OVERVIEW.............An Overview of the Report/Label Manager
ADDING A REPORT......Adding a new Report to the File
EDITING REPORT.......Editing or Viewing Report Parameters
EDITING FORM.........Editing or Viewing Report Form File
WORK FILES...........Opening, Editing or Creating a Work File
OUTPUT...............Outputting a report to the Screen, Printer or File
DELETING.............Deleting a Report
OVERVIEW
An Overview of the Report/Label Manager
Description:
The Report/Label form manager is a menu-system that
integrates a report selector pick-list with the "work"
system, the report/label form editors, and the report/
label form output drivers.
This system is designed to setup reports in a menu-system
that will open databases, select data drivers, open
indexes, set relations, set filters, and then output the
report information to the screen or printer via a pre-
defined report or label form.
To invoke the Report/Label form manager, use the command
REPORT at the dot-prompt, the DC_REPORT() function, or
select Report/Label Form Manager from the WORK sub-menu
of the Database Assistant.
The main menu of the Report/Label form manager will
display a pick-list of all reports added to the
DCREPORT.DBF database including the report title, report
type and report form name. If no DCREPORT.DBF file can be
found in the directory path or the SET DCLIP=(directory)
directory, then a new DCREPORT.DBF database will be
created.
The bottom of the menu displays a menu-bar with selections
for Editing and Printing reports.
See Also:
REPORT
dc_report()
ADDING A REPORT
Adding a new Report to the File
Description:
To add a new report to the report directory, press key (E)
for EDIT OPTIONS, then select "Add New Form". This will
add a new record to the DCREPORT.DBF database.
A screen will be displayed and will prompt you for the
following information:
-- REPORT DESCRIPTION --
Enter a title to assign to this report. This title will
appear in the report directory listing.
-- (L)ABEL FORM / (R)EPORT FORM --
Enter L if the report is a LABEL form (.LBL) file for
printing the database information on continuous labels.
Enter R if the report is a REPORT form (.FRM) file for
printing or displaying the database information in a
columnar format.
-- FORM FILE NAME --
Enter the name of the Label (.LBL) file or Report (.FRM)
file that will be used for the report. If the file does
not exist then it will be created when using the form
editor. If no extension is included then .LBL or .FRM
will be the default. If no path is included then the
file must exist in the current DEFAULT directory or PATH.
-- WORK FILE NAME --
Enter the name of the Work (.DCW) file that will be used
for opening databases, indexes, filters and relations.
This file is created and maintained by selecting options
from the WORK sub-menu or by using the WORK SAVE command
at the dot-prompt. If no extension is included then .DCW
will be the default. If no path is included then the
file must exist in the current DEFAULT directory or PATH.
-- PRINTER NUMBER --
This is the record number of the printer driver to be used
if you choose to send Pre-Print or Post-Print codes to the
printer. It is not necessary to remember printer drivers
by their record number, instead simply press the (ALT-P)
key for a pick-list of printers from the DCPRINT.DBF data-
base and the record number of the chosen printer driver
will be inserted into this field.
-- PRE-PRINT CODES --
This is a set of printer-driver psuedo-codes that will be
converted to actual print codes to be sent to the printer
before the report is printed. For example, the pre-print
codes CV will select 16.66 cpi, 8 lines per inch. It is
not necessary to remember printer psuedo-codes, instead
simply press the (ALT-P) key for a pick-list of psuedo-
codes with their associated description and the chosen
psuedo-code character will be inserted into this field.
-- POST-PRINT CODES --
This is a set of printer-driver psuedo-codes that will be
converted to actual print codes to be sent to the printer
after the report is printed. For example, the post-print
codes PU will select 10 cpi, 6 lines per inch. It is not
necessary to remember printer psuedo-codes, instead simply
press the (ALT-P) key for a pick-list of psuedo-codes
with their associated description and the chosen psuedo-
code character will be inserted into this field.
-- PROTECT? (Y/N) --
Enter Y for YES if you wish to protect this record or the
form file from being modified by the user. Enter N for NO
if you wish to allow full editing and maintenance
capability. The user will be notified that the current
report form is protected any time there is an attempt to
modify data. When the error message appears you may
continue on with the edit procedure by pressing the
(SHIFT $) key even if the data file is protected.
See Also:
REPORT
dc_report()
EDITING REPORT
Editing or Viewing Report Parameters
Description:
-- EDITING --
To edit the parameters of a report, first select the report
in the directory then press (E) for EDIT OPTIONS and select
"Edit Form Parameters".
A screen will be displayed and will prompt you for the
following information:
REPORT DESCRIPTION
(L)ABEL FORM / (R)EPORT FORM
FORM FILE NAME
WORK FILE NAME
PRINTER NUMBER
PRE-PRINT CODES
POST-PRINT CODES
See ADDING A REPORT for information on how to enter
information into the fields.
-- VIEWING --
To view the parameters of a report, first select the report
in the directory then press (E) for EDIT OPTIONS and select
"View Form Parameters".
A screen will be displayed with all the report information.
See Also:
REPORT
dc_report()
EDITING FORM
Editing or Viewing Report Form File
Description:
To edit the label (.LBL) or report (.FRM) file press (F)
for the FORM EDITOR. This will invoke the Report or Label
form editor for designing the format of the printed labels
or columnar report. See the section titled REPORT EDITOR
for more information.
