Creating a Report type form (Web Designer)

Note: This procedure is a continuation of the procedure for creating forms in the Web Designer. For the procedure to create a Report-type form in Design Mode (Windows client), see Creating a Report type form (Design Mode).

To continue creating a Report form in the Web Designer:

  1. If you have not already done so, complete the steps in the topic Creating a form in the Web Designer before continuing.
  2. In the Form Template > Name field, specify the name of the form.
    You can do this either by selecting the name of a form template from the drop-down list or by typing a new name in the field.
    Caution: 
    Be warned that, if you specify an existing form template, the Web Designer will overwrite your existing form with the new blank one. Once you click Finish, the old version is gone.
  3. Verify that the Form Type is Report.
  4. From the Form Layout drop-down list, select position to be used for the grid.
  5. From the Device Type drop-down list, specify what type of device you are creating the form for.
  6. From the Data Source drop-down list, specify the IDO to use as the source of data for the report.
  7. Optionally, specify the name of the Query Form to be used in conjunction with your form.
    This can also be specified later.
  8. Optionally, add any Comments you want to associate with the form.
    Note: Any comments you enter here do not display anywhere on the form. They are strictly for your information, perhaps to explain the reason the form was created or what it was created to do.
  9. Click Next.
  10. On the Properties page of the wizard, specify which properties should be included for the primary collection and represented in components on the form.
  11. Click Next.
  12. On the next page of the wizard, specify the order and attributes of each property you have included in the primary collection. You can specify these attributes:
    Option Description
    Name (read-only) This column displays the properties selected on the previous page of the wizard. Use the arrow buttons on the right to change the order in which the properties are presented on the form template.
    Caption Enter the text string to use as the caption/label for the property component on the form.
    The string can be a translatable string from the Strings table or a literal string value. Literal values are not translated for localized displays.
    Note: If you specify a translatable string that does not yet exist, the Web Designer does not prompt you to define it. You must remember to create the string, or the system uses the designation here as a literal value.
    Component Class If the property is to use a component class, use this field to specify which one.
    Note: The component class must exist before you can specify it here.
    Order buttons Use the up and down arrows to move a selected property to the top, up one line, down one line, or to the bottom.
  13. Click Next.
  14. In the Select Regions section, select which "boilerplate" regions to include in the report-template form.
  15. Optionally, in the Create Background Task section, create a background task to allow the report to print:
    1. In the Task Name field, provide a descriptive and unique name for the background task.
    2. Optionally, from the Paper Size drop-down list, select the size for the Report-type form.
      Note: The Paper Size field is only enabled when you enter a name in the Task Name field.
  16. In the Set Orientation section, specify whether to use a Portrait orientation or a Landscape orientation for the report form and its published output.
  17. Optionally, in the Select Group Properties section, select which properties to use to group returns.

    For example, suppose you want to group a report on quarterly sales by salesperson. You would select the Salesperson property in this section, and the system would then group the sales figures by salesperson.

    You can select multiple properties to group by. If you do, the system processes the data in the order in which you list them here. To change the order, use the up and down arrows.

    As with other property selection sections, the right panel indicates which properties are to be included.

  18. Click Next.
  19. If you want to save the template for the form (in case you want to later recreate the form without having to start from the beginning), select the Save Template option.
  20. Click Finish.
The Web Designer creates and displays a basic version of the form template. You can now modify and fashion the form template to suit your needs.
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