Progress
Report Builder
Tutorial
Report Overview and Output
As you recall from "Report Builder Basics," before Report Builder generates a report, you must create the report definition. There are five basic steps to follow to create a report definition:
- Create the initial report layout—You create an initial report layout by using the Instant Layout option or by accepting the default layout.
- Access and order the data—You access the data in the database by joining tables and specifying filters. You can order the data by sorting and grouping it.
- Define new fields—You define calculated and aggregate fields. You can also create user-defined functions (UDFs).
- Design the report layout—You create, edit, and delete band lines, insert and manipulate fields, and create and modify lines and rectangles. You can also import images.
- Preview and save the report definition—You preview the report to see how it will print, then save the completed report definition.
Once you complete the report definition, you can print the report.
Notice that the first step is to create the initial report layout. Remember that to create a report definition, you must first be connected to a databases as described in Report Builder Basics." For the purposes of this tutorial, make sure that you are connected to the Newsport database.
Because the above steps are a list of basic steps for creating a report definition, you might not have to perform all of them to create every report. For example, to generate the Accounts Receivable report described in this chapter, you do not have to perform Step 3 because the Newsport database contains all the necessary fields.
Although previewing and saving the report definition is the last step in the list, you can, and should, save and preview the report definition many times while you are creating it. This chapter describes how to preview the report in Step 1.
The following sections provide step-by-step instructions for performing each of the steps necessary to create the Accounts Receivable definition. When you complete this chapter, you will have created the report definition that generates the report shown in Figure 3–1.
This report displays basic customer account information from the Newsport database, including the customer’s balance. The Accounts Receivable Sample report definition in the
Tutorial.prl
report library generates this report. Although you can view the completed layout in the Accounts Receivable Sample report definition, you should perform all the steps in this chapter to learn how to create it yourself.
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