Report Designer window

Menu bar

The menu bar is displayed across the top of the main window and provides all the available menu options.

Toolbars

The toolbars are displayed under the menu bar and can be toggled on and off by selecting View > Toolbars, and selecting the required option: Standard, Layout, Formatting, and Help.

These toolbars contain buttons which enable you to carry out actions. Hover the cursor over a button to display its description. These actions are also available from the menus.

Report Layout tab

To show the details of the report design, from the View menu select Report Layout. This displays the Report Layout tab at the right of your screen. This is the main area to which you can add any of the fields, lines and so on. It provides a visual representation of the report design.

You can toggle between displaying or not displaying the rulers on your report layout. From the View menu, select Show Rulers.
You can toggle between displaying short or full section names. Right-click on the section name and select Show Short Section Name, or Show Full Section Name.

Page Layout tab

The page layout is an alternative working area to the Report Layout tab, the difference is that the Page Layout provides a truer representation of the final paged report. This layout is particularly useful for viewing document style reports. You can simulate the effect of different numbers of instances of each section and can change these by using the Hide Sections option.

Data fields

To show details of the data fields for the selected business object, from the View menu select Data Fields. The Data Fields Browser is displayed on the left of your screen.

All value list type fields are displayed in such a way that you can access the code or description respectively.

To change the business object, select one from the drop-down list. The data fields for the selected business object are displayed.

Note: You cannot change the business object once data items have been used in the report design.

Shared labels

To show details of shared labels, or labels that have been localized, from the View menu, select Shared Labels. The Shared Labels Browser is displayed on the left of your screen. Automatically generated labels cannot be edited.

Note: You can toggle between the Data Fields Browser and the Shared Labels Browser by using the tabs under this section of the window.

Fields list

You can view all data fields, including any calculated fields, currently included on the report design by selecting Fields List from the View menu. Select Fields List again to turn the option off.

Note: You can undock the fields list and drag the fields you want to use in the report from the data fields to the fields list.

Special fields

To show details of special fields, from the View menu, select Special Fields. The Special Fields Browser is displayed as a tab on the left of your screen.

See information on individual special fields:

Created Date/Time
DAG Applied Flag
First Page Flag
Last Page Flag
Modified Date Flag
PAGE NUMBERS
Print Date/Time
Report Title
Row Number

Properties

You can view the properties of any element of the report design. To display these details, from the View menu select Properties. Click on the element you want to view and the properties are displayed in the bottom left section of your screen.

You can choose to display the list in a variety of formats, by using the following option buttons:


Button	Type	Description
	Prioritised	Click this button to sort the list of data items in the order of fields as set up in Serducts. Note: This button is only enabled when you are using Serducts. When you use SunSystems Reporting Services without Serducts, this button is disabled.
	Categorized	Click this button to categorize the data items.
	Alphabetic	Click this button to sort the list of data items in ascending or descending alphabetical order.
	Show Hidden Embedded Fields	The default view is a flattened list of embedded fields. Click this button to display/hide the embedded fields in an expanded format. Embedded fields are indicated by a different icon. Embedded fields that are value lists display only the embedded field parent when hidden. Embedded fields that are monetary types display the parent and the currency code field at the level of the parent.

The drop-down list in the properties pane contains a list of all report items and sections in alphabetical order. Click on an element in the list to display its properties and to highlight it in the Report Layout pane.

Note: You can view the report properties by clicking the report icon on the Report Design pane.

Localised text

You can view any localised text which has been applied to data items or shared labels. From the View menu select Localised Text. Click the required data item or shared label in the relevant browser and the localised texts are displayed in the bottom left section of your screen.

Task list

The Task List tab is located at the bottom of the main window. The tab displays how many tasks are detailed within, for example Task List - 1 Task. Hover your cursor over this tab to view its contents. You can create new tasks and view the tasks which have been automatically generated.