Ordering a Report

The first step to painting a report is selecting an index or defining a sort order for the report. A sort order, or access order, determines the sequence in which a report writes its data. You can select one of the file indexes as the sort order or, if none of the indexes are the order you want, you can define a sort order for the report using fields from the primary file or from files with a one-to-one relation from the primary file. You can define up to six sort orders for a report.

When you define alternate (or multiple) access orders for a report, you must paint an order parameter field on the report parameter form. When you define an order parameter field, you assign a single alphanumeric value to each access order.

When you run the report, you type the value associated with the access order you want to use in the order parameter field. This value tells the report in which order to process the data. If you do not type a value in the order parameter field, the report uses the default access order. For more information, see the Order Parameter field description in Parameter Field Types.

You can share a report format defined for one access order with another access order if their key fields (fields used in the access order) are the same. If the key fields are different, you must define new report formats for the additional access orders. For more information, see Shared Formats.

You can change an access order after you have painted the report. For instructions, see Changing an Access Order.