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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
The Report Generator provided with LOGPlus! is provided "AS IS" and
is "UNSUPPORTED". This product, other than minor changes to the
basic code, is a fully function report generator developed by Grumpfish
Inc. and Greg Lief. This documentation file is provide "AS IS" and
will provide basic information which provides the basic operating
technics of the report generator. Only slight variations between the
commercial product and LOGPlus! Report Generator exists. Questions
and suggestions are encouraged and will be looked into as time permits.
Currently, only three databases are supported. (LOGBOOK, SATELLITE and DXCC).
If additional databases support is requested, they can easily be added.
However, unless you obtain the necessary files directly from the BBS,
a support change of $4.00 USD is required to cover shipping and handling
charges.
NOTICE: Some slight variations will be noted. Please use the file
SAMPLE.DBF as a test as per the documentation listed below.
Grumpfish Reporter Version 2.0
User Documentation
Copyright (c) 1992-4 Greg Lief
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ You may integrate the contents of this file into your own system │
│ documentation, provided that you prominently display the Grumpfish, Inc. │
│ copyright notice as stated in this paragraph. You may display this │
│ copyright notice either at the beginning of the system documentation or │
│ at the beginning of that particular section. Suggested wording for │
│ these two locations would be: (a) "Portions of this documentation are │
│ Copyright (c) 1992-3 Grumpfish, Inc."; or (b) "The following section of │
│ documentation is Copyright (c) 1992-3 Grumpfish, Inc." │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Contents
I. BASIC OPERATION
II. QUICK START PART ONE
III. QUICK START PART TWO
IV. COMMAND-LINE PARAMETERS
V. FILES MENU
VI. QUERY MENU
VII. OUTPUT MENU
VIII. DATA DICTIONARY MENU
IX. GLOBALS MENU
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
I. BASIC OPERATION
Grumpfish Reporter is built around a framework of "menus". A menu is a
series of options for you to select from. For example, when you first
fire up Grumpfish Reporter, the main menu will contain the options
"File", "Query", "Output", "Data Dictionary", and "Globals". Whenever a
menu is active on-screen, you can make a selection in one of several
ways: (a) using the arrow keys to move the highlight bar to the desired
option and pressing Enter; or (b) pressing the highlighted trigger
letter. For the main menu, the first letter of each option serves as
the trigger letter, though this will not always be the case.
To open a submenu, select a main menu option by one of the two options
listed above. To close a submenu, press Esc. In general, you press Esc
to return to the previous menu.
TIP: There is a third way to select menu options shown on some of the
Grumpfish Reporter submenus: "Quick Keys". For example, press "F" from
the main menu to open the Files submenu. This submenu contains three
options for you to select from. Notice that each of these options has a
"quick key" associated it -- for example, Alt-X is the quick key for the
Exit option. Any of these quick keys are active anywhere from within
the structure of the Grumpfish Reporter main menu. You can try this now
by pressing ESC to close the Files submenu, then press Alt-X from the
main menu. Surprise -- you'll be at the operating system before you
know what hit you.
While the menu is helpful as you become familiar with Grumpfish
Reporter, knowledge of these quick keys can ultimately save you a lot of
time getting around in the program.
For your convenience, the names of the currently active report, query,
and data dictionary will be shown at the bottom of the main menu screen.
II. QUICK START PART ONE
We have supplied a sample database (appropriately named SAMPLE.DBF)
on your Grumpfish Reporter diskette. Let's draw up a sample report
with the following information:
We want a printout of all articles containing the word "Review" in their
title. We want to show the author, title, date, and number of pages for
each of these articles. We want thist list to be sorted by author
first, and then title. We also want to know the total number of pages
for all of these articles, as well as the average number of pages per
article.
Move to the directory where Grumpfish Reporter resides (assuming you
followed the installation instructions, that should be the \REPORTER
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directory). Fire it up by typing "GR" (or "GR /M" if you are using a
monochrome monitor). Sample DOS instructions to perform this might be:
C:>CD\REPORTER
C:\REPORTER>GR
a) Opening The File
Our first step is to open the database we want to query/report on.
1. The "Files" option should be highlighted. Press Enter to open the
Files submenu.
2. The first option on this submenu, "Open", will be highlighted. Press
Enter to select that.
3. You will then be presented with a list of DBF files for selection,
among which should be SAMPLE.DBF. Use the arrow keys or PgDn to move
the highlight bar to SAMPLE.DBF, and press Enter.
4. Since we do not need to open any related files for this example,
press Enter. You will be presented with the message "Are you finished
selecting files?" -- press Enter again.
b) Selecting Fields to be Displayed
Our next step is to determine which fields should be shown as part of
the output.
1. You should now be at the "Query" submenu. The first option on that
submenu, "Display Fields", will be highlighted. Press Enter to select
it.
2. You will see a list of selected fields on the right side of the
screen. Because we only want to look at a few of these fields, press
F10 to remove all selected fields.
3. We want to see the author's name, title, date, and pages. The
Spacebar is used to select fields, which moves them from the left window
(available) to the right window (selected). Use the arrow keys to move
the highlight bar to the Author field, and press Spacebar to select it.
4. Repeat step 3 for the Title and Date fields.
5. But when you get to Pages, remember that we want to see the total and
average number of pages for all articles. Because Pages is numeric
data, you will be presented with a list of possible numeric formulae to
choose from.
6. Use Spacebar to tag "Total" and "Average", then press Enter.
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
7. Press ESC to exit back to the Query submenu.
c) Selecting a Sort Order
Our next step is to establish a "sort order". This will determine the
order in which we view the data.
1. Use the down arrow to highlight the "Sort Order" option and press
Enter.
2. You will be presented with a window similar to that for the Display
Fields, except that nothing will have been selected.
3. We want to see the data sorted by author, then title. Make sure that
the Author field is highlighted and press the Spacebar. It will move
from the left side to the right side.
4. Repeat this process for the Title field.
5. Once again, press ESC to return to the previous menu. A message
will appear reminding you that, to activate your sort order, you must
first "execute" the query. We will get to that shortly. In the meantime,
feel free to press the Spacebar to make that message vanish faster.
d) Selecting a Query Condition
Our next step is to create a query condition, which allows us to look at
a subset of the entire file.
1. Use the Down arrow to highlight the "Condition" option, and press
Enter.
2. You will see four choices along the bottom row of the screen. The
first option, "Add Condition", is highlighted and that is the one you
want, so press Enter.
3. You will be given the list of fields to select from. Remember that
we only wanted to look at articles that contained the word "Review" in
their title. Therefore, our query condition will be based on the TITLE
field. Use the Down arrow to highlight that field and press Enter.
4. You will then be presented with a list of operators. The one we want
is "contains", because we are looking for titles that contain the word
"REVIEW". Use the down arrow (or press "C") to highlight "contains",
and press Enter.
5. You will be prompted to enter what you want the TITLE field to
contain. Type in "REVIEW" (in either upper- or lower-case) and press
Enter.
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6. Press "X" or ESC to exit from this window back to the Query submenu.
e) Executing the Query
As mentioned above, whenever you change the sort order and/or query
condition, you will get a reminder that "To activate this Query, select
EXECUTE...". It is indeed time to execute this query. This will re-order
your database based upon both the query condition and the sort order
steps that we just performed.
1. Press the down arrow to highlight the "Execute Query" option, and
press Enter. A status bar will appear in the middle of the screen
showing you the progress of this action. When this is finished, you will
be moved automatically to the Output menu.
2. Just to make sure that everything is fine, let's view the data on
the screen before we print it out. The "View" option is the first
option on the Output menu. It should already be highlighted, so go
ahead and press Enter. You will be presented with a browse window
containing exactly the data you specified. Use the arrow keys to move
through the data, and press ESC when you are finished browsing.
f) Getting a Hard Copy
The end result of this work is to get a hard copy of the data. But
before we do that, we need to install a printer. (I hope you have a
printer that supports compressed print, because we'll need that for this
particular report due to the column widths.)
1. Press the right arrow twice to move to the "Globals" submenu.
2. Press Enter for "Printer Setup", then highlight "Select Printer" and
press Enter again.
3. You will be given a list of available printers to select from. To
find your printer, you can use the up or down arrows, PgUp, and PgDn
keys. A faster method is to type in the first few letters of your
printer's name. For example, if you have an HP Laserjet, press "HP" to
jump immediately to that group of printers. Once you have located your
printer, press Enter to install it.
4. You will now be asked to enter a printer description and port. Your
description should be anything that helps you to identify that
particular printer. For example, if your office has three HP Laserjets,
then you might want to refer to them like "Joe's Printer", "Accounting
Department", and "Personnel Department".
Ports that Grumpfish Reporter supports are LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2,
COM3, and COM4. The most common printer port is LPT1, so go ahead and
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select that (there's a 99% chance that it will work in your situation).
5. Great! You've installed your printer. Now press "S" to save
global/printer information. By doing so, the next time you enter
Grumpfish Reporter you will not have to re-install your printer.
6. Now press the left arrow twice to move back to the "Output" menu.
Press the down arrow to highlight the "Printer" option and press
Enter.
7. You will be asked several questions about your printed output. The
first question is whether you want to review your print options, which
include the header and footer. Answer "NO" to this question. (We'll
discuss this in greater detail later in this manual.)
8. Your next decision is where to send the output: printer, file, or
screen. Make sure that "Printer" is highlighted and press Enter. You
will then be asked to verify that the printer is on-line and ready.
