Formatting a Column

In this section:

How to:

Reference:

Report Painter provides a variety of options that enable you to customize the display of columns in your reports.


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Procedure: How to Change a Column Title

By default, the column title is the field name or Title attribute in the Master File, if specified. To change the column title on the report:

  1. Right-click a column in the Report Painter window and choose Column Title from the context menu.

    The Title dialog box opens.

  2. At the cursor location, type the new column title.
  3. Click OK.

The new title appears over the field in the report.

Note: Click the Default button in the Title dialog box if you want to reinstate the default title of a field.


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Reference: Title Dialog Box
Title Window

Title Window displays the default column title of the selected field. Highlight the text and type the new column title.

Default

Reinstates the default title of a field.


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Procedure: How to Change the Format and Edit Options of a Column
  1. Select the column in the Report Painter window.
  2. Choose Format from the Properties menu.

    or

    Right-click and select Format from the context menu.

    The Format dialog box opens. For details, see Format Dialog Box.

  3. Change the format by selecting the appropriate option button in the Format Types box.
  4. Scroll the list of edit options and select the one(s) you wish to change.
  5. Click OK.

    Note:

    • Click the Default button if you want to reinstate the default format or edit options.
    • This feature does not apply to sort fields.

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Procedure: How to Assign a Background Color to a Column
  1. Right-click the column and select Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens at the Style tab.

  2. Select one of the following from the active object area drop-down list:
    • Column Data
    • Column Title
    • Column Title and Data
  3. In the Background Coloring area, click Single Color to activate the Select Colors button. The Color dialog box opens.
  4. Select a color and Click OK.

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Procedure: How to Assign Alternating Background Colors to Rows Within Columns
  1. Right-click the column and select Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens at the Style tab.

  2. Select Column Data from the active object area drop-down list. (The Alternating Colors button is only activated for this object area.)
  3. In the Background Coloring area, click Alternating Colors to activate the Select Colors button. The Choose Background Colors dialog box opens.
  4. Click a check box to activate the drop-down list next to it.
  5. Click the down arrow to open the drop-down list.
  6. Select a color.

    Repeat this process for other rows you want to assign colors to.

  7. Click OK.

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Procedure: How to Remove a Background Color From a Column
  1. Right-click the column and select Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens at the Style tab.

  2. Select one of the following from the active object area drop-down list:
    • Column Data
    • Column Title
    • Column Title and Data
  3. In the Background Coloring area, click None.
  4. Click OK.

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Procedure: How to Copy the Background Color From One Column to Another

You can copy the background color characteristics from one column to another.

  1. Select the column(s) that you want to apply styling to by simultaneously clicking your mouse and pressing the Shift key.
  2. Select the column that contains the styling you want to apply and keep the Shift key pressed as you click it.
  3. Select Match Background Color from the Match All Styles drop-down list on the Font toolbar.

To copy all formatting characteristics (including font, grid, background color, and conditional styling) from one column to another, click the Match All Styles option on the Font toolbar.


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Procedure: How to Set the Page Color for the Report
  1. Select Styling from the Report menu. The Report Options dialog box opens at the Style tab.
  2. In the Graphical area, click the Set Page Color button.
  3. Choose a color and click OK.

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Procedure: How to Customize the Virtual Screen Size for the Report

You may customize the virtual screen size for the report.

Note: Adjusting the virtual screen size applies to the work area in the Report Painter window. The report output is not affected by these settings.

  1. Select Format from the Report menu. The Report Options dialog box opens at the Format tab.
  2. Change the virtual screen size height and width. (The minimum value is 612 x 792).

    Note: The Virtual Screen Size option appears for HTML Web Document (HTML), HTML Table (HTMTABLE), Default, and User Styled report outputs.

  3. Click OK.

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Procedure: How to Justify a Report Column

You can align alphanumeric and numeric report columns with either the left or right column margin, or in the center by performing the following steps:

  1. Select the column in the Report Painter window.
  2. Click the Left Justify, Center Justify, Right Justify, or Default Justify button on the Font toolbar.
  3. Select Default Justify if you want to reinstate the default column alignment. By default, alphanumeric fields are left-aligned and numeric fields are right-aligned.

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Procedure: How to Increase Column Width
  1. Left-click the column to select it.
  2. Position the cursor on the right column border. The cursor will resemble a small horizontal arrow.
  3. Left-click and drag the border to the desired column width.

Tip: To restore the default column width, select Fixed Column Width from the Properties menu.


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Procedure: How to Wrap Data Automatically by Changing the Width of a Column
  1. Right-click the column in the Report Painter window and select Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens at the Style tab.

  2. Select Wrap from the Column Layout Width drop-down list.
  3. Enter a column width in the measurement unit specified.
  4. Click OK.

