Formatting columns and rows

You can specify whether columns and rows grow or shrink as appropriate to the size or resolution of screen on which a report is displayed. This is particularly useful when designing reports for use in dashboards. You can also adjust the height of rows and the width of columns, and change how they 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.

Valid values for the variables are whole numbers and case-insensitive strings:

Whole numbers: 100=1cm
True or Show
False or Hide.

Note: Row height and column widths that are controlled by variables have effect only in View and Debug modes. In all report modes, if column and row headers are displayed, the columns and rows which are controlled by variables are indicated by two triangles.

If you specify header or footer, and visible report areas, different colors are used for the column and row headings within those areas.

Rows

To format a row, right-click the row header and select Rows. In the Rows dialog, specify a height for the row or accept the default height. To adjust the default height for all rows, click Standard and set a new default row height.

To adjust the row height to the height of its content, select Optimal.

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 these tasks:

Specifying that rows and columns can shrink or grow; optionally within defined limits
Specifying minimum and preferred report dimensions

To specify that a row can shrink, select Allow Shrinkage. Optionally, specify the minimum height to which the row can shrink.

To specify that the row can grow, select Allow Growth. Optionally, specify the maximum width to which the row can grow.

If you allow shrinkage or growth on one or more rows then the report can be resized. That is an important feature of designing dashboard reports. You can specify different shrinkage and growth on multiple rows to produce the desired resizing effects.

To hide a row, select Hide. 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 Rows > Show.

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.