Make sure it is, then highlight "Ready" and press Enter. You'll see the
status bar, and when that's finished, so is your report!
g) Saving Our Report for Next Time
The last thing we'll do before we exit Grumpfish Reporter is save a copy
of our report specification. This is composed of the various pieces of
the report, including the list of fields, the sort order, and the query
condition. You can also add other things, like a report header and
footer, but we will not get into those until the next Quick Start
discussion. We want to save a copy of this report so that we do not
have to go through the trouble of recreating it.
1. You should still be on the "Output" submenu. Look for the "Save
Report" option near the bottom. Rather than using the arrow keys, this
time just press "S" to select this option.
2. You will be first asked to enter a description. Your description may
be up to 60 characters long. Give this report the description "Reviews
sorted by author and title". Press Enter when you are finished typing
the description.
3. You will then be asked to enter a filename, which may be up to 8
characters long. Let's use "SAMPLE1" as the name for this report. The
".GRR" file extension will be added automatically. The message "Saving
Report" should appear briefly, then disappear.
4. Now we can exit Grumpfish Reporter -- press ESC twice to get the "Are
you sure you want to exit" message. Make sure the "Yes" is highlighted,
and press Enter to bid the program a fond (but surely temporary) adieu.
III. QUICK START PART TWO
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
This time, let's refine our output somewhat. We need to get a count of
records by author, which is easily done but something we did not bother
with last time. We will investigate the report header and footer so
that you can get a better feel for how to change those items. We will
also change our query condition slightly and save it. Finally, we need
to create a spreadsheet containing our information.
a) Fire It Up
Start up Grumpfish Reporter by moving to the directory where it resides.
b) Reload Your Report
Repeat the steps you followed earlier to open SAMPLE.DBF. Then move to
the Output menu and press "L" for Load Report. (You can also use the
Alt-R quick key to accomplish this from anywhere in Grumpfish Reporter.)
You'll be given a list of available reports. There will probably only
be one -- that which you just saved. Press Enter to load it.
The message "Loading Report" will appear on the screen, and your query
will be processed to properly reflect your query condition and sort
order.
TIP: Whenever you fire up Reporter and plan to reload a previously saved
report, you can use option is to use the /R command-line parameter. This
tells Grumpfish Reporter to reload a saved report immediately. For our
example, you would type the following command to reload your report:
C>GR /RSAMPLE1
Not only will this reload the report in SAMPLE1.GRR, but it will also
cause the SAMPLE.DBF database to be opened at the same time... no muss,
no fuss!
c) Changing Print Options
With the exception of the spreadsheet, all of our work is going to
revolve around the Print Options section. This is accessible either
when you are preparing to print a report, or from the Globals submenu.
We will go ahead and print another hard copy, so we can access the Print
Options as part of that process.
1. Press "P" to select "Printer". You will be presented with the
question: "Review print options?". Press "Y" for Yes.
2. The Print Options window is divided into three sections: Printer
Options, Header Information, and Footer Information. You may press the
Tab key to move quickly between each of the sections. We will look at
the Printer Options section first.
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
i) Printer Options
The first item is Page Length. If you are using a laser printer, you
should probably change this to 60.
Left and Top margins should be self-explanatory. Left Margin can be
between 1 and 49. Top Margin can be between 1 and 19. The default
settings for these margins are 5 and 0, respectively.
If you answer yes to "Print total records?", that will simply cause the
total number of records to be printed at the end of your report. (By
default, this information is not printed.)
If you are using a sort order, you may wish to answer yes to "Eject
after subgroups". This will cause each new subgroup to be printed on a
new page. (By default, this is not the case.)
"Column Spacing" is the number of spaces to separate each of the columns
on your report. The default spacing is 1, and you can increase this as
high as 19 if you wish.
"Suppress Duplicate Values?" can be a confusing question. To answer it,
here are two examples of not suppressing, and then suppressing,
duplicate values. Watch the Author name column to see the effect.
Not Suppressing Duplicate Values
Author Title
---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Darren Forcier REVIEW UPDATE: Overlay Version 3.5
Darren Forcier REVIEW: Blinker - Dynamic Overlay Linker
Darren Forcier REVIEW: Class(y)
Darren Forcier REVIEW: Desqview Clipper API
Darren Forcier REVIEW: The Force Compiler
Joe Booth REVIEW: Data Junction
Joe Booth REVIEW: Rad - Rapid Application Development
Steve Baker REVIEW: FlexFile
Steve Baker REVIEW: Telepathy
Suppressing Duplicate Values
Author Title
---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Darren Forcier REVIEW UPDATE: Overlay Version 3.5
REVIEW: Blinker - Dynamic Overlay Linker
REVIEW: Class(y)
REVIEW: Desqview Clipper API
REVIEW: The Force Compiler
Joe Booth REVIEW: Data Junction
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
REVIEW: Rad - Rapid Application Development
Steve Baker REVIEW: FlexFile
REVIEW: Telepathy
Many people prefer to suppress duplicate values for aesthetic purposes,
though you are certainly free to choose whatever method you prefer.
"Show Record Count For Subgroups" is one of the options we need to
change. By answering Yes to this question, Grumpfish Reporter will
automatically give us the number of records printed for each subgroup
based on the primary sort order. This would result in printed output
similar to the following:
Author Title
---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Darren Forcier REVIEW UPDATE: Overlay Version 3.5
REVIEW: Blinker - Dynamic Overlay Linker
REVIEW: Class(y)
REVIEW: Desqview Clipper API
REVIEW: The Force Compiler
'Darren Forcier': Count = 5
Joe Booth REVIEW: Data Junction
REVIEW: Rad - Rapid Application Development
'Joe Booth': Count = 2
Steve Baker REVIEW: FlexFile
REVIEW: Telepathy
'Steve Baker': Count = 2
"Double-spaced output" allows you to specify that the report be printed
double-spaced. This is a requirement for some people, which is why we
have included it as an option. (Default output is single-spaced.)
"Show % of total for subgroups" is similar to record count for
subgroups. If you answer Yes to this question, the database will be
scanned prior to printing the report to determine the total number of
records. Then the percentage of records represented by each
subgroup will be printed at the end of the subgroup. The following example
demonstrates this:
Author Title
---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Darren Forcier REVIEW UPDATE: Overlay Version 3.5
REVIEW: Blinker - Dynamic Overlay Linker
REVIEW: Class(y)
REVIEW: Desqview Clipper API
REVIEW: The Force Compiler
Darren Forcier: 55.55% of total
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
Joe Booth REVIEW: Data Junction
REVIEW: Rad - Rapid Application Development
Joe Booth: 22.22% of total
Steve Baker REVIEW: FlexFile
REVIEW: Telepathy
Steve Baker: 22.22% of total
If you answer Yes to the "Summary report only" question, this will only
print one line for each sort key, along with any counts and percentages.
Summary reports can be useful if you only care about the record count for
each subgroup. The following listing demonstrates a summary report, with
subgroup counts and percentages.
Author Title
---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
Darren Forcier: Count = 5
Darren Forcier: 55.55% of total
Joe Booth: Count = 2
Joe Booth: 22.22% of total
Steve Baker: Count = 2
Steve Baker: 22.22% of total
"Auto-compress" determines whether Grumpfish Reporter will force your
printer to compressed mode for reports wider than 80 columns (110
columns for landscape, 140 columns for landscape legal). By default,
auto-compress is turned on. However, you might want to turn it off if
you have a printer that will accommodate wide paper. Naturally, this
feature will not do anything if your printer doesn't support compressed
mode.
"Printer port" determines the port to which to send the report. As
mentioned previously, Grumpfish Reporter supports LPT1-3 and COM1-4.
There are four other options that may appear in this first section
depending upon the type of printer you are using.
a) If you are using a laser printer, you will be given the option of
changing the page orientation. "P" is Portrait, which is standard 8
1/2" width, 11" length. "L" is Landscape, which is 11" width, 8 1/2"
length.
b) If you have a printer that supports legal size paper, you can specify
that by answering Yes to the "Legal" question. (By default, letter size
will be used.)
c) If you have a printer that supports A4 size paper, you can use that
by answering Yes to the "A4" question. (By default, letter size will be
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used.)
d) If you have a printer that supports 8 lines per inch, you will be given
the option of switching between 6 and 8 LPI. 8 LPI allows you to squash
more data onto the printed page (at the potential risk of losing your
eyesight when you attempt to read it).
d) Changing Header and Footer
The next two sections of this window are devoted to Header and
Footer Information, respectively. The header and footer are each
composed of four lines. Each of those four lines is divided into
three sections: Left, Center, and Right. Items in the Left section
will be printed flush against the left margin. Items in the Center
section will be centered horizontally on the row. Items in the Right
section will be printed flush against the right margin.
These items can contain either stock insertion items or actual text.
For your convenience, we have included a variety of stock insertion
items (including date, time, company name, and report description) that
you would not necessarily want to have to re-type each time you prepared
a report. You can also insert database fields in the header and/or footer.
The default report header is comprised of the following:
Line 1: Date (flush left), Company Name (centered), Page # (flush right)
Line 2: Time (flush left)
All four of these are stock insertion items. You can insert these
(and other similar items) anywhere you like in the header or footer.
1. Let's make a few changes to the header now. Move the cursor to the
Header Line 2/Center item, which should currently be blank. We want
to insert the report description here.
2. Press F10. You will be presented with a list of insertion options.
Move the highlight bar down to REPORT_DESC (Report Description) and
select Enter. This will cause the report description to be printed
centered on the second row of each page header.
3. Just after Line 4, you will see the item "Lines between header and
column headings". This specifies the buffer to use between the report
header and the column headings. By default, this will be one blank
space, though you can increase it to as many as 9.
4. The footer should currently be completely empty. Let's have a
one-line footer that shows the current date flush left, current page #
centered, and current time flush right.
5. Place the cursor in the Footer Line 1/Left item. Press F10 for the
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
list of insertion options and press Enter to select the date.
