Formatting columns and rows
You can adjust the height of rows and the width of columns, and specify whether they grow or shrink according to the size or resolution of screen on which the report is displayed. This is particularly useful when designing reports for use in dashboards, for example. You can also change how the headers of rows and columns are labeled.
Changing the labels of row or column headers does not affect how cells are referenced. But you can change the way cells are referenced in the Settings dialog.
You can use variables to control whether individual columns and rows are displayed, and their widths and heights. This could be used with, , a Recalculate Report action to allow users to resize a chart or graphic in a report.
See Resizing a report object with the Recalculate Report action
Valid values for the variables are whole numbers and case-insensitive strings:
- Whole numbers: 1000=1cm
- True or Show
- False or Hide.
If you specify header or footer, and visible report areas, different colors are used for the column and row headings within those areas.
See Inserting headers and footers.
Rows
To format a row, right-click the row header and select . In the Rows dialog, specify a height for the row or accept the default height. To adjust the default height for all rows, click and set a new default row height.
To adjust the row height to the height of its content (for example, a header in a large font) select .
Reports can be viewed on a variety of devices, with different screen sizes and resolutions. To design reports that remain usable, and attractive, when viewed on different devices can involve:
- Specifying that rows and columns can shrink or grow; optionally within defined limits
- Specifying minimum and preferred report dimensions.
See Report Size.
To specify that a row can shrink, select . Optionally, specify the minimum height to which the row can shrink.
To specify that the row can grow, select . Optionally, specify the maximum width to which the row can grow.
If you allow shrinkage or growth on even a single row, it enables the report to be resized. That is an important feature of designing dashboard reports. But you can specify different shrinkage and growth on multiple rows to produce the desired resizing effects.
To hide a row, select . The only indication that a row is hidden is the break in the sequence of row headings. To show a hidden row, select the headings of the two adjacent rows, right-click and select .
To control the row height with a variable, select the variable from the Variable list. If you enable the Variable list, you cannot close the dialog unless you select a variable.
You can enter a new header for a row in the Title field and adjust the width of the row header to the new heading. Changing the heading does not affect the cell references.
Columns
The options for formatting columns are the same as for rows. But you cannot adjust the width or height of the column header.