Report Definitions
Working with the Report Editor

The Data Explorer provides a quick way to find a property or calculation with which to populate a column in the report.

Enter a value in the search field at the top of the Data Explorer and click the magnifying glass to limit the display in the tab you are on to those elements that match your search string. Click the X to clear the search field and display all elements.

Note: the search field only searches top-level (not embedded) properties.

The main body of the Data Explorer consists of three tabs:

Best Bets

The Best Bets tab displays the properties that you are most likely to use in your report, organized in a tree structure. Expand any subfolders (representing page lists and other embedded properties) to see more properties. Click More at the bottom of the list to display more properties that do not belong to the class your report applies to or that class's parents. Note: using a property from another class requires creating a "join" between the classes. The Report Editor does this in the background for you.

To use a property to populate a column in the report, click and drag the property name onto the table at right, position the column where you want it, and release the mouse button.

All Matches

The All Matches tab displays a broader list of the properties you are most likely to use in your report, organized in a tree structure. Navigate the tree and add a property to populate a column in the report as described above.

Calculations

The Calculations tab allows you to select a SQL function and identify one or more properties for it to work with. The result of the calculation can populate a column in the report.

Double-click a calculation to use it to populate a column in the report, or right-click the calculation name and choose the "Add" option. The SQL Calculation Builder appears, in which you can specify the input for the function you have selected. See Using the Calculation Builder.

The toolbar that appears at the top of the right panel of the report editor contains a different set of controls depending on whether you are working with a list-type or summary-type report, and depending on which controls the developer has enabled for this report. The controls include:

A series of Hints appear just below the toolbar to help you understand the various editing options and what you should do next. Follow the instructions for each step that is relevant to your report, proceeding through the steps using the < and > buttons; close the hints by clicking the red X.

You do not need to have the hints visible to edit a report.

By default, the Report Editor displays simulated data. Click the link in the sentence Click Here To View Actual Data to have the report show actual data. Return to simulated data by clicking the link in the sentence Click Here To View Simulated Data. Using simulated data speeds up report rendering while you are developing the report.

Filter conditions limit the amount of data returned to the report ("only orders made by these customers", "only bug reports with a severity higher than 60", and so on).

You can access filter conditions in two ways, apart from editing filters directly on the Design tab of the Report Definition rule:

• If the developer has opted to display the report header, a statement of the logic of the active conditions appears there in the form "Filters: Urgency >= 50". The statement will be as long as necessary to include all the filter conditions. Filter conditions that you can edit appear as hyperlinks. You can click a link to see the Report Filter form. The existing filter condition displays, and you can update the elements of the filter (see below).
• You can make more extensive filter edits in the Report Editor.

The developer can opt to let the report user:

• provide filter parameters before the report runs
  If the developer has selected this option, when the user runs the report a form appears letting the user provide parameters the report's filters use. The form fields display default values that the developer has set for each parameter; the user can accept some or all of the default values, and then submit the form to run the report.
  
  The parameters submitted are valid only for the current running of the report, and do not change the default parameter values.
• edit the filter conditions
  If the developer has selected this option, the report user can edit existing filter conditions (for instance, changing "less than" to "greater than"). Any changes are valid only for the current running of the report.
• add or remove filter conditions
  If the developer has selected this option, the report user can add additional filter conditions and adjust the logic governing how the conditions are used.

Editing filter conditions:

Filter conditions that you can edit appear as hyperlinks in the header. Click a link to see the Filter form. The existing filter condition displays in the form property in report - comparison - property to compare to.

For each filter, the following elements appear:

• property name or caption: To edit the caption, see under Advanced Options, below
• Comparison: Select a logical operator for the comparison condition, such as Is Equal or Starts With. If you select Is Null or Is Not Null, further options for the current filter do not appear.
• Report property to compare to. You can
  • select a value using the SmartPrompt option, by typing some characters and clicking the down arrow.
  • create the value using the Calculation Builder by clicking the icon.
  • click Pick Value to select one or more of the values available for the property to compare to.
• Click the chevron to the right of the Advanced Options header to display further options:
  • Filter Caption: provide a caption for the comparison to appear instead of the report property name.
  • Use Null If Empty: check the checkbox to set the property value to "null" if there is no value for it in the current data row.
  • Ignore Case: check the checkbox to use case-insensitive comparisons. "TwentyFive" would generate the same result as "twentyfive" or "Twentyfive".

Click Apply to accept your changes, or click Cancel to close the form without changing the filter.

Adding filter conditions and changing filter logic

Below the list of filters there are two features:

• A "drop area" bounded by a dashed line has the label "Drop Column to Add Filter". Drag a column heading, or a property or calculation from the Data Explorer, to the drop area and release the mouse button to establish a new filter. The new filter appears in the list of filters as a clickable link in the form: ANY [name of property or calculation]. click the link to edit the filter, following the instructions above.
• Click Change Logic to adjust the statement of filter logic. The filter logic field must contain at least one entry for each filter, using the label displayed to the left of the filter, organized using AND, OR, and curved brackets ( ). The notation is the same as for the logic statement in When condition rules.
  To achieve a statement where two things must be true and a third thing false, which in logical terms could be expressed as A AND B BUT NOT C, set the filter logic to A AND B AND C and click Apply. Then select the filter represented by C and make sure its comparison value is IS NOT EQUAL or a similar value.
  

Removing filter conditions

When you hover the mouse over a filter condition, a red icon with a white x appears to the right of the filter. Click the icon to remove the filter.

If the report is a summary-type report and has a chart defined, the chart appears below the header and above the report data. Controls may appear at the top right of the chart, allowing you to switch between 2D and 3D views, and to see a larger version of the chart in a separate window. To edit the chart, click the Chart icon on the control bar to open the Chart Editor.

To move a column to a different place in the report, click and hold on the column header, drag it to the location you prefer, and release the mouse button.

Right-click a column header to see and work with the context menu. The options include:

See these PDN articles:

• 26386 Reporting in V6.2 — Nine tutorial videos.
• 26095 Using the Report Viewer to define and evolve simple reports.