6. Move the cursor to the Footer Line 1/Center item. Type in a hyphen
("-") followed by a space. Press F10 again for the list of insertion
options. Use the down arrow to highlight the Page option and press
Enter to select it. Then type in another space and a hyphen. This will
print the page number like so: "- 1 -", "- 2 -", etcetera.
7. Move the cursor to the Footer Line 1/Right item. Press F10 once
again for the insertion options, press the down arrow once to
highlight Time, and press Enter to select it.
8. Press PgDn to save your changes.
At this point you may wish to save the report again so that you will not
have to recreate the header and footer.
Before moving on, get another hard copy so that you can see the effect
of the subgroup counts and the header/footer changes you made.
Whenever you change print options, the new settings will remain in
effect until you either load a previously saved report or change the
options again.
e) Modifying Query
Our current query condition is all articles that contain the word
"REVIEW" as part of their title. Let's modify this so that we only look
at reviews that deal with communications products. There is another
field entitled KEYWORDS, which will serve us well here.
1. Move to the Query submenu. Press "C" for "Condition".
2. You will see your original condition on the right side of the screen.
Press "A" to add another condition.
3. You will first need to specify whether this new condition will relate
to the previously existing condition(s). If you select "AND", that
means that both the previous condition and the new one must be fulfilled
in order for a record to be part of your query. If you select "OR",
that means that either the previous condition or the new one need be
fulfilled. You can see that the difference between "AND" and "OR" is
very important. Select "AND" and press Enter.
4. Highlight the KEYWORDS fields with the down arrow and press Enter.
5. Press "C" to highlight the "Contains" option and press Enter.
6. Type in "COMMUNICATION" and press Enter.
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
7. Press "X" or ESC to exit back to the previous submenu.
f) Saving Query
Before you execute this new query, let's save it for future use.
1. You should still be on the Query submenu. Press "S" for Save Query.
2. You will be first asked to enter a description. Your description may
be up to 60 characters long. Give this query the description "Communication
product reviews". Press Enter when you are finished typing the
description.
3. You will then be asked to enter a filename, which may be up to 8
characters long. Let's use "COMMPROD" as the name for this query. The
".GRQ" file extension will be added automatically. The message "Saving
Query" should appear briefly, then disappear.
You can then re-load this query later if you want to look at this
particular subset of records.
g) Spreadsheet Output
1. Move to the "Output" submenu. Press "Q" for Quattro/Lotus/Excel
output.
2. You will be asked to specify which type of spreadsheet you wish
Grumpfish Reporter to produce. These include: Lotus 2.x, Lotus 3.x,
Quattro, Quattro Pro, Excel 2, Excel 3, and Excel 4. Highlight the
desired spreadsheet type and press Enter.
3. You will then be asked to enter a filename, which may be up to 8
characters long. Let's use "COMMPROD" again as the name for this
spreadsheet. The appropriate worksheet file extension will be added
automatically.
4. You will be asked if you wish the cells to be protected. This
applies to once the spreadsheet has been loaded into Lotus, Quattro, or
Excel. Answer Yes or No.
5. The status bar will then appear to keep you apprised of the progress
of the file creation. When the status bar is full, the creation is
finished. You can then retrieve this file from DOS or Windows and use
it with your spreadsheet program.
DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS
The remainder of this manual is devoted to discussing the many Grumpfish
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
Reporter features in greater detail. This will be divided by menu
(Files, Query, etc), because the menus form natural logical groupings.
You can read these sections all at once if you so desire, although we
recommend that you instead refer to specific sections of concern as
necessary.
IV. COMMAND-LINE PARAMETERS
Grumpfish Reporter can be executed with the following command-line
parameters:
/DEV Allow creation/editing of data dictionaries
/M -or- /MONO Monochrome operation
/R<reportname> Specify a pre-saved report to be loaded automatically
/Q<queryname> Specify a pre-saved query to be loaded automatically
/D<datadictname> Specify a pre-saved data dictionary to be loaded
automatically
If you use more than one command-line parameter, be sure to separate
them with spaces.
Most of the items on the data dictionary menu are only available to
someone with high enough security (either an administrator or
developer). The /DEV command-line parameter would be used in those
situations where you want to create a data dictionary for use by other
users. We do not recommend that you make this particular command-line
parameter common knowledge, because some users will not be adept enough
to create data dictionaries.
SECURITY LEVEL
There are many Grumpfish Reporter features that would simply confuse the
average user. Therefore, many of these features are tied directly to
security level. The primary reason for this design is to avoid
overcomplicating the life of the average user.
There are five basic security levels:
- None
- Average
- Power User
- Administrator
- Developer
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Grumpfish Report Generator LOGPlus! v3.0
We already discussed under "Command-Line Parameters" how to activate
Grumpfish Reporter with Developer level security. More specific
information of these security levels will appear during the Data
Dictionary section, because each data dictionary can have its own
security level. In the meantime, though, there may be occasional mention
of security level in the following discussions, which is why we are
outlining it now.
V. FILES MENU
The Files menu is the simplest of all the menus. It contains three
options: "Open", "Exit", and "DOS".
a) Open
The "Open" option allows you to open one or more database files to use
for your query and report. The quick key associated with this menu
option is F2.
You will be presented with a list of DBF files for selection. Use the
arrow keys or PgDn to move the highlight bar to the desired file and press
Enter to select it. You may also type in the first few letters of the
filename to jump quickly to that file. If you need to see the field
structure of a DBF file, highlight the file in question and press F9.
If the current directory has no DBF files, or if the file you wish to
use is in a different directory, you can step backwards through the
directory tree structure by highlighting the parent directory entry
(shown by double periods) and pressing Enter. All items in this window
that are bracketed by "<" and ">" indicate subdirectory entries.
If the file you wish to use in on an entirely different drive, press the
F10 key to switch drives.
Once you have selected a file, you will presented with a completely
different window that has three columns for Parent, Children, and
Grandchildren databases. If you need to open related files, this screen
clearly shows you the hierarchy between those files.
While you are in this window, you can continue to open more files.
Let's assume that you have opened a parent database named ORDERS.DBF.
You want to open two child files related to ORDERS: CUSTOMERS.DBF and
VENDORS.DBF. With the highlight bar on ORDERS.DBF, press INS. This
will open the file picklist window for you to choose from. Look for the
desired file and press Enter to select it. Once you have done so, you
will be presented with another window to establish a relationship
between the parent and child databases.
Highlight the appropriate field (in this case, VENDOR_NO) and press
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Enter. Grumpfish Reporter will scan the child file for fields that
match the one you just selected. If there is at least one such matching
field, you will get another selection window. If there are no matching
fields, you will get an error message to that effect and will have to
pick a different field from the parent file.
Once you have properly established the relationship between the parent
and child database, the relationship will be shown in the main window.
A line will be drawn between the parent and child, and the link field
will be shown in parentheses between the two filenames. To move around
within this window, use the arrow keys. You may continue to add related
databases to the parent or one of the child databases.
You may also remove files by highlighting them and pressing DEL.
Whenever you delete a file, all files related to it and lower on the
general hierarchy will be deleted as well. For example, if you delete
the parent file, all other files will be deleted along with it.
When you are finished selecting files, press Enter twice. This will
open the files you have selected in the proper relationship hierarchy.
At this time, Grumpfish Reporter will create temporary index files for
all databases that have been related to others.
b) Exit
The "Exit" option allows you to exit Grumpfish Reporter. The quick key
associated with this menu option is Alt-X.
c) DOS
The "DOS" option allows you to temporarily exit Grumpfish Reporter to
DOS. The quick key associated with this menu option is Alt-F10. When
you make use of this option, you will have approximately the same amount
of free memory available as just prior to loading Grumpfish Reporter.
This means that you could create a spreadsheet from within Grumpfish
Reporter, then temporarily exit to run Quattro or Lotus to review the
spreadsheet.
When you use the "DOS" option, your DOS prompt will be altered to remind
you that you are still inside Grumpfish Reporter:
On temporary hiatus from Grumpfish Reporter
Press EXIT at any prompt to return to G.R.
C:\REPORTER>
TIP: Unlike all other menu quick-keys, which are only available in
framework of the Main Menu, Alt-F10 for the DOS option is available
for your convenience ANYWHERE within Grumpfish Reporter.
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VI. QUERY MENU
The Query menu contains the following options: "Display Fields", "Sort
Order", "Condition", "Execute Query", "Load Query", "Save Query", "Clear
Query", and "Delete Query".
a) Display Fields
The "Display Fields" option allows you to select the fields that you
wish to see as part of your report or output. The quick key associated
with this menu option is F3.
When you select this option, you will be presented with two lists of
fields on the left and right side of the screen. The fields shown on
the left are still available for selection. Those shown on the right
have already been selected for display.
To select a field for display, highlight it with the arrow keys and
press Spacebar.
To remove the last field selected for display, press Backspace.
To remove all fields selected for display, press F10.
To return to the previous submenu, press Esc. You may return to this
menu option at any time to change the fields being displayed.
If you select a numeric field, you will be given a list of numeric
formulae that may be attached to that field for output purposes. These
include: Totals, Subtotals, Average, Maximum, Minimum, Deviation, and
Variance. You can toggle individual formulae on and off by highlighting
them and pressing Spacebar. You may also turn on all formulae by
pressing F8, or turn off all formulae by pressing F9. When you are
finished selecting numeric formulae, press Enter to proceed.
NOTE: When you open a file using the Files menu, all fields will
automatically be selected for display. When you are using a data
dictionary, no fields will initially be selected, and you will have to
select them manually.
