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The Report Form allows you to edit and test a Custom Report, regardless of whether it is a Bid Report, Price Book Report, or Quick Print Report.
To get to the Report Form, select Custom Report List from the Reports menu. Then select the Report you want to work with, and press the Details (F9) key. (The Report Form is also available from the F1/Right-Button Help menu when you are on the Custom Report List.)
On the Custom Report Form, you can:
* Change the Description or Report Type(s) of a Custom Report,
* Enter or edit a Memo on the Custom Report,
* Preview how a Custom Report will look on the screen,
* Print a Custom Report,
* Edit the design of a Custom Report,
* Delete a Report you no longer need
The Form is divided into three main areas: the Report Details in the top half, the Test area in the middle, and the button bar at the bottom. The Report Details shows you information associated with the Custom Report you are working with. The Test area allows you to set up report settings and either Print (to the printer) or Preview (to the screen) the Report. The button bar at the bottom of the form allows you to change the Design of the current Report, change which Report you are working on, delete the Report, get help, or leave this form. Each of these areas is described in more detail below.
The Report Detail Area Contains:
Description: The Description is the name of the Custom Report, as it appears in the Custom Report List and in the Report dialog boxes (Bid Reports, Price Book Reports, and Quick Print). Changing the Description does not change the title or contents of the Report itself; press the Design button to change the contents of the Report.
Based On: The Based On field shows the Description of the Standard Report that this Custom Report was originally based on. The Standard Report not only provides a starting place for the design, but also the sort order and record filter for this Custom Report. For instance, some reports are sorted by Code, and only show records with non-zero Total Costs. If the Based On field is blank, the Custom Report has no basis Report yet, and acts like a heading or note in the Reports List. When you press the Design button, you will be asked what Report you (either Standard or Custom) you want to base your Report on. The Based-On Report cannot be changed once it is set. If you need to change the basis Report, delete the old Report and make a new Custom Report.
Report Type(s):
The Report Type(s) field determines in which Report dialog box(s) (i.e., Bid Reports, Price Book Reports, and/or Quick Print) this Custom Report will appear. Enter a B for a Bid Report, a P for a Price Book Report, and/or a Q for a Quick Print Report. You may enter any combination of the three letters in any order. If none of the letters are entered, this Custom Report will not show up on any Report dialog box, and thus cannot be used except from this Report Form. The Report Type(s) is initially copied from the basis Report (see "Based On" above), but may be changed as needed. If you create a new Report "heading" line (i.e., a Report Description without a Designed Report), you will need to fill in the Report Type(s) so it will appear in the appropriate Report dialog boxes.
Memo: The Memo works like it does elsewhere in EasyEst Estimating: it stores your notes about a record. For convenience, the Report Memo is included on the Report Form. The Memo initially contains the Memo from the Report which this Custom Report was based on. The Memo may contain notes or cautions from the person who designed the Report originally. You may change, add to, or remove these notes without changing the original Report. Each Custom Report has its own Memo to store your notes to yourself and others. The Memo entered here does not appear on the printed Report itself (unless you put it there), unlike the Item (etc.) Memos and Bid Memos which do appear on the Reports.
The Test Area Contains:
Show Memos Check Box
If this check box is checked, the Report will show Memos for each record (e.g., Items, Divisions, Cost Types, etc.) reported. The Memos are normally printed right under the Descriptions for each record.
Show Bid Memo Check Box
If this check box is checked, the Memo for the Bid will appear near the top of the first page of the Report. This can be useful for putting the your Notes to the job supervisor or customer on the Report. You can also put information like the job address, supervisor name, customer name, lot number, and address, etc., in Memo so they will appear on the Reports. The Show Bid Memo Check Box may be used independently from the Show Memos Check Box, which effects whether Memos are shown for each record in the Report.
Override Report Title
When running a Report from one of the Report dialog boxes, you can specify a Report title which will replace (or override) the normal Report title for the Report(s) being run. In the design of the Report, this works because each Report checks whether it should use its normal title, or a special title for this particular printing. To test this override title feature, you can enter a special title in this field, and then Preview or Print the Report. If you leave this field blank, the normal title for the Report will be used.
Preview Button
When you press this button, the current Custom Report will be previewed on the screen in the Preview window, allowing you to see how it will look printed, page-by-page, without actually having to print it. Previewing can save you a lot of both time and paper! The Preview button works the same way it works in the Report dialog boxes.
Print Button
Press the Print button to print this Custom Report to the Printer, using the current settings shown in the Test Area. The Print button also works the same way here that it works in the Report dialog boxes.
The Report Form Button Bar Contains:
Design Button
To change the contents of the Report itself, press the Design button. You will be put in the Report Designer window, where you can change any of the fields in the Report. If you have not yet selected a Report to base the current Custom Report on, you will be asked to choose the basis Report you want from a list of all the Standard and Custom Reports. See Report Designer for more information.
Navigation Buttons
The navigation buttons are four buttons which look something like VCR controls. They change which Report record is shown in the Form. From left, the navigation buttons are: First Record, Previous Record, Next Record, and Last Record/Add New. (The Last Record is always the Add New record.)
Delete Button
To delete a Custom Report you no longer need, press the Delete button. You will be asked to confirm the deletion of the current Custom Report. Unlike most other records in EasyEst Estimating, Custom Reports cannot be Un-deleted from with Edit | Undo; so be really sure you want to get rid of a Report before deleting it!
Help Button
Pressing the Help button in the Report Form displays this Help Message.
Cancel Button
Press the Cancel button to close the Form and not save any changes to the current Custom Report record. If you have made any changes, you will be asked if you want to save the changes.
Done Button
Press the Done button to close the Form and save any changes to the current Custom Report record.
See Also: Overview of the Custom Report Designer, Customize Report Button, Custom Report List
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