Improve the readability and presentation of your FML
report by:
-
Underlining numeric columns. Reports
with columns of numbers frequently need to display underlines before
some RECAP calculations. You can specify an underline character,
introduced by the word BAR, in place of the tag value.
-
Adding page breaks. You
can request a new page at any point in a report by placing the word
PAGE-BREAK in place of the tag value.
-
Indenting text or numbers. You
can indent a tag value, label text, or caption text a specified
number of spaces for an FML tag row, hierarchy, or RECAP row. If
you apply the indent to rows in an FML hierarchy, the parent line
of the hierarchy is indented the number of spaces specified as the
indent.
Note: For
an HTML, PDF, or PostScript report, you can use the BLANKINDENT
setting to specify an indentation between levels of an FML hierarchy.
See Indenting Row Titles in an FML Hierarchy.
Note: You can also format an FML report
using StyleSheet attributes if you are creating an output format
that supports StyleSheets.
x
Syntax: How to Add an Underline Character for Columns
BAR [AS 'character'] OVER
where:
- character
- Is either the hyphen character (-) or the equal character (=).
Enclose the character in single quotation marks. The default character
is the hyphen (-).
Example: Underlining Columns
This
example uses the default underscore character (-):
TABLE FILE LEDGER
SUM AMOUNT FOR ACCOUNT
1010 AS 'CASH ON HAND' OVER
1020 AS 'DEMAND DEPOSITS' OVER
1030 AS 'TIME DEPOSITS' OVER
BAR OVER
RECAP TOTCASH = R1 + R2 + R3;
END
The output is shown as follows.
AMOUNT
------
CASH ON HAND 8,784
DEMAND DEPOSITS 4,494
TIME DEPOSITS 7,961
------
TOTCASH 21,239Notice that the BAR ... OVER phrase
underlines only the column containing the display field.
x
Syntax: How to Specify a Page Break in an FML Report
Include
the following syntax in the FML request in place of a tag value:
PAGE-BREAK OVER
Example: Specifying a Page Break in an FML Report
In
this example, a page break is inserted after the first two RECAP
commands to highlight each calculation.
TABLE FILE LEDGER
SUM AMOUNT FOR ACCOUNT
1010 AS 'CASH ON HAND' OVER
1020 AS 'DEMAND DEPOSITS' OVER
1030 AS 'TIME DEPOSITS' OVER
BAR OVER
RECAP TOTCASH = R1 + R2 + R3; AS 'TOTAL CASH' OVER
PAGE-BREAK OVER
1100 AS 'ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE' LABEL RECEIVE OVER
1200 AS 'INVENTORY' LABEL INVENT OVER
BAR OVER
RECAP TOTASSET = RECEIVE + INVENT; AS 'TOTAL ASSETS' OVER
PAGE-BREAK OVER
RECAP TOTAL = TOTCASH + TOTASSET;
END
The output is shown as follows.
PAGE 1
AMOUNT
------
CASH ON HAND 8,784
DEMAND DEPOSITS 4,494
TIME DEPOSITS 7,961
------
TOTAL CASH 21,239
PAGE 2
AMOUNT
------
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE 18,829
INVENTORY 27,307
------
TOTAL ASSETS 46,136
PAGE 3
AMOUNT
------
TOTAL 67,375
x
Syntax: How to Specify an Indent for an FML Label, Tag, or Caption
FOR forfield [IN k]
tag [[GET CHILDREN|WITH CHILDREN] n] INDENT m [AS ['text'|CAPTION]]
[OVER]
or
RECAP fieldname[/format]=expression; INDENT m [AS 'text']
where:
- forfield
- Is a field in the data source whose values are included in the report.
- k
- Is the starting column for the FOR value in an FML report.
- tag
- Is a value of forfield to be displayed on a row of the
FML report.
- n
- Is the number of levels of an FML hierarchy to display on the
FML report.
- m
- Is a positive integer (zero is not supported) specifying the
number of spaces to indent the tag value, label, or caption of an
FML row or hierarchy. The indentation starts from column one if
there is no IN phrase specified in the FOR command. If there is
an IN phrase, indentation starts from the column specified in the
IN phrase. The maximum indentation is the same as the maximum length
of an AS name.
If you indent an FML hierarchy, the parent line
of the hierarchy is indented the number of spaces specified as the
indent. The hierarchy levels are indented two spaces from each other.
If the GET CHILDREN phrase is used, the first line of the hierarchy
is indented an additional two spaces because the hierarchy output
begins with the first child rather than the parent. For more information
about the use of GET CHILDREN, see Displaying an FML Hierarchy.
- 'text'
- Is a label to be displayed on a row of the FML report.
- CAPTION
- Indicates that a caption field has been defined in the Master
File.
- OVER
- Indicates that this row is not the last row to be displayed.
- fieldname
- Is a name you assign to the value calculated by the RECAP command.
- format
- Is the USAGE format for RECAP field. It cannot exceed the column
width. The default is the format of the column in which the calculated
value is displayed.
- expression
- Is the expression that describes how to calculate the field
value for RECAP.