TIP: If no fields are currently selected, you may select all of them by
pressing F10.
b) Sort Order
The "Sort Order" option allows you to determine the order in which you
will view your data. The quick key associated with this menu option is
F4.
As with "Display Fields", when you select this option you will be
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presented with two lists of fields on the left and right side of the
screen. The fields shown on the left are still available for selection.
Those shown on the right have already been selected as part of the sort
order.
To select a field as part of the sort order, highlight it with the arrow
keys and press Spacebar. If you wish to use a descending sort on this
field, press F10 instead of Spacebar. By default, sorts are ascending
(A-Z). You may combine ascending and descending sorts as part of the
same sort order.
To remove the last field selected, press Backspace.
TIP: You can filter out duplicate sort records by pressing ALT-F. This
is similar to a summary report in that your report will only contain the
first record for each sort key.
To return to the previous submenu, press Esc. You may return to this
menu option at any time to change the sort order.
c) Condition
The "Condition" option is used to determine which subset of data you
want to look at by creating query conditions. The quick key associated
with this menu option is F5.
When you select this option, you will see four options along the bottom
of the screen: "Add Condition", "Edit Condition", "Delete Condition",
and "Exit". We will run through the steps of adding a new condition
before we discussing editing or deleting conditions.
A query condition contains the following items:
- the field you are querying
- an operator (equal to, greater than, etcetera)
- a value
Press "A" to add a new condition. You will first be presented with a
list of available fields. Use the arrow keys to highlight the
appropriate one, and press Enter. You may also specify a formula
by selecting the "<FORMULA>" option at the bottom of the field list.
This is useful if, for example, you need to compare two database fields
to each other.
The next window will contain operators. Grumpfish Reporter features the
following operators:
1) is equal to
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2) is less than
3) is greater than
4) is less than or equal to
5) greater than or equal to
6) is not equal to
7) is between
8) is empty
9) is not empty
10) contains*
11) contains (positional)*
12) does not contain*
13) begins with*
14) ends with*
15) sounds like*
*Applies to character data only
Most of these operators are self-explanatory. However, the positional
contains requires further illumination. It is a pattern-matching device
that lets you look for specific characters in specific positions. You
use qusetion marks to block out irrelevant characters. For example,
you want to find all items that have the letters "ABC" in the
third through fifth positions. You could use "???ABC" as the matching
value.
The next window allows you to enter a value for this particular query
condition. You can also peek into the database by pressing F2 if you get
stuck for what to enter.
TIP: If you press F2 for suggested values on a character field, and
there is an open index corresponding to that field, you will be able to
incrementally search for values by typing the first few letters of what
you are looking for.
You may press Backspace to go back through any of these three steps
(field, operator, value). When you have completed a query condition, it
will be shown on the right side of the screen.
Boolean Operators/Parentheses
When you add subsequent query conditions, you will need to specify
a "boolean" operator associated with them. This will generally amount
to selecting either "AND" or "OR". If you select "AND", that means that
both the previous condition AND the new one must be fulfilled in order
for a record to be part of your query. If you select "OR", then either
the previous condition OR the new one need be fulfilled.
If you are operating at a security level of 5 (Power User) or greater,
you will also be able to select the options "AND (" and "OR (". These
allow you to nest parentheses as part of your query conditions.
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Parentheses can be used to override the natural precedence of these two
operators. Ordinarily, AND is evaluated prior to OR.
Editing Query Conditions
You may edit any individual query condition after the fact by selecting
the "Edit Condition" option. When you select it, a highlight bar will
appear in the query condition window. Use the arrow keys to highlight
the condition you wish to edit, and press Enter. If you change your mind
and decide not to edit any conditions, press Esc.
Deleting Query Conditions
You may delete any individual query condition by selecting the "Delete
Condition" option. As with editing conditions, a highlight bar will
appear in the query condition window. Use the arrow keys to highlight
the condition you wish to edit, and press Enter. If you change your
mind, press ESC to exit without deleting any conditions.
d) Execute Query
The "Execute Query" option takes your sort order and query condition(s)
into account to give you a different view of your database. This view
will be limited to the subset defined by your query condition, shown in
the order defined by your sort order.
NOTE: Whenever you change the sort order and/or query condition, you
must select the "Execute Query" option to reflect those changes.
e) Load Query
The "Load Query" option allows you to load a previously saved query.
The quick key associated with this menu option is Alt-Q.
When you select this option, you will be presented with a list of
descriptions of previously saved queries (or an error message if there
are no queries found), along with the date/time that they were created.
Use the arrow key to highlight the one you want, and press Enter.
Assuming that it applies to the currently active data dictionary or open
files, this query will be executed immediately and thus take effect.
f) Save Query
The "Save Query" option allows you to save a query for later use.
This will save the query condition and sort order, along with a
description of the query which you provide.
When you select this option, you will be first asked to enter a
description. Your description may be up to 60 characters long. If you
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decide not to save the query, leave the description empty. Press Enter
when you are finished typing the description.
You will then be asked to enter a filename, which may be up to 8
characters long. (Again, you can back out of this by leaving the
filename empty). The ".GRQ" file extension will be added automatically.
If you enter the name of an existing file, you will be warned that you
are about to overwrite it.
The message "Saving Query" should appear briefly, then disappear.
You can then re-load this query with "Load Query" to look again at this
particular subset of records.
g) Clear Query
The "Clear Query" option allows you to clear the current query
conditions. You will be asked if you wish to proceed with this, and if
so, all query conditions will be removed.
NOTE: Display fields and sort order will not be cleared. In fact, if
there is an active sort order, the current view will be rebuilt
automatically.
h) Delete Query
The "Delete Query" option allows you to delete a previously saved query
file.
When you select this option, you will be presented with a list of
descriptions of previously saved queries (or an error message if there
are no queries found). Use the arrow key to highlight the query you
want to delete, and press Enter.
NOTE: Whenever you save a query, the current security level will be
saved along with it. You will only be able to delete that query if you
have at least the same security level as the person who created it.
VII. OUTPUT MENU
The "Output" menu contains the following options: "View", "Printer",
"Form", "Label", "CrossTab", "Database", "Quattro/Lotus/Excel", "ASCII",
"Treeducer", "Load Report", "Save Report", "Clear Report", and "Delete
Report".
a) View
The "View" option lets you view the result of your query on-screen prior
to committing it to print. But more importantly, you can also make
changes to the layout of the data via this option. The quick key
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associated with this menu option is F6.
NOTE: This option will only be available when there is at least one
field selected for display.
When you select this option, you will be presented with a table-style
browse of your database(s). The columns of this table will correspond
directly to the Display Fields that you established earlier. For
example, if you picked three display fields -- Name, Title, and Address
-- you will have three columns containing those fields.
The total number of print columns (i.e., the width of a printed report)
will be displayed at all times in the lower right corner of the browse
window. This also accounts for any spaces between columns (as determined
by the current column spacing setting in the Print Options window).
The following active keys apply during the browse:
Key Description
Up Arrow Move up one row of data
Down Arrow Move down one row of data
Left Arrow Move left one column
Right Arrow Move right one column
PgDn Move down one screenful of data
PgUp Move up one screenful of data
Ctrl-PgDn Move to bottom of data
Ctrl-PgUp Move to top of data
Home Jump to start of previous subgroup (requires sort order)
End Jump to start of next subgroup (requires sort order)
Ctrl-Home Pan to first (leftmost) column
Ctrl-End Pan to last (rightmost) column
Ctrl-Left Pan to first (leftmost) column
Ctrl-Right Pan to last (rightmost) column
Enter View memofield (if applicable)
/ Open Browse Configuration Menu
F2 Show calculations (applies only when the cursor is in a
column containing numeric data that has numeric formulae
attached to it)
F3 Show count of total records
ESC Exit
Browse Configuration Menu
Most of the power of the View option lies in the Browse Configuration
Menu. This lets you interactively change the configuration of your data,
which in turn can have a drastic effect on the way that it is printed or
converted to other file formats.
However, like many advanced features of Grumpfish Reporter it is
security-driven. The reason is that the average end user will only
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become confused by this. Therefore, you must have at least Average
security for the Browse Configuration Menu to be active.
Let's discuss the many options on the Browse Configuration Menu:
Column Attributes
This opens a submenu containing the following options specific to the
current column that you are in:
Contents: This allows you to change the contents of the current column.
You will be given a list of available fields to serve as the basis for
this column. Use the arrow keys to highlight a field and press Enter to
select it. You may also select "Formula", in which case you can type in
an user-defined formula. A formula can include most standard dBASE III+
functions, such as RECNO() and SUBSTR().
Header: This allows you to change the header of the current column.
You can make the header multiple lines deep by embedding semi-colons
indicating line breaks. To remove the header completely, leave it
blank.
Width: This enables you to widen or truncate the current column as
desired.
Column Separator: This allows you to change the separator between the
current column and the one to the left of it. (NOTE: This requires at
least power user security.) You will be asked to enter the desired
column separator, using the tilde ("~") to mark the end. If you need
help with the line drawing characters (don't we all?), press F10 for an
extremely thorough and helpful chart. These line drawing characters are
all denoted with three-digit codes. Type in the code that applies to the
character you want, and it will automatically be inserted for you. (See
also "Column Separator" under the "Browse Attributes Menu" discussion.)
Header Separator: This allows you to change the separator between the
current column header and the data in that column. (NOTE: This requires
at least power user security.) If you change a column separator, you
will probably need to change the corresponding header separator to
ensure that the vertical lines join properly. As with column
separators, each header separator goes between the current column and
the one to the left of it. You will be asked to enter the desired header
separator, using the tilde ("~") to mark the end. Also as with column
separators, you can press F10 for the line drawing character chart. (See
also "Header Separator" under the "Browse Attributes Menu" discussion.)
