Selecting a cell category

By default, all worksheet cells are formatting with the General number format. With the General format, anything you type into the cell is usually left as-is. For example, if you type 123456 and press ENTER, then the cell contents are displayed as 123456.

There are seven categories: General, Number, DateTime, Percentage, Currency, Text and Custom.

  1. Create a report definition and view the default output in Report Designer:
    1. Click Summary Report or Detail Report and specify a definition.
    2. Click the Report Style tab and click Designer to open Report Designer.
    3. Right-click an output item in the Output section and select Add All.
      The report design is populated with the output from your report definition.
  2. Highlight the cell selection that you want to format. The selection can be a single cell, several contiguous cells, a row or a column.
  3. Click the Format Cells button. Or, right-click a cell and select Format > Format Cells.
  4. Click the Number tab.
  5. Select a category from the list:
    • General

      This category is selected by default. It has no specific number format.

    • Number

      Select this category to specify the cell contents as numbers.

      Decimal places
      Set the number of Decimal places. The default value is 2. The maximum number is 30 and the minimum number is 0.
      Use 1000 Separator(,)
      Display a ‘,’ separator for numbers greater than 1000. For example, 123456 is displayed as 123,456.
      Negative numbers
      Select an option to display negative numbers.
    • DateTime

      This format displays date and time numbers as date value. Select a format and view an example in the Sample field.

    • Percentage

      Select this format to multiply the cell value by 100. The result is displayed with a % symbol.

      Decimal places
      Set the number of Decimal places. The default value is 2. The maximum number is 30 and the minimum number is 0.
    • Currency

      Currency formats are used for general monetary value.

      Decimal places
      Set the number of Decimal places. The default value is 2. The maximum number is 30 and the minimum number is 0.
      Symbol
      Select a currency symbol.
      Negative numbers
      Select an option to display negative numbers.
    • Text

      Text format cells are treated as text even when a number is in the cell. The cell is displayed exactly as entered.

    • Custom
      Type
      Type a customized number format code.
  6. Click OK to save your changes.