See Also:
REPORT
dc_report()
WORK FILES
Opening, Editing or Creating a Work File
Description:
Work (.DCW) files are used to store the names of data-
drivers, databases, indexes, relations, filters, etc. to be
used when generating reports. The report manager menu
provides a sub-menu titled WORK OPTIONS which will allow
.DCW files to be opened, created or modified. See the
section titled WORK SYSTEM for more information on managing
.DCW files.
See Also:
REPORT
dc_report()
OUTPUT
Outputting a report to the Screen, Printer or File
Description:
To output a report to the display or printer, first select
the desired report in the directory pick-list, then press
key (P) for PRINT OPTIONS and select "Output Report".
If the form type is R (.FRM), a screen similar to the
below example will be displayed to allow you to make
changes to the default report information before
printing the report. The PLAIN PAGE, EJECT PAPER FIRST,
and SUMMARY REPORT options are included in the .FRM
file but may be overridden by entering the desired
option.
旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Output Columnar Report 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴커
� �
� Report Format File : \DCLIP3\DATA\BASEBALL.FRM �
� Press ALT-F for file pick-list �
� �
� Plain Page? : N �
� Eject Paper First? : N �
� Summary Report? : N �
� Pre-Print Codes : CV �
� Post-Print Codes : PU �
� Printer Number : 78 �
� (Press ALT-P for printer pick-lists) �
� �
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�
If the form type is L (.LBL), a screen similar to the
below example will be displayed to allow you to make
changes to the default label information before printing
the labels.
旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴캑 Output Label Form 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커
� �
� Label Format File : \CUSTOMER\CUSTOMER.LBL �
� Press ALT-F for file pick-list �
� �
� Pre-Print Codes : EQ �
� Post-Print Codes : PN �
� Printer Number : 78 �
� (Press ALT-P for printer pick-lists) �
� �
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�
-- SETTING SCOPING CONDITIONS --
An input screen similar to the below example will ask for
a set of conditions relating to the database.
旼컴컴컴컴컴캑 Set a Scoping Condition 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴�
� �
� Which record? ( CURrent / ALL / Number ) : ALL �
� FOR condition: BALANCE ) 100 �
� WHILE condition: YEAR (= 1988 �
� Start at (C)urrent record or (T)op of file: T �
� How many records? ( ALL / Number ) : ALL �
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸
-- WHICH RECORD? --
If you wish to perform the function only on the currently
selected record enter (CUR). If you wish to perform the
function on all records in the database enter (ALL). If
you wish to perform the function on a specified record,
enter the record number.
-- FOR CONDITION --
Enter an expression which must evaluate true for each
record to include in the operation. This is usually an
expression that includes field names from the parent and/or
child work areas and operators and values to specify a
range of values in the database. Only records in which
the expression evaluates true will be included.
-- WHILE CONDITION --
A WHILE condition is similar to a FOR condition except that
the operation will be terminated on the first record in
which the condition evaluates false. This is usually an
expression that includes field names from the parent and/or
child work areas and operators and values to specify a
range of values in the database.
-- START AT CURRENT RECORD OR TOP OF FILE --
Enter (C) if you wish to start printing at the currently
selected record. Enter (T) if you wish to start at the
beginning of the database.
-- HOW MANY RECORDS? --
Enter (ALL) if you wish to include all records in the data-
base. Enter a number if you wish to output only a
specified number of records starting at the current record.
NOTE:
If you entered an invalid FOR or WHILE condition statement,
you could get repetitive errors for each record until the
end of the file is encountered. Errors in condition
statements can be caused by using improper field names,
functions, operators, etc. If you have entered an invalid
condition an error message will appear in the middle of the
screen at the time the condition is being evaluated. dCLIP
will not allow an invalid condition filter to be created,
therefore you may be stuck in a loop to correct the
condition. If for any reason, you cannot create a valid
condition, press ESCAPE to set no condition.
Any time you are prompted to enter a condition, you may press
key F2 to activate the RELATIONAL QUERY-BUILDER. This is a
friendly way of creating a complex condition from a set of
point-and-shoot menus. The condition expression created in
the query builder will be returned into your current input
window to allow you to make modifications or accept the
condition.
-- SELECTING AN OUTPUT DEVICE --
You will be prompted to select whether you want the output
to go to the SCREEN, PRINTER or a FILE. If you select
FILE, then you must enter a file name. If no extension is
given then .PRN will be appended to the file name. If no
path is included, then the file will be created in the
currently selected DEFAULT directory.
See Also:
REPORT
dc_report()
DELETING
Deleting a Report
Description:
To delete a report from the DCREPORT.DBF and the directory
first select the desired report in the directory listing
then press key (M) for MAINTENANCE OPTIONS. Select "Delete
a Report". This will only mark the record for deletion
and will not actually remove the record from the file. To
permanently remove the deleted report records from the
file select "Pack File" from the MAINTENANCE OPTIONS menu.
If you change your mind you may recall the deleted record
before packing the file by repeating the operation above
to "Undelete the Report".
Deleting records from the DCREPORT.DBF database will NOT
delete any associated database files, index files, or
form files.
See Also:
REPORT
dc_report()