PICTURE Clause: This allows you to attach a dBASE-style PICTURE clause
to character or numeric data. Here are some PICTURE templates and
characters at your disposal:
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@B Display numbers left-justified
@C Display "CR" after positive numbers
@R Insert non-template characters (for example, @R (###) ###-####)
@X Display "DB" after negative numbers
@Z Display zeros as blanks
@! Convert alphabetic characters to upper-case
@( Enclose negative numbers in parentheses
$ Display a dollar sign in place of leading space in number
* Display an asterisk in place of leading space in number
You may combine templates (i.e., items preceded by "@"). For example,
"@C@X" will display "CR" after positive numbers and "DB" after negative
numbers. However, probably the most common PICTURE templates that you
will use are upper-case ("@!") or phone numbers ("@R (###) ###-####").
Default Colors: This enables you to change the default colors for the
current column. (NOTE: This requires at least power user security.) The
"Standard" color is used for all of the data in the column. The
"Enhanced" color is used only for the highlight bar in that column. Use
the up and down arrows to change the color, or the left/right arrows to
change the current column (Standard/Enhanced). Any changes you make
here will be reflected as soon as you exit back to the submenu.
Override Colors: This powerful option enables you to specify specific
color settings based on data conditions. (NOTE: This requires
administrator or developer security, not to mention a good working
knowledge of code blocks.) Although it is light years beyond the scope
of this manual to explain code blocks or TBrowse (which serves as the
underlying data browser mechanism), the following brief description will
nonetheless attempt to describe the use of override colors. If your head
begins to swim in the next few paragraphs, please feel free to skip
ahead to "Browse Attributes"!
By default, color #1 (see the "Colors" discussion under "Browse
Attributes Menu") will be used to display all data in the column. Color
#2 will be used to display the current cursor position in the column.
As previously mentioned, you can change these colors by using the
"Default Colors" option described above. However, "Override Colors"
lets you override the default colors based on specific data conditions
in the column.
There are two simple rules to follow when constructing the code block:
- it must accept an argument, because the data item has to be passed to
it at evaluation.
- it must return an array of two numbers. These two numbers will serve
as pointers into the master color table (see "Colors" under "Browse
Attributes Menu"), representing the unselected and selected color pair
to use for displaying that data.
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Here is an example of an override color setting:
{ | x | if("REVIEW" $ x, { 3, 4 }, { 1, 2 } ) }
If the word "REVIEW" appears as part of the data in the current cell,
colors #3 and #4 will be used to display the data. Otherwise, colors
#1 and #2 will be used.
Formulas: This option allows you to add and/or edit numeric formulae
for columns that contain numeric data. It will be active only if the
currently highlighted column contains numeric data. If you want to
change numeric formulae information, you should move to the desired
column first, and then go into the Browse Configuration Menu.
Exit: This will return you to the Browse Configuration Menu. You may
also achieve this by pressing ESC.
Browse Attributes
This opens a submenu containing additional options specific to the
overall browse: "Column Separator", "Header Separator", "Colors", "Lock
Columns", "Save Defaults", and "Exit".
Column Separator: This allows you to change the default for all of the
column separators. (NOTE: This requires at least power user security.)
You will be asked to enter the desired column separator, using the tilde
("~") to mark the end. If you need help with the line drawing
characters, press F10 for the handy-dandy line drawing chart. These line
drawing characters are all denoted with three-digit codes. Type in the
code that applies to the character you want, and it will automatically
be inserted for you. (See also "Column Separator" under the "Column
Attributes Menu" discussion.)
Header Separator: This allows you to change the default for all
separators appearing between the column headers and the data.
(NOTE: This requires at least power user security.) You will be asked to
enter the desired header separator, using the tilde ("~") to mark the
end. As with column separators, you can press F10 for the line drawing
character chart. (See also "Header Separator" under the "Column
Attributes Menu" discussion.)
Colors: This allows you to change the master color palette available for
the browse. (NOTE: This requires administrator or developer security.)
You will be presented with a list of the current ten color settings.
These colors are used by the "Default Colors" and "Override Colors"
options on the Column Attributes Menu to control the browse display.
Use the up and down arrows to move through the list, and press Enter to
change any of the settings. This will bring up an interactive color
palette. Simply use the arrow keys to navigate through the palette to
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select the desired color.
Lock Columns: This enables you to lock columns from the left side of the
browse window. Locked columns remain on screen even as you pan
horizontally to the right. Simply type in the number of columns you wish
to lock. If you want to unlock all columns, enter zero.
Save Defaults: This allows you to save your browse color settings (as
just discussed) and global column and heading separators for future use.
If you choose to save these, they will be saved to the file VIEWDATA.CFG.
If this file is detected when you view data on-screen, the settings will
automatically be loaded.
Exit: This will return you to the Browse Configuration Menu. You may
also achieve this by pressing ESC.
Move Column
This option enables you to move the current column to a different
location. You will be given a list of columns and asked to select the
target location. If you decide not to move the column, press ESC rather
than selecting a target location.
Insert Column
This option enables you to insert a new column either just before or
after the current column. (If you do not want to insert a column, press
ESC.)
Once the new column has been created, you will be given a list of
available fields to serve as the basis for this column (as discussed
under the Column Attributes Menu). Use the arrow keys to highlight a
field and press Enter to select it. You may also select "Formula", in
which case you can type in an user-defined formula using standard
Clipper functions.
If you insert a column that contains numeric data, you will be given
the option to attach numeric formulae to them. The same keys apply
as when you are selecting a field via the Display Fields menu option.
You may also add or edit numeric formulae information via the
Formulas option on the Column Attributes Menu.
Delete Column
This option will delete the current column. You will be asked for
confirmation, which is a good thing because there is absolutely no way
to recover a deleted column short of recreating it.
Photocopy Column
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This option is similar to "Move Column", with the difference that this
will create a second copy of the current column at the target location.
The previous contents of the column at the target location will be lost.
Filter Data
This powerful option allows you to further restrict the current data subset.
It is available only if there is an active sort order. Additionally, the
current security level must be power user or greater. If either of
these two conditions is not met, the menu option will not be selectable.
If you select this option, you will get a window prompting you to enter
a starting and ending value for the subset. If you type in a starting
value, the ending value will assume the same value (for your
convenience). After you have entered the starting and ending value and
return to the Browse Configuration Menu, exit to the browse window to
see your changes reflected.
To remove the starting and/or ending value, leave them blank.
TIP: Any data filtering that you do here will be reflected when you
output your data to printer, text file, database, spreadsheet, etcetera.
This means that you can run a query and then use the Filter Data option
to perform a "sub-query".
Save Configuration
This option enables you to save your customized browse configuration for
later re-use. This will remember any data filter you have set, the
current color settings, and the order/contents of the columns.
You will be asked to enter a filename up to eight characters. If you
decide not to save your configuration, just leave the filename blank.
The file extension .GRV will automatically be added to your filename.
TIP: When you use the browse configuration menu to make any changes to
the look of your data, you can save that customized view as part of the
report. Just save the browse configuration first using the Save
Configuration option. Then save your report. When you reload your
report, the view file that was active when you saved it will be reloaded
automatically. This is extremely useful if you want to change column
headers, etcetera.
Load Configuration
This option enables you to reload a previously saved customized browse
configuration. You will be given a list of all .GRV files in the current
directory (or an error message indicating that there are none to be
found). Use the arrow keys to highlight the desired one, and press
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Enter to load it.
NOTE: If you do not have the same database open that was open when the
configuration was saved, you will be warned to that effect.
Repeat last action
This option allows you to repeat any of the following customization
actions for column attributes:
- column contents
- header
- column separators
- header separators
- override colors
- PICTURE clause
This can save you a lot of time if you want to make the same change(s)
to several columns.
Undo last action
This option allows you to undo the last column customization action. The
same actions that can be repeated can be undone.
Exit
This simply returns you to the browse window. You can achieve the same
thing by pressing ESC.
b) Printer
The "Printer" option allows you to send the results of your query/report
to the printer, a text file, or the screen.
NOTE: This option will only be available when there is at least one
field selected for display.
When you select this option, you will first be asked if you want to
review your print options, which include the header and footer. If you
want to change any of these, answer "Yes". You will then be changing
print options specific to this report. If you later save the report
with the "Save Report" option, these edited print options will be saved
along with it.
(Print Options will be covered in greater detail under "Printer Setup"
in the Globals Menu discussion.)
The next question is whether you wish to send output to the printer, a
text file, or the screen. If you select "Printer", you will be asked to
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verify that the printer is on-line and ready. Make sure it is, then
highlight "Ready" and press Enter. A status bar will appear showing the
progress of your printed report. (If you have redirected printer output
to a text file, the name of the text file will appear above the status
bar.) You can cancel the output process at any time by pressing ESC.
If you elect to print to a text file, you will be asked if you wish to
"suppress control codes". Control codes are printer codes, such as
those which turn on bold or compressed print. The general rule of thumb
is: If you do not ultimately plan on sending this text file to your
printer, you should suppress control codes.
If you print to the screen, the progress bar will appear as a temporary
file is created to hold your report. When the report is complete, it
will be displayed on the screen. You can use the arrow keys to scroll
through the report. If you want to search for any piece of text, press
ALT-S and enter the desired text. If you decide to print the report,
print ALT-P.
Numeric Formulae: If you have specified one or more formulae for numeric
fields, they will be printed one per row at the end of the report (with
the exception of subtotals, which of course will be printed following
each subgroup). The order in which the formulae are printed is: Total,
Average, Maximum, Minimum, Deviation, and Variance.
