The Report Generator Wizard has been designed as a simple and easy way to generate a report that is tailor made to meet your Report specifications.
The Wizard is actually a form made up of seven tabs that need information entered into them. These tabs are Output, Table, Lookups, Columns, Selection, Sequence, and Finish.
What do you want to do?
To select the Wizard:
Select the Define Report option from the Report Generator Main menu.
Click the OK button.
You are presented with a form with eight icons and a ring menu with
the options File, Language and Help on it.
Select the File option and then select the Report Wizard option.
Alternatively, click the Report Wizard Icon (shown with a magic wand)
from the toolbar.
On accessing the Report Wizard a form will appear with an Output Tab,
and six picture options as to which type of Report you wish to
create. These picture options are, Display, Print, HTML, Chart, Mail
and Export. In the following example the Display Option is chosen,
but depending on which Report type is chosen, some of the tabs may differ.
When you have decided what type of report is required (in this case
Display), click on the appropriate picture. The Next >
button at the bottom of the form can now be clicked on.
Alternatively, if you have decided not to progress with the Report
Wizard click the Cancel button. This will return you to the
main menu. Left clicking the Help button that also appears at
the bottom of the form accesses the Help files. Tip :
Once the type of report has been selected and the Next >
button clicked a new Tab will appear on the form. This is the Table
Tab. It requires you to select a Module and Table from two drop down
menus that appear. The selection of the correct module and table is
vital if you are to succeed in producing the report that you require.
When you have selected the two sets of criteria from the two drop
down menus in the Table Tab you are given the option to click on any
of five buttons at the bottom of the form. These are:
Help - Allows you to access the Help System.
Cancel - Returns you to the Main menu.
< Back - Returns you to the Output Tab.
Next > - Moves you onto the Columns Tab.
Finish - Finishes compiling the Report.
If the Next > button is clicked the Columns Tab will
appear. By clicking the Add and Remove buttons, the
Columns of data that are to be seen by you when the Report is finally
compiled can be selected. These selections are shown in the text box
called Current Selection.
When you have selected the criteria to appear in the Current
Selection text box in the Columns Tab you then have the option to
click on any of five buttons at the bottom of the form. These are:
Help - Allows you to access the Help System.
Cancel - Returns you to the Main menu.
< Back - Returns you to the Table Tab.
Next > - Moves you onto the Selection Tab.
Finish - Finishes compiling the Report.
If the Next > button is clicked the Selection Tab will
appear. You may now click any of the six buttons on the form.
Help - Allows you to access the Help System.
Cancel - Returns you to the Main menu.
< Back - Returns you to the Columns Tab.
Next > - Moves you onto the Sequence Tab.
Finish - Finishes compiling the Report.
Add-Condition - Allows you to enter criteria for your Report Tip :
The Add-Condition button should only be clicked on if you wish
to enter criteria to the Report. For example, you may only wish to
know which suppliers lives in the post-code region RG14. With the Add-Condition
button functionality it is possible to find this out.
When the Add-Condition button is clicked a form is generated
with three text boxes that need to be completed. The first text box
is the Column text box. You may select the column required by using
the search facility to list the available columns. This is activated
by clicking the Ellipsis [...] button, adjacent to the relevant
field. The next text box to be completed is the operator text box.
This is the delimiter of the Report . It Instructs the Report to only
work within the boundaries of certain criteria. The third and final
text box to be completed on this form is the Value text box. This
should reflect the boundaries of criteria that the Report is required
to work in. It may be an Alpha, Numeric or Alphanumeric code. In the
example of a post-code the field chosen would be post code, the
delimiter chosen would be = and the value would be RG14 where you are
establishing those suppliers that live in the RG14 postal area. When
this text box is completed press the <Tab> key on the keyboard or the
<Enter> key on the numeric key pad in order to continue. The Add
button will now be available and this needs to be clicked in order
for the Report selection to be saved.
Once the changes have been saved you will see that the form will now
have the criteria of the specific query on view in the Field,
Operator and Value Text box's located beneath the Select tab. At this
stage of the Wizard it is now possible to edit the criteria by either
by clicking the Modify Condition button or by double clicking
on the Field, Operator, or Value fields. You also have the option to
enter further criteria by way of clicking the Add condition
button. By using this method a quite definitive report can be
produced to suit the operators requirements.
If the Next > button is clicked the Sequence Tab will
appear. The Sequence Tab is responsible for the sorting of data
within the Report that you are generating. There are five radio
buttons on the form that are available. The first three radio
buttons are responsible in defining how the Report is to be
sequenced. The three radio buttons are:
No specific sequence - In no particular order
Pre-defined key path - A sequence that is available
Bespoke sort sequence - A personalised sequence that you can generate
Note: Only one of these three options can be chosen at any one time.
Once you have selected one of these sequences, one of the two radio
buttons that define in what order the Report is to be generated need
to be selected. The two radio buttons available are:
Ascending
Descending
Once you have distinguished which sequence and order the Report is to
be generated in, one of the five buttons at the bottom of the form
need to be clicked. These are:
Help - Allows you to access the Help System.
Cancel - Returns you to the Main menu.
< Back - Returns you to the Selection Tab.
Next > - Moves you onto the Finish Tab.
Finish - Finishes compiling the Report.
If the Next > button is clicked the Finish Tab will appear.
The Finish Tab has six buttons available to you. These are:
Help - Allows you to access the Help System.
Cancel - Returns you to the Main menu.
< Back - Returns you to the Selection Tab.
Finish - Returns you to the Report Generator.
Advanced - Moves you into the Advanced Features form.
Test Report - Run's the report and returns to the Report Wizard
This form can be accessed by clicking the Advanced button in
the Finish Tab. It consists of three check boxes and a text box. The
three check boxes that you must either tick or leave blank are as follows:
Subheadings and Subtotals
Totals Only
Suppress Zeroes
You also need to complete the Stop after outputting text box. This
requires either a blank space, or a numeric response.
