line number for each record in the report.
. Set the Band Height property to "Dynamic" when you want the band
to use page space on an as-needed basis, shrinking or stretching
to accommodate the report controls. When the Band Height is set
to "Static", the band uses the exact amount of page space specified
by the height property (unless it is not Visible, in which case it
uses zero page space).
. Set the Stretch property of a Memo control when you want the Height
of the memo to automatically stretch to allow the entire contents
of the memo to be printed. If you are framing the memo with a Shape,
set the Shape, StretchWithParent property to True (checked) and the
Height of the shape will stretch to accommodate the height of the
memo. Use the ShiftWithParent property of the other report controls
to determine whether the position of the report controls should move
as the memo stretches.
. You can use the "Visible" property of each control as well as the
entire band to control which control appears when the band prints.
To hide all the controls in a band, set the Visible property of the
band to False (un-checked). To hide individual controls, set the
Visible property of individual controls to False (un-checked).
. Use Format Toolbar options (Fort Name, Font Size, Font Style, and
Justification) to set the font, colors and justification of controls.
This will also assist with layering the controls. Font Name selects
the font name for textual controls. Use TrueType fonts (indicated by
T icon) when possible. These render well on both the screen as well
as printer. If you are using the dot-matrix printer, the printer
driver may supply printer fonts (indicated by a printer icon) that
you can use to speed up the printing of the report. Fonts that have
no icon to the left of the font name are screen fonts and should not
be used in reports where WYSIWYG is required.
. Use Bring to Front or Send to Back options accordingly. The controls
in the front print last, and the controls in the back print first.
Use the Object Tree to see the exact layering of controls within the
band.
. Use Align or Space Toolbar options (Align Left, Align Middle, Align
Right, Align Top, Align Center, Align Bottom, Space Horizontally,
Space Vertically, Center Horizontally in Band and Center Vertically
in Band) to position controls relative to one another and relative
to the band in which they appear.
Align Left aligns a group of controls with the leftmost position of
the control that was selected first.
Align Middle centers a group of controls based on the horizontal
center of the controls that was first selected.
Align Right aligns a group of controls with the rightmost position
of the control that was selected first.
Align Top aligns a group of controls with the topmost position of
the control that was selected first.
Align Center aligns a group of controls based on the vertical center
of the control that was first selected.
Align Bottom aligns a group of controls based with the bottommost
position of the control that was selected first.
Space Horizontally spaces a set of controls based on the leftmost
position of the first control selected and the rightmost position
of the last control selected.
Space Vertically spaces a set of controls based on the topmost position
of the first control selected and the bottommost position of the last
control selected.
Center Horizontally in Band centers a control horizontally within a band.
Center Vertically in Band centers a control vertically within a band.
. Use Size Toolbar options (Shrink Width to Smallest, Grow Width to Largest,
Shrink Height to Smallest, Grow Height to Largest) to adjust width and
height of controls.
Shrink Width to Smallest determines the minimum width of all the selected
controls, and then set the width of the controls to that value.
Grow Width to Largest determines the maximum width of all selected
controls, and then sets the width of the controls to that value.
Shrink Height to Smallest determines the minimum height of all the
selected controls, and then sets the height of the controls to that
value.
Grow Height to Largest determines the maximum height of all selected
controls, and then sets the height of the controls to that value.
You may also use [Shift+Right Arrow], [Shift+Left Arrow],[Shift+Up Arrow]
or [Shift+Down Arrow] key combinations to Increase Width, Decrease Width,
Increase Height or Decrease Height of any individual control or group of
selected controls.
. Use Nudge Toolbar options (Nudge Up, Nudge Down, Nudge Left, Nudge Right)
to move the controls pixel by pixel.
Nudge Up moves all selected components one pixel up.
Nudge Down moves all selected components one pixel down.
Nudge Left moves all selected components one pixel left.
Nudge Right moves all selected components one pixel right.
Converting from 6.5++ for Windows:
Before attempting to convert any existing R:BASE report, you need to be
sure that the report has been saved in the 6.5++ version of R:BASE for
Windows before proceeding.
Once the forms, reports, and labels are converted into R:BASE 6.5++ for
Windows, they can then be brought into R:BASE 7.x and R:BASE V-8 "Turbo"
using the built-in Converter. All forms, reports, and labels are created
in a new system table (SYS_FORMS3, SYS_REPORTS3 and SYS_LABELS3), so the
originals remain untouched.
While every effort to salvage existing R:BASE 6.5++ Reports has been made,
there are a few things to be aware of:
. Paper Size, Width, Height and Orientation
Verify the Paper Size, Width, Height and Orientation of converted
report
Report Designer | File | Page Setup...
. Sub-Totals and Totals
To calculate sub-totals and totals of table columns, you used to create
Aggregate Variables to do this job. Now, the R:BASE 7.x for Windows
Report Designer has a built-in object called DBCalc which performs these
same functions on table columns without creating the extra overhead of
variables.
. DATE, TIME, Document, and Page Information
R:BASE 7.x and R:BASE V-8 "Turbo" for Windows Report Designer now has
an object called System Variable which allows you to place the current
DATE, TIME, Document Name, Print DATE and TIME, or one of five Page
Numbering options.
. Vertical Lines and other Presentation Objects Spanning Multiple Bands
In prior versions of R:BASE for Windows, the OLDLINE option allowed
vertical lines and other presentation objects to span multiple report
bands. In the R:BASE 7.x and V-8 "Turbo" for Windows Report Designer,
you now use the Page Style band to apply multiple band presentation
objects.
. To achieve the functionality of "Line Wrap", like in the previous
versions, use DB Memo control with Stretch set to True.
. Update all your OUTPUT PRINTER or OUTPUT filename.ext commands to:
PRINT reportname WHERE whereclause ORDER BY orderbyclause OPTION PRINTER
or
PRINT reportname WHERE whereclause ORDER BY orderbyclause OPTION format +
|filename.ext
For complete details, syntax and examples, type HELP PRINT at the R>
prompt, look at the technical documents at From The Edge:
http://www.razzak.com/fte or use R:Docs for samples and pre-defined
templates.
Last but not least
. Save your work frequently to avoid losing changes should your computer
unexpectedly lose power or crash.
. Save the report and close Report Designer window prior to closing or
existing the RBG7, RBG75 or RBG8.
A PDF version of this article is available at:
From The Edge: http://www.razzak.com/fte (Powered by R:WEB Suite)
Very Best R:egards,
Razzak.