NOTE: Due to internal limitations, deviation and variance can only be
based upon the first 4,096 records. If your report has more records than
this, a disclaimer will be printed at the end of the report warning that
the deviation and variance figures may be inaccurate.
c) Form
The "Form" option allows you to create and print your own forms.
When you first select this option, you will be presented with a blank
screen. The general idea is to insert fields, text, and boxes to create
a form that tickles your fancy. When you are satisfied with your form,
you can print it.
TIP: If you have EGA or VGA display, you can set Grumpfish Reporter to
use expanded video mode for your forms. This will enable you to put
more information on each form. See "43/50 Line Forms" under the
"Globals" menu discussion for more information.
The active keys in the form painter are:
Key Action
Alt-A toggle autotrim for current item (character only)
Alt-L load previously saved form
Alt-S save current form
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Alt-P print current form
Alt-D delete a form from disk
Alt-O review/change print options
Alt-F insert field at current position
Alt-B insert box at current position
Alt-E erase item at current position
Alt-M move current item
Alt-N delete all items and start over
F2 show more info about current item
┘ edit current item (text only)
< slide items on this row one space left
> slide items on this row one space right
Ins insert row at current position
Del delete row at current position
Arrow keys move cursor
Home move to top left corner
Tab move right five columns
Shift-Tab move left five columns
PgUp move to top row
PgDn move to bottom row
Ctrl-Left move to start of item (or leftmost column)
Ctrl-Right move to end of item (or rightmost column)
Moving the Cursor
You can move the cursor on the form with the arrow keys, PgUp, PgDn,
Home, End, Tab, Shift-Tab, Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right. Note that if the
cursor is positioned on a field, box, or text, field, the Ctrl-Left and
Ctrl-Right keys will move you to the left and right edge of that item.
Inserting Items
To insert fields, move the cursor to the desired location and press
Alt-F. You will be given a list of all available fields. Highlight the
one you want, and press Enter to insert it.
To insert text, move the cursor to desired location and just start
typing. You can exit the editing process by pressing Enter, Up arrow,
or Down arrow. TIP: Using the arrows to exit editing enables you to type
several pieces of text on different rows very quickly.
To insert a box, move the cursor to the desired location for the top
left corner and press Alt-B. You will be given a list of available box
outlines. Highlight the one you want and press Enter to select it.
Use the arrow keys to size the box to your liking, and press Enter again
when you are finished to anchor it.
Editing Text
Move the cursor to anywhere on the text in question and press Enter.
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Type the new text and press Enter when you are finished.
Moving Items
To move any item, press Alt-M while the cursor is positioned on it. The
color of the item will change to indicate that it is active. The following
keys are active when moving items:
Key Action
Up Move item up one row
Down Move item down one row
Left Move item left one column
Right Move item right one column
PgUp Move item to top row
PgDn Move item to bottom row
L Left-justify item
C Center item
R Right-justify item
Ctrl-Left Left-justify item
Ctrl-Right Right-justify item
Esc Cancel movement
Press Enter when you are finished moving the item. Note that items
cannot be stacked on top of each other.
Autotrim
Autotrim is useful for merge mailings. It will remove any trailing
spaces from character data, so that you can combine several data fields
together without having large gaps between them. To toggle autotrim
status on any character field, place the cursor on it and press Alt-A.
Deleting Individual Items
To delete an item, move the cursor on top of it and press Alt-E. You
will be asked for confirmation.
Deleting All Items
To delete all items and start again with a fresh slate, press Alt-N. You
will be asked for confirmation. Be certain that you want to do this --
there is no way to recover deleted items!
Moving All Items on Row
To move all items on a row left or right, move the cursor to that row
and press "<" or ">", respectively. Note that these keys will not
work for items that are inside a box.
Print Options
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Press Alt-O to review and/or change print options.
Page Break Between Forms: This determines whether or not to print only
one form per page. If you answer "No", then as many forms will be
printed as will fit on one page.
# of lines per page: This determines the page length.
# of lines between forms: This serves as a separator between forms.
Also note that if you begin the form on a row other than the top row,
those blank lines will serve as an additional separator between forms.
Pause between forms: Answer "Yes" to this if you need to manually change
paper between forms.
# of copies to print: This is self-explanatory. Note that forms will be
printed for collating -- in other words, if you are printing two copies
of forms for four records, they will be printed 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4.
The top and left margin options are self-explanatory. By default, both
are set at zero.
Printing a Form
Press Alt-P to print a form. You will be asked if you wish to review your
print options. You will then be asked if you want to send the output to
the printer, a text file, or the screen. If you select Printer, you will
be asked to verify that the printer is on-line and ready.
A status bar will appear showing the progress of your printed report.
(If you have redirected printer output to a text file, the name of the
text file will appear above the status bar.) You can cancel the output
process at any time by pressing ESC.
If you elect to print to a text file, you will be asked if you wish to
"suppress control codes". Control codes are printer codes, such as
those which turn on bold or compressed print. The general rule of thumb
is: If you do not ultimately plan on sending this text file to your
printer, you should suppress control codes.
Saving Forms
You can save forms for later use by pressing Alt-S. This will save all
items that you have placed on your form, current query condition (if
any), and form print options, along with a description of the form which
you provide.
You will be first asked to enter a description. Your description may be
up to 60 characters long. If you decide not to save the form, just leave
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the description empty. Press Enter when you are finished typing the
description.
You will then be asked to enter a filename, which may be up to 8
characters long. (You can back out of this by leaving the filename
empty). The ".GRF" file extension will be added automatically. If you
enter the name of an existing file, you will be warned that you are
about to overwrite it.
The message "Saving Form" should appear briefly, then disappear.
Loading Forms
To re-load a previously saved form, press Alt-L. You will be presented
with a list of descriptions of previously saved forms along with the
date/time that they were created (or an error message if there are no
forms found). Use the arrow key to highlight the one you want, and
press Enter.
If there is a data dictionary saved with this form, and there is no
data dictionary open at the time that you load it, the applicable data
dictionary will be loaded immediately.
If there is no data dictionary saved with this form, and the open files
do not match the fields required for the form, you will get an error
message to that effect and the form will not be loaded.
Deleting Forms
You can delete previously saved form files by pressing Alt-D. You will
be presented with a list of descriptions of previously saved forms (or
an error message if there are no forms found). Use the arrow key to
highlight the form you wish to delete, and press Enter.
NOTE: Whenever you save a form, the current security level will be saved
along with it. You will only be able to delete that form if you have at
least the same security level as the person who created it.
Showing More Information About an Item
If you would like to see more information about any item in the form
painter, place the cursor on it and press F2. This is most useful for
fields, because the database name will not be shown on the form painter
due to space restrictions.
d) Label
The "Label" option allows you to create and print labels. Its operation
is very similar to the form painter.
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When you first go into the label painter, you will see a box in the
upper left corner. This box represents your label. Any text or fields
that you put in your label must fit within the box, and you will not be
allowed to move the screen or mouse cursors outside its boundaries.
The active keys in the label painter are:
Key Action
Alt-A toggle autotrim for current item (character only)
Alt-L load previously saved label file
Alt-S save current label
Alt-P print current label
Alt-D delete a label file from disk
Alt-O review/change print options
Alt-F insert field at current position
Alt-B insert box at current position
Alt-E erase item at current position
Alt-M move current item
Alt-N delete all items and start over
F2 show more info about current item
┘ edit current item (text only)
< slide items on this row one space left
> slide items on this row one space right
Ins insert row at current position
Del delete row at current position
Arrow keys move cursor
Home move to top left corner
Tab move right five columns
Shift-Tab move left five columns
PgUp move to top row
PgDn move to bottom row
Ctrl-Left move to start of item (or leftmost column)
Ctrl-Right move to end of item (or rightmost column)
Label Boundary
To change the label boundary box, press ALT-O for Label Print Options.
The label width and height directly affect the size of this box. While
editing Label Print Options, you may press ALT-L to load a standard
label size. This will give you a window similar to Figure 38 containing
over 70 different standard label formats. Highlight your label type and
press Enter.
If you are using a label that is not supported by Grumpfish Reporter,
please contact us so that we can add support for it.
Label Print Options
Are labels continuous: If you answer "No", then Grumpfish Reporter
will eject each page from the printer. (Default is yes.)
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# of labels across: This is the number of labels across the page, and
can be between one and four. (The default is three.)
# of lines down: This is the number of labels down the page, and can
be between one and twelve. (The default is ten.)
Lines per inch: This can be either 6 or 8. 8 lines per inch allows you
to cram more information onto each label. Note that you will only be
able to change to 8 lines per inch if the currently active printer
supports that.
Compressed: This enables compressed print, which also allows you to cram
more information onto a label. You will only be able to select
compressed print if the currently active printer supports it.
Label width: This is the label width in inches. This may be between
zero and 8.5. (The default is 2.5 inches.)
Label height: This is the label height in inches. This may be between
zero and 11. (The default is 1 inch.)
Gap between labels rows: This is the amount of space to put between each
row of labels. It may be between zero and three. (The default is one
quarter inch.)
Top and left margin options are self-explanatory. By default, both are
set at zero.
Pause between labels: If you answer "Yes", Grumpfish Reporter will pause
between each label. By default, there is no pause.
# of copies to print: This is self-explanatory.
Moving the Cursor
You can move the cursor on the form with the arrow keys, PgUp, PgDn,
Home, End, Tab, Shift-Tab, Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right. If the cursor is
positioned on a field, box, or text, field, the Ctrl-Left and Ctrl-Right
keys will move you to the left and right edge of that item.
Inserting Items
To insert fields, move the cursor to the desired location and press
Alt-F. You will be given a list of all available fields. Highlight the
one you want, and press Enter to insert it.
