The Object Inspector enables you to add fields to a report, create sort groups, view column, report, and image properties, and view the report components for the procedure.
Report Painter opens by default with the Object Inspector positioned in the left window pane of the Report Painter window. The Object Inspector can be closed or floated on top of the Report Painter window. Any changes made in the Object Inspector are reflected in the Report Painter window and vice versa.
The Object Inspector has tabs that you can toggle between: Columns, Properties, Fields, Sort Groups, Setup, Pivot, and Images.
Note: The Pivot tab is available only when using the Excel® 2000 PivotTable (EXL2K PIVOT) report output format. For more information about Excel PivotTables, see the Creating Reporting Applications With Developer Studio manual.
Among other things, the Object Inspector enables you to:
Note: The Object Inspector is only available in the Report Painter view.
Double-click the gray double lines above the Object Inspector title bar until you see a solid blue line.
The Object Inspector becomes a movable window that you can float on top of the Report Painter window.
Tip: To dock the Object Inspector, double-click the blue line above the Object Inspector title bar.
After you have populated a report with information, you may wish to close the Object Inspector so that the report is more fully visible on the screen.
From the File menu, uncheck Show Object Inspector.
Tip: You can reopen the Object Inspector at any time by rechecking the Show Object Inspector option on the File menu.
The Fields tab in the Object Inspector lists all field names available for use in your report. This includes fields in the open file and any joined files, temporary fields. You can select a field to view its field name, qualified field name, alias, title, description, and format in the lower pane. You can double-click or drag fields from this pane to the Report Painter window, where they become report columns. For details, see How to Add Columns to Your Report.
How to:
Reference: |
You can view the fields list in the Object Inspector as a:
Note: When creating a report with a multi-dimensional data source, additional folders in the Object Inspector, and all other fields lists, are available. For more information about viewing the fields list with a multi-dimensional data source, see Viewing the Fields List in the Creating Reporting Applications With Developer Studio manual.
The following image shows the right-click context menu that is available from the Fields tab of the Object Inspector when you right-click on white space. The right-click menu changes to show only valid options depending on the object you select.
You can double-click or drag segments or fields from the Object Inspector to the Report Painter window, where they become report columns.
You can customize how you view the fields list and save your settings. You can also search for fields in the fields list. These options appear anywhere in Report Painter where a fields list is available. For example, Object Inspector, Define tool, Variable Editor, and so on.
The System Variables folder contains variables that are automatically populated with system values. These values include the current date, current time, operating system, number of lines read, and number of answer set lines in the last request. These values can be used to control processing. For example, if no records are read for a report request because no records fit the selection criteria, processing may halt or the selection criteria may be changed. To view a description of each variable, place the mouse over the system variable name.
Note:
Right-click anywhere on the Field Tree and deselect Display Filters in Filters Folder from the context menu.
The selected option is not immediately applied but appears the next time you view a Field Tree.
Note: This option is also available from the Reporting tab of the Developer Studio Options dialog box.
By default, Master File Filters and Computes are shown in the Report Painter Object Inspector in the Filters folder, or Computes Folder, when using the Field Tree View.
Note: If using a Master File Computes field, the Object Inspector automatically displays the field in a Master File Computed Fields folder.
The selected option is not immediately applied but appears the next time you view a Field Tree.
Tip: These options are also available from the Reporting tab of the Developer Studio Options dialog box.
If the Access Property NEED_VALUE option is specified for fields in the Master File being used in Report Painter, the Object Inspector indicates the fields that require a mandatory filter in the report.
The following image shows an Alert icon for the City field in the Object Inspector and on the Report Painter status bar.
The items circled in red are the mandatory field indicators.
Note: The Alert icon is removed from the Object Inspector and status bar after a filter is applied to the NEED_VALUE field.
The Find Item search field input area.
Searches for the field name exactly as entered. The search field is case-sensitive.
Looks for the search field in the entire fields list.
Looks for the search field in all children fields of the parent hierarchy.
Looks for the search field in all children fields of every hierarchy.
Note: For more information about hierarchical data sources, see Hierarchal Reporting in Developer Studio in the Creating Reporting Applications With Developer Studio manual.
You can view and modify the column properties in the Report Painter window from the Columns tab in the Object Inspector.
Selecting a column in the Columns tab displays the column properties in the bottom pane of the Object Inspector (if showing details). These properties include column name, sort type, format, prefix operator status, drill-down status, and visualize status. There is a descriptive icon to the left of each column indicating the sort status of the column. For details, see Viewing and Manipulating Sort Groups.
Note: Right-click and select Hide Details section to show/hide details anywhere in the Object Inspector.
Right-clicking a column and selecting Options from the context menu opens the Field Properties dialog box where you can format and style your column, apply drill down capabilities. Any changes made to the column properties are reflected in the Report Painter window.
You can view properties of an image in the Report Painter window from the Images tab in the Object Inspector.
Selecting the thumbnail of the image in the Images tab displays the image properties in the bottom pane of the Object Inspector. These properties include the location of the image, image name, positioning on page, and size.
Note: Right-click and select Hide Details section to show/hide details anywhere in the Object Inspector.
Double-click the image to edit these properties in the Image Properties dialog box.
How to: |
When you select the object of a report (column, heading, footing, or entire report) in the Report Painter window, its properties are reflected in the Properties tab in the Object Inspector.
Reference: |
You can view and modify the sorting properties of fields in the Report Painter window from the Sort Groups tab in the Object Inspector.
The Sort Groups tab displays the sorting method being applied to each column in the Report Painter window. You can change the sorting method (for example, from By to Across or from Detail to Sum) from the Sort Groups pane. The changes are reflected in the Object Inspector Columns and Sort Groups panes and in the Report Painter window.
You can also create reports that include both detail and summary information from the Sort Groups pane. For details, see Sorting in Groups to Create a Combined Detail/Summary Report.
The icons in the first column to the left of the field name display the type of sort field. The icons and their meanings are defined in the following table.
Icon |
Definition |
---|---|
|
Across field. |
|
By field. |
|
Sum field. |
|
Detail field. |
|
For field. |
|
Hierarchy field. Note: This option is only available when using a multi-dimensional data source. For more information, see Sorting Hierarchical Data in the Creating Reporting Applications With Developer Studio manual. |
You can open components that precede the report component from the Setup tab on the Object Inspector. Double-clicking a component in the Setup tab opens the tool that created the component. Right-clicking a component in the Setup tab and selecting Hide Details section displays the syntax for that component in the bottom pane of the Object Inspector.
WebFOCUS |