Layouts

The Layout screen is where you create the layout for a specific report.

To access the Layout screen:

  • First locate the report in the Summary Report List, and then click Layout on the appropriate grid row.

    If you are creating a new report, the Layout screen will display only the report Caption and component number, in an orange header, and a button set.

Click Back to List to return to the Summary Report List.

Of the other buttons, only two are active for new, as yet unformatted reports:

  • Add Column - Adds one column to the layout.
  • Add Row - Adds one row to the layout.

Added rows are not displayed until at least one column has been added. You can click Add Row multiple times to add multiple rows to an initially blank layout, but these rows will be displayed only when the first column is added.

The Remove Row and Remove Column buttons are activated only when rows and columns have been added to the layout.

Constructing a Layout

Use the Add Row and Add Column buttons to build up a grid representing your desired report layout.

Each cell within an unformatted grid initially represents a place-holder for a single, as-yet unspecified report element. The elements must be specified.

Each place-holder is comprised of a label - initially [Empty] - an Update button and a drop-down selector control, the value of which defaults to the first available element in the report's Element List: either accept this value or select an alternative Element from the drop-down control, and then click Update.

The label [Empty] is then replaced by the Label (or Caption, if no Label has been defined), of the selected Element plus its component ID. The Update button is re-relabelled X, and the drop-down control is replaced by the element parameter's Test Value, which is read-only.

Elements are removed from the drop-down lists once they are allocated, so they cannot be allocated twice within the same layout.

In order to preserve the integrity of each Layout, the only permitted change to any saved (Updated) element is to change it to a different element.

To change an element, click x to clear the current selection and re-activate the drop-down control. The label and button revert to [Empty] and Update.