To insert text, move the cursor to desired location and just start
typing. You can exit the editing process by pressing Enter, Up arrow,
or Down arrow.
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To insert a box, move the cursor to the desired location for the top
left corner and press Alt-B. You will be given a list of available box
outlines. Highlight the one you want and press Enter to select it.
Use the arrow keys to size the box to your liking, and press Enter again
when you are finished to anchor it. Note that boxes must fit within the
confines of the label boundary box.
Editing Text
Move the cursor to anywhere on the text in question and press Enter.
Type the new text and press Enter when you are finished. Remember that
your text must fit within the constraints of the label boundary box.
Moving Items
To move any item, press Alt-M while the cursor is positioned on it. The
color of the item will change to indicate that it is active. The following
keys are active when moving items:
Key Action
Up Move item up one row
Down Move item down one row
Left Move item left one column
Right Move item right one column
PgUp Move item to top row
PgDn Move item to bottom row
L Left-justify item
C Center item
R Right-justify item
Ctrl-Left Left-justify item
Ctrl-Right Right-justify item
Esc Cancel movement
Press Enter when you are finished moving the item. Note that items
cannot be stacked on top of each other.
Autotrim
Autotrim removes any trailing spaces from character data, so that you
can combine several data fields together without having large gaps
between them. To toggle autotrim status on any character field, place
the cursor on it and press Alt-A.
Deleting Individual Items
To delete an item, move the cursor on top of it and press Alt-E. You
will be asked for confirmation.
Deleting All Items
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To delete all items and start again with a fresh slate, press Alt-N. You
will be asked for confirmation.
Moving All Items on Row
To move all items on a row left or right, move the cursor to that row
and press "<" or ">", respectively. Note that these keys will not
work for items that are inside a box.
Printing a Label
Press Alt-P to print a label. You will be asked if you wish to review
your print options. You will then be asked if you want to send the
output to the printer, a file, or the screen.
If you select Printer, you will be asked to verify that the printer is
on-line and ready. You will also be given the chance to print one or
more test labels to verify proper alignment.
A status bar will appear showing the progress of the label print
process. (If you have redirected printer output to a text file, the name
of the text file will appear above the status bar.) You can cancel the
output process at any time by pressing ESC.
If you elect to print to a text file, you will be asked if you wish to
"suppress control codes". Control codes are printer codes, such as
those which turn on bold or compressed print. The rule of thumb
is: If you do not ultimately plan on sending this text file to your
printer, you should suppress control codes.
Saving Labels
You can save labels for later use by pressing Alt-S. This will save all
items in the label boundary box, the label print options, and a
description of the form which you provide.
You will be first asked to enter a description. Your description may be
up to 60 characters long. If you decide not to save the form, just leave
the description empty. Press Enter when you are finished typing the
description.
You will then be asked to enter a filename, which may be up to 8
characters long. (You can back out of this by leaving the filename
empty). The ".GRL" file extension will be added automatically. If you
enter the name of an existing file, you will be warned that you are
about to overwrite it.
The message "Saving Label" should appear briefly, then disappear.
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Loading Labels
To re-load a previously saved label, press Alt-L. You will be presented
with a list of descriptions of previously saved labels along with the
date/time that they were created (or an error message if there are no
labels found). Use the arrow key to highlight the one you want, and
press Enter.
If there is no data dictionary saved with this label, and the open files
do not match the fields required for the label, you will get an error
message to that effect and the label will not be loaded.
Deleting Labels
You can delete previously saved label files by pressing Alt-D. You will
be presented with a list of descriptions of previously saved labels (or
an error message if there are no labels found). Use the arrow key to
highlight the label you wish to delete, and press Enter.
NOTE: Whenever you save a label, the current security level will be saved
along with it. You will only be able to delete that label if you have at
least the same security level as the person who created it.
Showing More Information About an Item
If you would like to see more information about any item in the label
painter, place the cursor on it and press F2.
e) CrossTab
This option allows you to create a crosstab report. A crosstab is a
special kind of report which creates a numeric matrix. Crosstabs are
excellent for providing spreadsheet-like summary representations of your
data.
For example, let's suppose that you have a database which has
departmental sales figures. It includes fields such as DEPARTMENT,
SALESPERSON, SALESDATE, ITEM, QUANTITY, PRICE, etc. A crosstab report
allows you to see how much each salesperson sold for each department.
The matrix will look something like this:
Department
Sales People Clothing Housewares Automotive
-----------------------------------------------------------
Maynard Algar 13,223 9,432 14,221
Don Bayne 32,332 12,345 5,443
Dweebus McDuck 109 365 11,287
To set up a crosstab report, you must pick a field for the rows going
down the left side and a field for columns across the top. For each
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unique value of those two fields, the report will either sum a third
field or count records. (This is the number which goes in the middle of
the matrix.)
You can specify headers for the rows and columns. You can tell whether
or not to sort the row and column values. You can also get row and/or
column totals.
Row and column values can be of any type, although most often they will
probably be either character or dates. If the row or column field is a
date field, the user can pick from several options for grouping the
dates. This is useful, for example, if you want to show the sales for
each month or each year.
Because of the dynamic nature of a crosstab report, be careful what you
ask it to do. If the field you pick for the columns contains 20,000
unique values, you will never be able to print a meaningful report. Be
realistic!
Grumpfish Reporter automatically determines the width of your report and
will split the report across multiple pages if not all columns will fit
on a single page.
When you select the Crosstab option, you will be presented with a small
menu of other options which include: "Create/Edit Crosstab", "Load
Crosstab", "Save Crosstab", "Print Crosstab", and "Clear Crosstab".
These should all be self-explanatory.
Select "Create/Edit Crosstab". Let's run through the options in the
order that you will be asked to input them:
Row Field: You must enter this to run a crosstab report. Either type in
the name of the desired field or press Enter to display the list of
available fields and select from that.
If you select a date field, you will be given an additional menu of
subgrouping options:
Date - group by date (default)
Day of Week - group by day of the week (i.e., Sunday, Monday, etc.)
Week - group by week (each week starts on Sunday)
Month - group by month (i.e, Jan 94, Feb 94, Mar 94)
Year - group by year
Row Header: This can be a description for the row field. If used, this
will be printed over the row descriptions on the left side of the
crosstab report.
Row Header Width: Enter the desired width for the row header and the row
descriptions. This width can be wider or narrower than the width of the
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field you chose for rows.
Row Sort: This determines whether or not the row descriptions will be
sorted on the left side of the report. Character data will be sorted
alphabetically in ascending order. Numeric data will be sorted in
ascending order.
Column Field: You must enter this to run a crosstab report. Either type
in the name of the desired field or press Enter to display the list of
available fields and select from that.
If you select a date field, you will be given an additional menu of
subgrouping options as described above under "Row Field".
Column Sort: This controls whether or not to the column descriptions
will be sorted across the top of the crosstab report.
Column Header: This can be a description for the column field. If used,
this will be printed one line above the column descriptions. If you
leave it blank, the extra row will not be printed.
Count or Sum: Type "C" if you want to the report to count the number
of entries which match the row and column fields. Otherwise, enter "S"
if you wish to sum a numeric field (see "Field to Sum" below).
Use Commas: This determines whether or not to insert commas into
numbers printed in the body of the crosstab report. This will affect
the width of the columns. If you are summing, you can also affect the
column width by changing the number of decimal places to use (see
below).
Field to Sum: If you wish to sum a numeric field, then you should type
in the name of the desired field or press Enter to select from the list
of available fields. (This does not apply if you have chosen to Count
rather than Sum.)
Decimals: This is the number of decimal places to use for the numbers in
the body of the crosstab report. This will affect the width of the
columns. TIP: Remember to account for the decimal point; for example,
selecting two decimal places will increase the column width by three.
Column Totals: This allows you to show totals at the bottom of each
column. If you select totals for both rows and columns, grand totals
will also be printed.
Row Totals: This allows you to show totals at the end of each row, which
of course will affect the overall width of the crosstab report. If you
select totals for both rows and columns, grand totals will also be printed.
Page Length: Self-explanatory. (The default is 66.)
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Left Margin: Self-explanatory. (The default is 5.)
Top Margin: Self-explanatory. (The default is 0.)
Column Spacing: This is the number of spaces to separate each of the
columns on the crosstab. The default spacing is 1, and you can
increase this as high as 19 if you wish.
Double-Spaced Output is self-explanatory. (Default is single-spaced.)
Auto-Compress: This determines whether Grumpfish Reporter will force
your printer to compressed mode for crosstabs wider than 80 columns
(110 columns for landscape, 140 columns for landscape legal). By
default, auto-compress is turned on. However, you might want to turn it
off if you have a printer that will accommodate wide paper. Naturally,
this feature will not do anything if your printer doesn't support
compressed mode.
Printer Port: This determines the port to which to send the report.
Grumpfish Reporter supports LPT1-3 and COM1-4.
There are four other options that may appear in this window depending
upon the type of printer you are using.
a) If you are using a laser printer, you will be given the option of
changing the page orientation. "P" is Portrait, which is standard 8
1/2" width, 11" length. "L" is Landscape, which is 11" width, 8 1/2"
length.
b) If you have a printer that supports legal size paper, you can specify
that by answering Yes to the "Legal" question. (By default, letter size
will be used.)
c) If you have a printer that supports A4 size paper, you can use that
by answering Yes to the "A4" question. (By default, letter size will be
used.)
d) If you have a printer that supports 8 lines per inch, you will be
given the option of switching between 6 and 8 LPI. 8 LPI allows you to
squash more data onto the printed page (at the potential risk of losing
your eyesight when you attempt to read it).
