Chapter 7. Reports

Table of Contents
A simple report
The report field
User defined report sections - a more complex report
Subreports
Show reports depending on form values

A good database frontend is not complete without the ability to produce reports. In this chapter we will learn how to create neat reports. Before starting, you should have a look at the Section called Report options in Chapter 9 to set some important preferences.

Double-click "Reports" in the list view. The reportdesign window is displayed and the Property Editor dialog window is opened. The reportdesign window has a vertical toolbar on the left hand side.

Figure 7-1. The reportdesign window

So far it looks similar the "formdesign" window, but with some differences. Before you start designing reports, you should already be knowledgeable on form creation. See Chapter 6 for details.

Reports are divided in sections in which reportdata can be displayed. There are two section types:

First let's try to create a simple report.

A simple report

First select the datasource ("literature" table) on which the report depends. To do this you have to change the report properties. To access the report properties, nothing else must be selected. Click somewhere in the dark grey area outside the sections. To set the datasource see the Section called The property editor in Chapter 6 for details.

Now let's create a new field. Select 'new field' (on the toolbar on the left) and follow that by clicking an area in the datasection (make sure it is the datasection and not one of the others). Set the 'title' column in the property editor. To preview what we have done, change to viewmode. Congratulations. You have created your first report.