The most basic report you can construct is a tabular report. Other report types build on the basic design of the tabular report. A tabular report is a report whose information is arranged vertically in columns. Internally, WebFOCUS constructs your report with a series of simple commands that mark the beginning of the request, identify the data source, and mark the end of the request. Other aspects of the request, such as styling information, are not necessary to produce a valid report request.

Use the following basic steps in constructing your report:

• Design your presentation. How would you like to organize the information in your report?

  See Selecting Report Fields for more information about establishing basic organizational criteria for your report.

• Identify the information you would like to present. Is it a full data set, or do you want to construct a subset of some larger set?

  See Working With Data and Data Sources for more information about establishing selection criteria for your data.

• Style your presentation. Do you want to apply customized headings or footings to your report to make it more dynamic?