Choosing an Output Format
Before running a report from Report Painter, you can
quickly switch the output format in which it will appear. The Report
Options dialog box is driven by the selected output format. This
enables you to easily distinguish between various options specific
to each output format. Formats are grouped into the following categories:
Styled report formats, Unstyled formats, and Database formats.
If you are opening a report that was created using the Document
Composer tool, the output format cannot be changed.
The Styled report formats are shown in the following image.
The Unstyled formats are shown in the following image.
The Database formats are shown in the following image.
The Report Options Output tab, Features tab, and Format tab are
available to set different styling attributes. The Style, Drill
Down, Computes, View, and Images tabs are also available.
Depending on the output format you select, different tabs appear
as follows:
- The Output,
Computes, and View tabs are available for all formats.
- The Features
tab is available for HTML, PDF, Default, and User report formats.
- The Format
tab is available for all Styled report formats, except Excel 97.
- The Style tab
is available for all Styled report formats.
- The Drill Down
tab is available for all Styled report formats, except PostScript
and Excel 2000 PivotTable.
- The Images
tab is available for the HTML, PostScript, and PDF styled report formats.
Note:
The format you choose in Report Painter applies only to the current
execution of the report. If you wish to change the default display
format for all subsequent reports created in Report Painter, click Options from
the Windows menu, and specify a report format from the Reporting
tab.
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Procedure: How to Select the Report Output Format
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In Report
Painter, click Output from the Report menu.
The Report Options dialog box opens.
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From
the Select Format drop-down list, choose the output format for the report.
The top level of the Report Options dialog
box shows the selected format and determines what tabs and options
appear in the lower part of the dialog box.
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Procedure: How to Select the Report Output Format From the Output Format Toolbar
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Click
the drop-down list on the Output Format toolbar.
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Choose
an output format for the report.
Tip: If you wish to change the default
display format beyond a single report execution, select Options from
the Windows menu in the Explorer, and choose a different report
format from the Reporting tab.
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Procedure: How to Edit the User Format From the Report Options Dialog Box
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In Report Painter, click Output from the Report menu.
The Report Options dialog box opens.
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From the Select Format drop-down list,
click User as the
selected output format for the report. The Edit User Format button
appears.
Note: You
may also select multiple style sheet blocks when User is selected
as the output format. The active style block (HTML, EXCEL, PDF, AHTML,
FLEX, APDF, PPT) present a subtab on the Report Options dialog box
with corresponding report options available for that style block.
For more information about selecting style blocks, see Generating Format-Specific Style Blocks.
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Click
the Edit User Format button. The Variable Editor
opens, which enables you to assign a variable as the display value
and select the output format of a report, as shown in the following
image.
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The
Accept List shows a list of available report output formats to choose
from. You can add or delete display values.
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When
you run the report, the WebFOCUS Auto Prompting Facility screen opens
instructing you to select a parameter. Select a display output and
run the report.
xFormatting Your Report With the Report Options Dialog Box
You may set different styling
formats for your report by using the Features tab on the Report
Options dialog box. The Features tab contains different options
depending on the selected output format.
For example, if you choose HTML Web Document (HTML) or HTML Table
(HTMTABLE) format, you can also:
- Enable On Demand
paging, a feature that speeds the delivery of HTML output to your
browser. For details, see How to Request On Demand Paging for an HTML Report.
- Control the
positioning of the redesigned OLAP Control Panel or request the
original version of the OCP. For more information, see How to Control the Display of the OLAP Control Panel and OLAP Selection Panel. For details,
see Analyzing Data in an OLAP Report in the Online
Analytical Processing (OLAP) manual.
- Enable Automatic
Drill Down in OLAP-enabled reports. Auto Drill Down enables you to
automatically link to the next lower level in a defined Dimension
hierarchy or Measures list by clicking a related data value in the
body of the OLAP-enabled report while the OLAP Control Panel is
closed. For more information, see How to Enable Auto Drill Down. For details, see Analyzing Data
in an OLAP Reportin the Online Analytical Processing
(OLAP) manual.
- Identify an
external Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) or use an internal Cascading
Style Sheet to take advantage of improvements in the display of
HTML reports in browsers. For details about external CSS, see How to Apply an External Cascading Style Sheet to an HTML Report and the Creating Reports With WebFOCUS Language manual.
For information about internal CSS, see How to Apply an Internal Cascading Style Sheet to an HTML Report.
- Type a name
for an HTML report in the Report Title input field. It appears in
the browsers title bar.
- Use Accordion
Reports. For more information, see Controlling the Display of Sorted Data With Accordion Reports.
- Freeze the
scrollable area and display a scroll bar for HTML output. For more information,
see How to Freeze the Scrollable Area for HTML Report Output.
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Procedure: How to Request On Demand Paging for an HTML Report
This option causes the server to send the report to your
browser one page at a time. You can use controls on your browser
to display the next or previous page, all pages, or to navigate
to a specific page.
This procedure assumes that the required setup has been
done to enable On Demand Paging and that your procedures are being
run remotely against a WebFOCUS Reporting Server. For details about
on demand paging, see Navigating With On-Demand Paging in the Creating
Reporting Applications With Developer Studio manual.