Once you are satisfied that the Advanced Features form is correct the Close
button can be clicked. This will return the you to the Finish Tab.
You should only click the Test Report button only when
satisfied that the data entered into all of the tabs and forms in the
wizard matches the criteria of the Report that needs to be generated.
A list of standard database joins has been added to the system. This
can be edited manually from the Add/Modify database joins in the
System Utilities/ADP menu/ Application files menu This menu also
contains a utility (generate joins from reports) which appends to the
list any joins defined in existing reports on the system. This
utility is designed to allow an initial list to be constructed and is
not for general use. If it is used the records created should be
reviewed to avoid inappropriate joins being defined.
Searching from the module field for table ID's 2-9 on the tables
screen now gives a list of known database joins with the tables
already specified on the report. Selection of one of these known
joins will automatically complete the entire table entry line.
A new link type has also been added. A link type of "="
denotes a calculated link (equivalent to a link type of " "
previously) while a link type of "+" denotes a
concatenation (equivalent to a link ID of "C" previously).
A link type of "M" defines a multiple link for the second
table. This allows a one-to-many relationship. For example the prime
table could be a sales order line file. This has many applications
such as:
It allows values etc on the lines to be summed and written back to
the header since it is the prime table;
It allows the use of a keypath or more efficient selection of the
prime table to make a report more efficient;
Headers which have no lines could be included in the report which
would not be the case if the lines file is the prime table. For
example this allows a report of End of Day options which are not
being run to be produced.
Entering "COMPLEX" as the link field for a table allows a
complex join to be defined of up to 6 sub-keys . Occurrences greater
than one may also be specified. The pre-defined joins described above
may also be complex.
The format section of the report remains as at present unless it is
defined as a multi-line display or print. In this case the display is
reformatted. If the format is more than 78 characters wide the screen
may be scrolled left and right by clicking on the arrow characters in
the ruler. click on the format will move the cursor to that position
while left double-click will amend the field at the mouse position or
create a new field . FN'1 displays a list of available keys while
FN'2 (or right click) allows the number of lines in each section of
the format to be changed.
Derived fields may be created "on the fly" and fields may
be identified using words from the field description. If an
equivalent line exists in the page header, the filed description will
be added to the page header section as the field is added to the line
section. If the sub-total or grand total section is not defined, the
line format is used as previously.
Numeric or date fields my be defined as "blank if zero"
when they are selected.
Angle brackets may be used to switch between normal and bright
characters (large and normal characters on a printed report). All
characters in the page heading and sub-heading are automatically bright.
Derived fields can now be continued on subsequent lines by entering a
"+" as the field name on the continuation lines. Derived
logic must be split at a sensible point (e.g not in the middle of a
field name).
An implicit summing of occurrences may be defined by setting the
start and end occurrence separated by a ":". For example
!1_FIELD(2:10) will return the sum of occurrences 2 - 10 of the field.
On export reports a special derived field "EXFILE$" allows
the normal export filename to be overridden. It should be set to a
string of 8 or less alphanumeric or hyphen characters.
Some new derived fields have been added to optionally control the
display/printing of charts. These are:
CHARTM$ - The mode - "DISPLAY", "GRAPH,"
"PRINT" or "SPREAD"
CHARTG$ - The type of graph - "PIE" or "BAR"
CHARTA$ - Graph rows ("X") or columns ("Y")
CHARTP$ - Should the row (or column) to graph be prompted
("Y") or should the total row (or column) be assumed ("N").
Several new functions have been added to the existing functions.
These may now be pasted into derived fields. Currently defined fields
are as follows:
'rg_conv_n2a$ - Returns the given number as a string using the
given image. Leading zeroes are inserted., - number to be converted
'rg_date$ - Returns the given julian day number as a date
string of the form "01/01/99" "01/01/1999" or 1st
January 1999 dependent on the given size, - julian day number
'rg_julian - Returns the given date string as a julian day
number, - date string
rg_weekday$ - Returns the given julian day number as a day of
week ("Monday" "Tuesday" &ldots;), - julian day number
'rg_margin - Returns the gross margin percentage calculated
from the given sales and cost values. If the sale value is zero then
zero is returned, - sales value
rg_discount - Returns the discount which would result in the
given net value from the given gross value to the specified number of
decimal places. The function attempts to give a "tidy"
discount. (e.g. 'rg_discount (0.82 0.74 1) will return 10 as opposed
to 9.76),
rg_split$ - Returns the first or second portion of the given
string split at the nearest space preceding the split point., -
String to split- Split point- Portion to return (1 to return first
part 2 for second part)
rg_repeat$ - ReturnS blank if the given string matches the
parameter to the previous call of this routine with the same
identifier. This allows a customer name and address to be blanked out
after the first occurrence as multiple orders are listed for
example., - string - identifier
rg_parm$ - Returns the value of a parameter specified from the
menu.(e.g. Including the text "$Days=2" in the parameter
section of the menu definition for a report would return "2"
if 'rg_parm$("$DAYS") was called., - name of parameter
'rg_env$ - Returns the value of an environment variable, -
name of environment variable (Back to what do you want to do)
Selecting the Wizard
Using the Report Wizard
This button is called a Drop down. It provides you with a selection
of data.Click on the button and select the data that you require by.
The Add Condition button
![[...]](Ellipsis.gif){kind=small}
This button is called an Ellipsis . It provides a search facility.
Click on the button to search for the information that you require.
Advanced Features
Test Report
Standard Database Joins
Function, Description, Parameters
Image
Size of date (8/10/18)
Size of date (8/10)
Cost value
Gross value, Net value, Decimal places
