Report layouts

A report layout contains the labels, fields, and lines in the desired position. Several types of layout are available. These layouts, along with the output condition, control when their contents are printed. If multiple layouts of the same type are printed, then their sequence number determines their output order. Thus, if both Header 10 and Header 20 are to be printed, Header 10 is displayed first on the page.

This table shows the available layout types:

Layout type	Description
Before report	This layout is printed once at the start of the report. You can use this layout to, for example, print a title page or information about the report.
Header	This layout is printed at the start of each page.
Before Field	This layout is linked to a sorted input field. It is printed whenever the value of that field changes, and at the top of each page. You can use this layout to group data and print details of that group. For example, a report prints Employees by Department. This report could use a Before Field Department group to print the department details once, and then print a list of employees. A change in a sorted input field with a lower sequence number implies a change in the sorted input fields with higher sequence numbers. Therefore, the layouts with higher sequence numbers are also printed. For example, the sorted input fields are Sales Order and Sales Order Line, in that sequence. A Before Field Sales Order Line layout is printed when the sales order changes, even if the line number did not change.
Detail	This layout is printed every time the application sends data to the report.
After Field	Similar to Before Field layouts, this layout is linked to a sorted input field. It is printed when the value of that field changes, but after the entire group. You can use this layout to show group totals.
Footer	This layout is printed at the bottom of each page.
After Report	This layout is printed once at the end of the report. If this layout does not fill the complete page, footer layouts are also printed on this page.

When a report is printed in a right-to-left language, the report layouts are automatically mirrored horizontally. Therefore, you can use a single report definition for both left-to-right and right-to-left printouts. When the Report Designer receives such a right-to-left print, it mirrors the original layouts. The user interface of the Report Designer itself is mirrored independently of the report. If the browser is set to a right-to-left language, the user interface of the Report Designer is mirrored.