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Click Features from
the Report menu.
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Ensure
that HTML Web Document or HTML
Table is selected as the output format.
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Select
the On Demand Paging check box in the HTML
options area.
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Procedure: How to Apply an Internal Cascading Style Sheet to an HTML Report
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Click Features from
the Report menu.
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Ensure
that HTML Web Document or HTML
Table is selected as the output format.
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Select
the Cascading Style Sheets check box in the
Features tab of the HTML Option.
Note: Cascading Style Sheets is selected
by default.
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Procedure: How to Apply an External Cascading Style Sheet to an HTML Report
Cascading style sheets (CSS) are an extension to HTML that
enable you to specify formatting for an HTML document. To link a
CSS file to a report, use the External Cascading Style Sheet URL
field in the Report Painter StyleSheet File Selector.
Note: The external CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file
should be saved in an alias on the web server.
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Click Styling from
the Report menu.
The Report Options dialog box opens at
the Style tab.
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Click
the Style File Selection button.
The StyleSheet Selection dialog box opens.
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Enter
a URL in the External Cascading StyleSheet URL input
field.
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Click Finish to
close the StyleSheet Selection dialog box.
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Click OK to close the Report Options
dialog box.
For more information about the StyleSheet File Selector,
see Using the StyleSheet File Selector.
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Procedure: How to Control the Display of the OLAP Control Panel and OLAP Selection Panel
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Click Features from
the Report menu.
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Ensure
that HTML Web Document or HTML
Table is selected as the output format.
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Select
an Enable OLAP option:
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Disabled. OLAP
options are disabled and not shown in the OLAP report.
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Off. Turns
off the OLAP Control Panel and the OLAP Selections pane, but allows
OLAP functionality from the report itself. You can access options
on right-click menus, drag and drop columns within the report, and use
up and down arrows to sort columns from high to low or vice versa.
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On. Provides
access to the OLAP Selections pane from a square button to the left
of the column titles. You can open the Control Panel by clicking
the OLAP button in the OLAP report.
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Top Panel. Opens
the OLAP Selections pane above the report. The Measures, Graph,
and Dimension controls, as well as the band containing the OLAP,
Run, and Reset buttons appear above the report output. You can open
the Control Panel by clicking the OLAP button on the Selection pane.
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Bottom Panel. Opens
the OLAP Selections pane below the report. The Measures, Graph,
and Dimension controls, as well as the band containing the OLAP,
Run, and Reset buttons appear below the report output. You can open
the Control Panel by clicking the OLAP button on the Selection pane.
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Hidden Panel. Opens
the OLAP report with the OLAP Selections pane hidden. You can perform
a variety of analytic tasks from the report itself. Selection Criteria
is shown next to the OLAP button.
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Show Tabbed. For
OLAP reports that have multiple dimensions, this option groups the
dimension elements under a tab labeled with the dimension name.
Tip: You
can also choose an OLAP options by selecting OLAP from
the Report menu.
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Procedure: How to Enable Auto Drill Down
Auto Drill enables you to transform a report immediately,
by drilling down on Dimensions and Measures.
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Click Features from
the Report menu.
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Ensure
that HTML Web Document or HTML
Table is selected as the output format.
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Select
an Automatic Drill Down option:
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Dimensions to enable automatic drill
down functionality for dimensions.
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Dimensions and Measures to enable automatic
drill down functionality for dimensions and measures.
If you select an option from the Automatic
Drill Down list without selecting an option from the Enable OLAP
drop-down list, the Enable OLAP option will automatically be set
to Off. This is due to Automatic Drill Down requiring an OLAP setting
other than Disabled. If you attempt to change the Enable OLAP drop-down
back to Disabled, you will receive the following message, as shown
in the following image.
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Click the Build
Auto Drill Dimensions button to invoke the Dimension
Builder. For more information on the Dimension Builders, see the Describing
Data With Graphical Tools manual.
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Procedure: How to Freeze the Scrollable Area for HTML Report Output
You may freeze page headings and
footings, report headings and footings, column titles, and totals
for your report output. A scroll bar is created so that the headings
and footings are locked in place in the HTML output. The freeze
option is available from the Features tab of the Report Options
dialog box.
Note: The Features tab is only available for
the following report output formats: HTML Web Document (HTML), Portable
Document Format (PDF), Default, and User (HTML) reports.
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In Report Painter, click Features from the
Report menu.
The Report Options dialog box opens at the Features tab.
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From the Freeze section, select the freeze type from the Headings/Footings
drop-down list.
The options are:
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Off. This is the default.
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On. Freezes the headings, footings,
column titles, and totals.
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Top. Freezes the headings and column titles.
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Bottom. Freezes the totals and footings.
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Enter the scroll height in measurement of inches.
Note: If the scroll
height is not set, the default scroll height is 4 inches.
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Click OK to close the Report Options
dialog box.
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Save and run your report.
In the example below,
Freeze is set to ON. The page heading (Sales by Movie), report heading
(Sales Report), and column titles (RATING, CATEGORY, TITLE, WHOLESALEPR)
are frozen when scrolling in the browser.