Example: Indenting a Tag Row in an FML Hierarchy
In the following request, the label
of the second row for tag value 3000 is indented five spaces. Because
the GET CHILDREN phrase is used, the first line of the FML hierarchy,
in the third row for tag value 3000, is indented seven spaces (five
+ two):
SET FORMULTIPLE=ON
TABLE FILE CENTGL
PRINT GL_ACCOUNT_PARENT
FOR GL_ACCOUNT
3000 AS 'Not Indented' OVER
3000 INDENT 5 AS 'Indented 5' OVER
3000 GET CHILDREN 2 INDENT 5 AS 'Hierarchy Indented 5'
END
The output is shown as follows.
Parent
------
Not Indented 3000
Indented 5 3000
Hierarchy Indented 5 3000
Hierarchy Indented 5 3100
Hierarchy Indented 5 3100
Hierarchy Indented 5 3100
Hierarchy Indented 5 3100
Hierarchy Indented 5 3000
Hierarchy Indented 5 3200
Hierarchy Indented 5 3200
Hierarchy Indented 5 3200
Hierarchy Indented 5 3200
Hierarchy Indented 5 3200
Hierarchy Indented 5 3200
Hierarchy Indented 5 3200
Example: Indenting FML RECAP Rows
The
following request sums price, cost, and quantity in stock for digital
and analog product types. The first RECAP command calculates the
total for each column, and indents the label five spaces. The second
RECAP command calculates the profit, and indents the label 10 spaces:
SET FORMULTIPLE=ON
TABLE FILE CENTINV
SUM PRICE COST QTY_IN_STOCK
FOR PRODTYPE
Digital OVER
Analog OVER
BAR OVER
RECAP TOTAL = R1 + R2; INDENT 5 AS 'Total:' OVER
BAR OVER
RECAP PROFIT(2) = TOTAL(1) - TOTAL(2); AS 'Profit:' INDENT 10
END
The output is shown as follows.
Our Quantity
Price: Cost: In Stock:
------ ----- ---------
Digital 4,080.00 3,052.00 119143
Analog 1,883.00 1,371.00 139345
------------ ------------ -------
Total: 5,963.00 4,423.00 258488
------------ ------------ -------
Profit: 1,540.00
xIndenting Row Titles in an FML Hierarchy
To clarify relationships within an FML hierarchy, the
captions (titles) of values are indented at each level. Use the
BLANKINDENT parameter in an HTML, PDF, or PostScript report to specify
the indentation between each level in the hierarchy. You can use the
default indentation for each hierarchy level, or choose your own
indentation value. To print indented captions in an HTML report,
you must set the BLANKINDENT parameter to ON or to a number.
SET BLANKINDENT does not increase the width of the indented column
if it is not wide enough to accommodate the indented fields. While
this is no problem in an HTML report, in a PDF or PostScript report
it can cause data in the columns that follow the indented column to
shift out of alignment. You may need to use StyleSheet syntax to
make the column wide enough for the indented values or to move the
columns that follow it. Change the width of a column using the StyleSheet
SQUEEZE attribute, and specify a starting position for a column
using the POSITION attribute. You can also move a column in a PostScript
report with the IN phrase.
A related feature enables you to change the number of blank spaces
before the parent line of a hierarchy or before any FML tag or RECAP
row in any FML request. See Formatting an FML Report.
x
Syntax: How to Indent FML Hierarchy Captions in an HTML Report
SET BLANKINDENT={ON|OFF|n}
ON TABLE SET BLANKINDENT {ON|OFF|n}where:
- ON
- Indents FML hierarchy captions 0.125 units for each space that
normally displays before the caption. For child levels in an FML
hierarchy, it indents 0.125 units for each space that normally displays
between this line and the line above it.
- OFF
- Turns off indentations for FML hierarchy captions in an HTML
report. OFF is the default value. For other formats, uses the default
indentation of two spaces.
- n
- Is an explicit measurement in the unit of measurement defined
by the UNITS parameter. This measurement is multiplied by the number
of spaces that normally displays before the caption. For child levels
in an FML hierarchy, it indents n units for each space that
normally displays between this line and the line above it. The default
number of spaces is two. Zero (0) produces the same report output
as OFF. Negative values for n are not supported.
Example: Using the Default Indentation for FML Hierarchy Captions
The
following request creates an HTML report with the default indentation:
SET PAGE-NUM=NOPAGE
SET BLANKINDENT=ON
SET FORMULTIPLE=ON
TABLE FILE CENTGL
PRINT GL_ACCOUNT_PARENT
FOR GL_ACCOUNT
3000 AS CAPTION OVER
3000 GET CHILDREN 2 AS CAPTION ON
TABLE HOLD FORMAT HTML
ON TABLE SET HTMLCSS ON
ON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE = REPORT, GRID = OFF, $
ENDSTYLE
END
The output is shown in the following image.
Example: Specifying an Indentation Value for FML Hierarchy Captions
The
following request specifies an indentation of .25 for each level
of an FML hierarchy. This number is expressed in the default unit
of measurement, inches:
SET PAGE-NUM=NOPAGE
SET BLANKINDENT=.25
SET FORMULTIPLE=ON
TABLE FILE CENTGL
PRINT GL_ACCOUNT_PARENT
FOR GL_ACCOUNT
3000 AS CAPTION OVER
3000 GET CHILDREN 2 AS CAPTION ON
TABLE HOLD FORMAT HTMLON TABLE SET STYLE *
TYPE = REPORT, GRID = OFF, $
ENDSTYLE
END
The output is shown in the following image.
