Several options are available to control characteristics of a report. Use the following procedure to set options for the report.
These settings specify various characteristics of the report. The Format Options are described in detail below.
Text Report Mark this option if you want to create a text report. Text reports do not allow you to specify fonts or use graphical items in your report, such as lines and pictures. However, text reports are less likely to be adversely affected by different printer configurations.
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We suggest you create graphics reports only when creating custom reports for specific clients, where you can be sure of the type of printer the report will be printed to. If you create graphics reports for general distribution, be sure to test the reports with a wide variety of printers. |
Skip Blank Records Mark this option to include only records for which there is corresponding data in the main and related tables. If there isn’t a corresponding record in each of the related tables, the entire record won’t be included in the report.
Suppress Decimals Mark this option to round currency values to the nearest whole currency unit. This option is primarily used for international versions of applications where inflation makes the fractional portions of currency amounts insignificant.
You can specify the page orientation that will be used for the report.
Printer Setting Choose this option to use the page orientation as specified for the printer currently selected.
Portrait Choose this option to have the report printed in portrait mode, regardless of the current printer setting.
Landscape Choose this option to have the report printed in landscape mode, regardless of the current printer setting.
If you marked the Text Report option, you will activate the Text Report Options portion of the Report Definition window. Marking this option also changes the appearance of the Report Layout window, adding vertical guides at the 80 and 132 character marks. These marks allow you to count characters and more precisely place your field if you are using a fixed text pitch. The text report options are described in detail below.
Best Text Fit Choose this option to have the report printed using the largest printer font that will allow all of the information to be printed on the paper size and paper orientation specified for the printer to which the report will be sent.
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If you’re creating a report in a dictionary that will be distributed to multiple locations, selecting Best Text Fit will help ensure that the report will print properly on the widest variety of printers. |
17 Characters/Inch Choose this option to have the report print in compressed text format.
10 Characters/Inch Choose this option to have the report print in uncompressed text format.
Variable Characters/Inch Choose this option to be able to specify the characters per inch on a line-by-line basis for the report.
Six Lines/Inch Choose this option to ensure that six lines of the report will print in each inch of report height, regardless of which other text option is selected.
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This option is most useful when Best Text Fit is selected. It will prevent the font from becoming too small when the text is compressed. The font will shrink in width so that the entire report can be printed on the available paper, but no more than six lines of text will be printed per vertical inch. |
Four printing option are available:
First Page Header Choose this option if you want the page header to be printed on the first page of the report. If you don’t want to print page headers on any page of the report, use the Report Section Options window to inactivate page headers. If page headers have been inactivated, the Page Header check box will appear dimmed.
Last Page Footer Choose this option if you want the page footer to print on the last page of the report. If you don’t want to print page footers on any page of the report, use the Report Section Options window to inactivate page footers. If page footers have been inactivated, the Page Footer check box will appear dimmed.
Preprinted Form Select this option to remove the built-in margin from the layout area when designing a text report. With this option selected, you can place fields anywhere in the layout area. However, if you place fields outside of the printer’s predefined margins, data outside of the margin will not print.
If Preprinted Form is not selected, a margin will appear in the report layout area; the margin is drawn to show the default printer margins of the currently-selected printer. The Report Writer will not allow you to place fields outside of this margin.
If Preprinted Form is not selected and you lay out a report while you have one printer selected, then save the report layout, select a different printer and reopen the report layout, the margins may shift, depending on the default margins of the new printer. If the margins shift, fields in the layout area will shift with the left and top margins. This shift may force fields outside of the area bounded by the right margin.
The Preprinted Form selection isn’t available if the Best Text Fit option is selected. The use of preprinted forms isn’t an option when Best Text Fit is selected because the size and spacing of the font used for Best Text Fit reports varies based on the data in the report. Therefore, you can never be certain that text will appear in the appropriate position on a preprinted form.
Use RF for Last PF Mark this option to replace the last page footer on the report with the report footer. The report footer will be printed in the area designated for the page footer. If you mark this option, the page footer and report footer must be the same size, and both sections must be active.
Mark this option if the report will contain totals in the report footer. For instance, an invoice report containing invoice numbers, invoice items and an additional footer could have a Sum type field in the additional footer (which breaks on the invoice number field) to display the sum of the invoice items. If you wish to display an overall sum at the bottom of the report as well, you must place it in the report footer, then mark Use RF For Last PF, as well as Suppress Last Record’s Footer in the Footer Options window for the additional footer.