Linking to an External Cascading Style Sheet
To format a report using an external cascading style
sheet (CSS), you must link to the cascading style sheet by assigning
a file location using the CSSURL attribute or parameter:
- Using CSSURL
as a StyleSheet attribute enables you to specify all formatting information
in one place, since you can specify a link to the external CSS,
and references to CSS classes within the FOCUS StyleSheet. This
makes it easier to maintain your formatting logic.
- Using CSSURL
as a SET parameter enables you to switch a link quickly from one CSS
to another, which is useful for redirecting many reports at once.
To do so, put the SET CSSURL command in its own procedure, and merge
it into other report procedures by inserting a -INCLUDE Dialogue
Manager command in each.
When the CSSURL is specified in several ways, the most local
specification takes precedence. The order of precedence, from local
(1) to global (3), is:
1. TYPE=REPORT, CSSURL = url_or_fully-qualified pathname
2. ON TABLE SET CSSURL url_or_fully-qualified pathname
3. SET CSSURL = url_or_fully-qualified pathname
x
Syntax: How to Use the CSSURL SET Parameter to Link to an External CSS
To link
an external cascading style sheet (CSS) to a report using a SET
parameter, issue the following command in a procedure:
SET CSSURL = css_url_or_fully-qualified pathname
or the
following ON TABLE SET command in a report request:
ON TABLE SET CSSURL css_url_or_fully-qualified pathname
where:
- css_url_or_fully-qualified pathname
Is the location of the external cascading style sheet (assume
it is case-sensitive).
The length limit is:
- 69 characters
in a SET command.
- 57 characters
in an ON TABLE SET command.
Example: Linking to an External cascading style sheet Using the CSSURL Attribute
This
report displaying products offered by Gotham Grinds is formatted
using an external cascading style sheet (CSS) that is linked through
the CSSURL attribute in the FOCUS StyleSheet:
TABLE FILE GGPRODS
HEADING
"</1 Current Products</1"
PRINT PRODUCT_DESCRIPTION UNIT_PRICE
BY PRODUCT_ID
ON TABLE SET PAGE-NUM OFF
ON TABLE HOLD AS CSSEXAM3 FORMAT HTML
ON TABLE SET STYLESHEET *
TYPE=REPORT, CSSURL = c:\projects\report01.css, $
TYPE=HEADING, CLASS=headText, $
TYPE=TITLE, CLASS=reportTitles, $
TYPE=DATA, CLASS=lowCost, WHEN=N3 LT 27, $
ENDSTYLE
END
The output is:
x
Syntax: How to Use the CSSURL Attribute to Link to an External CSS
Use
the following syntax to link an external cascading style sheet (CSS)
to your report using a FOCUS StyleSheet attribute:
[TYPE=REPORT,] CSSURL=css_path, $
where:
- TYPE=REPORT
-
Specifies that this attribute is being applied to the entire
report. If it is omitted, the StyleSheet declaration still defaults
to this setting.
-
css_path
-
Specifies the URL or fully-qualified path name of the location
where the external cascading style sheet definition file resides.
If you
specify CSSURL multiple times, the last value specified in an ON TABLE
SET command overrides all the other values within that report request.
If CSSURL is not specified within a report request, the last value
specified with SET overrides all the others.