Note: For HTML-styled report formats, ensure that the Cascading Style Sheets options is selected on the Report Options Features tab.


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Procedure: How to Truncate Report Column Values
  1. Right-click the column in the Report Painter window and select Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens at the Style tab.

  2. Select Truncate from the Column Layout Width drop-down list.
  3. Enter a column width in the measurement unit specified.
  4. Click OK.

To indicate that a field value has been truncated in the report browser, Report Painter places an exclamation point (!) after every alphanumeric and text field value and an asterisk (*) after every numeric field value.

Note: For HTML-styled report formats, ensure that the Cascading Style Sheets option is selected on the Report Options Features tab.


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Procedure: How to Compress a Column
  1. Right-click the column in the Report Painter window and select Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens at the Style tab.

  2. Select Minimum from the Column Layout Width drop-down list.
  3. Click OK.

This is selected by default. Minimum width sets the width of the column according to the widest value or heading in the field.

Note: For HTML-styled report formats, ensure that the Cascading Style Sheets option is selected on the Report Options Features tab.


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Procedure: How to Set the Maximum Column Width
  1. Right-click the field in the Report Painter window and select Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens at the Style tab.

  2. SelectMaximum from the Column Layout Width drop-down list.
  3. Click OK.

Maximum width sets the width according to the length defined in the field format.

Note: To apply this setting to HTML styled report formats, ensure that the Cascading Style Sheets option is selected on the Report Options Features tab.


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Procedure: How to Set the Minimum Column Width

To remove extra blank space between report columns, select Styling from the Report menu. Then select Minimum from the Report Layout Width drop-down list. This is the default setting.

Since this may change the width of the report at run time, the report may look different in the Report Painter window.

Note: For HTML-styled report formats, ensure that the Cascading Style Sheets option is selected on Report Options Features tab.


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Procedure: How to Stack Column Titles and Data Vertically to Decrease Report Width

You can stack columns over one another by performing the following steps:

  1. Right-click the column in the Report Painter window and choose Options from the context menu.

    The Field Properties dialog box opens.

  2. From the General tab, select New Line (OVER) in the Output box.

Note: OVER is not available for sort fields.


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Procedure: How to Make a Column Invisible/Visible

To make a column invisible, right-click the column in the Report Painter window and choose On from the Invisible context menu. The field is grayed out in the Report Painter window and will not be visible in the report output, but may still be used in the report (for instance, as part of a calculation).

To make a column visible, right-click the field in the Report Painter window and choose Off from the Invisible context menu. The grayed background is removed and the field is visible in the report output.


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Procedure: How to Show/Hide an Invisible Column

Click the Show/Hide invisible fields button on the General toolbar.


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Displaying Pop-up Field Descriptions for Column Titles

How to:

Reference:

You can have pop-up field descriptions display in an HTML report when the mouse pointer is positioned over column titles. Field description text displays in a pop-up box near the column title using the default font for the report. Pop-up text appears for report column titles including titles created with ACROSS phrases and stacked column titles created with OVER phrases.

The pop-up text displayed for a column title is defined by the Description attribute in the Master File for the corresponding field. If a column title has no Description entry in the Master File, then no pop-up box is generated when your mouse is positioned over the title.



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Procedure: How to Display Pop-up Field Descriptions in an HTML Report
  1. Open a procedure in Report Painter.
  2. From the Report menu, select Features.

    The Report Options dialog box opens.

  3. In the HTML options area, select the Pop-up Field Descriptions check box.

    Note: Pop-up Field Descriptions are available for HTML Web Document (HTML), HTML Table (HTMTABLE), Default, and User styled report formats.

    The following image shows part of the Report Options dialog box with the Pop-up Field Descriptions option enabled for this report.

  4. Click OK to close the Report Options dialog box and return to Report Painter.


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Reference: Distributing Reports With Pop-up Field Descriptions Using ReportCaster

Distributing an HTML report containing pop-up field descriptions with ReportCaster requires the use of JavaScript components located on the WebFOCUS Client. To access these components from a report distributed by ReportCaster, the scheduled procedure must contain the SET FOCHTMLURL command, which must be set to an absolute URL instead of the default value. For example,

SET FOCHTMLURL = http://hostname:port/ibi_html

where:

hostname:port

Is the host name and optional port number (specified only if you are not using the default port number) where the WebFOCUS Web application is deployed.

ibi_html

Is the site-customized Web server alias pointing to the WebFOCUS/ibi_html directory (where ibi_html is the default value)

For more information about coding reports for use with ReportCaster, see the Tips and Techniques for Coding a ReportCaster Report appendix in your ReportCaster manual.


WebFOCUS