The Header section is similar to the header section of the Printer
Options screen. The header is composed of four lines, and each of those
four lines is divided into three sections: Left, Center, and Right.
Items in the Left section will be printed flush against the left margin.
Items in the Center section will be centered horizontally on the row.
Items in the Right section will be printed flush against the right
margin. You may insert stock items (e.g., date, time) into any of the
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header locations by pressing F10. You may also insert a free-format
function by selecting "<FUNCTION>". It can be any function that is
available to the application.
The default header for a crosstab report is:
Line 1: Date (flush left), Company Name (centered), Page # (flush right)
Line 2: Time (flush left)
Lines Between Header and Column Headings: This represents the number of
blank lines to insert between the end of the report header and the
beginning of the column headings. The default value is 1, though you
can increase it to as many as 9.
f) Database
The "Database" option allows you to send the results of your
query/report to a new database file.
NOTE: This option will only be available when there is at least one
field selected for display.
When you select this option, you will be asked for a filename (up to
eight characters). The file extension .DBF will be added automatically.
The status bar will appear showing the progress of the output. You may
cancel the output process at any time by pressing ESC.
g) Quattro/Lotus/Excel
The "Quattro/Lotus/Excel" option allows you to send the results of your
query/report to a spreadsheet file.
NOTE: This option will only be available when there is at least one
field selected for display.
When you select this option, you will first be asked what type of
spreadsheet you wish to create. Grumpfish Reporter supports Lotus 2,
Lotus 3, Quattro, Quattro Pro, Excel 2, Excel 3, and Excel 4. Highlight
the desired type and press Enter. You will then be asked for a filename
(up to eight characters). The appropriate file extension will be added
automatically.
You will then be asked if you want cells to be protected. This will
only have an effect when you are using the spreadsheet in Lotus,
Quattro, or Excel.
The status bar will appear showing the progress of the output. You may
cancel the output process at any time by pressing ESC.
Note that numeric fields will be output using Fixed format, along with
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the number of decimals. This is to alleviate inconsistency when using
deviation and variation, which can often contain a different number of
decimals than the data in the rest of the column.
Also note that if you have specified formulae for numeric fields, they
will be written to the spreadsheet using the appropriate @Formula (i.e.,
@SUM, @AVG, @MIN, @MAX, @VAR, @STD).
h) ASCII
The "ASCII" option allows you to send your data to an ASCII file.
This is not the same as redirecting a report to a text file, and is
better suited for data transfer between microcomputers and minicomputers
or mainframes.
The format of the ASCII file may be either SDF (system data format) or
DELIMITED. In an SDF file, each record is fixed length and separated by
a carriage return/line feed. Fields are fixed length and there is no
field separator. Character fields are padded with trailing blanks,
numeric fields are padded with leading blanks, date fields are written
in the form yyyymmdd, and logical fields are written as T or F. The
end-of-file marker is ASCII character 26.
In an ASCII DELIMITED file, records are variable length and separated by
a carriage return/line feed. Fields are variable length and separated by
commas. Character fields are enclosed in double quotes. Leading and
trailing spaces for numeric and character fields are truncated, date
fields are written in the form yyyymmdd, and logical fields are written
as T or F. The end-of-file mark is ASCII character 26.
NOTE: This option will only be available when there is at least one
field selected for display.
i) Treeducer
The "Treeducer" option allows you to print a report using the Treeducer
product. Treeducer allows us to save paper when printing with laserjet
printers. It also provides comprehensive support for numerous laser
printer options, including: frame style; paper source, line numbering;
mini font; duplex; multiple copies; text wrapping; and greenbar shading.
NOTE: This option will only be available when there is at least one
field selected for display.
j) Load Report
The "Load Report" option allows you to load a previously saved report.
The quick key associated with this menu option is Alt-R.
When you select this option, you will be presented with a list of
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descriptions of previously saved reports along with the date/time that
they were created (or an error message if there are no reports found).
Use the arrow key to highlight the one you want, and press Enter.
Any data dictionary, database files, and/or view files associated with
this report will be opened automatically. If a data dictionary and/or
database is open, you will be asked for confirmation before they are
loaded.
When you load a report, the following global settings will be overridden
by whatever was saved with the report: active date format; company name;
and show alias.
k) Save Report
The "Save Report" option allows you to save a report for later use. This
will save the following information: name and order of the display
fields; current sort order and query condition (if any); print options;
active date format; company name; currently selected printer; show alias
setting; and a report description which you provide at this time.
NOTE: This option will only be available if there is at least one
field selected for display.
When you select this option, you will be first asked to enter a
description. Your description may be up to 60 characters long. If you
decide not to save the report, just leave the description empty. Press
Enter when you are finished typing the description.
You will then be asked to enter a filename, which may be up to 8
characters long. (Once again, you can back out of this by leaving the
filename empty). The ".GRR" file extension will be added automatically.
If you enter the name of an existing file, you will be warned that you
are about to overwrite it.
The message "Saving Report" should appear briefly, then disappear.
You can then re-load this report later by using either the "Load Report"
option or the /R command-line parameter.
l) Clear Report
The "Clear Report" option allows you to clear any selected display
fields, sort fields, and query condition, while leaving the databases
and active data dictionary (if any) open.
m) Delete Report
The "Delete Report" option allows you to delete a previously saved
report file.
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When you select this option, you will be presented with a list of
descriptions of previously saved reports (or an error message if there
are no reports found). Use the arrow key to highlight the report you
want to delete, and press Enter.
NOTE: Whenever you save a report, the current security level will be
saved along with it. You will only be able to delete that report if you
have at least the same security level as the person who created it.
VIII. DATA DICTIONARY MENU
The Data Dictionary menu contains the following options: "New", "Edit",
"Print", "Load", "Save", "Save and Load", "Clear", and "Delete". Nearly
all of these menu options require administrator/developer level
security. The reason is that the average end user will be tremendously
confused by the process of creating a data dictionary.
a) New
The "New" option allows you to create a new data dictionary. The quick
key associated with this menu option is Alt-N. Complete instructions
for how to create/edit data dictionaries can be found in the section
"Creating Data Dictionaries".
NOTE: This option will be available only if you have administrator or
developer security.
b) Edit
The "Edit" option enables you to edit the data dictionary in memory.
The quick key associated with this menu option is Alt-E. Complete
instructions for how to create/edit data dictionaries can be found in the
section "Creating Data Dictionaries".
NOTE: This option will be available only if you have administrator or
developer security and if there is an active data dictionary.
c) Print
The "Print" option will print a formatted report containing all of the
information stored in the data dictionary currently being edited. This
is useful for your reference, or for inclusion as part of your system
documentation.
NOTE: This option will be available only if you have administrator or
developer security and if there is an active data dictionary.
d) Load
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The "Load" option enables you to load a previously saved data dictionary.
The quick key associated with this menu option is Alt-L.
When you select this option, you will be presented with a list of
descriptions of previously saved data dictionaries (or an error message
if none are found). Use the arrow key to highlight the one you want,
and press Enter.
You will see two messages: "Loading Data Dictionary" and "Verifying
Structure". Assuming that there are no problems with this process, the
description of the data dictionary will appear along the bottom row of
the screen.
e) Save
The "Save" option enables you to save the data dictionary currently
being edited. The quick key associated with this menu option is Alt-S.
NOTE: This option will be available only if you have administrator or
developer security and if there is an active data dictionary.
When you select this option, you will be prompted to enter the filename
(up to eight characters). The default filename is "NEW" -- please feel
free to change this to something else. Press Enter when you are finished
typing the filename.
The file extension .GRD will be added automatically. If the filename
already exists, you will be asked if you want to overwrite it. The
message "Saving Data Dictionary" will appear briefly, then disappear.
Note that data dictionaries are automatically saved as READONLY. This is
to prevent someone from accidentally deleting them via the DOS prompt.
You will undoubtedly put a lot of work into creating a data dictionary,
so you want your work to be protected.
f) Save and Load
The "Save and Load" option enables you to save the data currently being
edited, then load it all in one fell swoop. The quick key associated
with this menu option is Alt-A.
NOTE: This option will be available only if you have administrator or
developer security and if there is an active data dictionary.
This option is most useful when you have created or edited a data
dictionary, and wish to load it and start using it immediately. Data
dictionaries are not active until they have been loaded.
Note that, unlike the "Save" option, you will only be prompted to enter
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a filename if you have not changed the data dictionary name from the
default ("NEW"). Assuming that you have changed the filename, your data
dictionary will be saved to the same name (thus overwriting the earlier
version of the same file), but this would be your intent anyway.
g) Clear
The "Clear" option will clear the data dictionary currently being edited.
NOTE: This option will be available only if you have administrator or
developer security and if there is an active data dictionary.
h) Delete
The "Delete" option allows you to delete a previously saved data
dictionary file.
NOTE: This option will be available only if you have administrator or
developer security.
When you select this option, you will be presented with a list of
descriptions of previously saved data dictionaries (or an error message
if there are none to be found). Use the arrow key to highlight the
data dictionary you wish to delete, and press Enter.
IX. GLOBALS MENU
The Globals menu enables you to view, change, and optionally save a wide
variety of global configuration options. This allows you to tailor
Grumpfish Reporter specifically to your needs.
The options on this menu include: "Printer Setup"; "Case Sensitive";
"Show Alias"; "Show Deleted Recs"; "Show Index Status"; "Date Format";
"Company Name"; "Bells and Beeps"; "Toggle Video Mode"; "43/50 Line
Forms"; "Wildcard for Search"; "Input File Path"; "Output File Path";
"Large Index Warning"; "Ignore Datadict Path"; "Scanning Relations"; and
"Save Globals".
a) Printer Setup
The "Printer Setup" option enables you to either change your installed
printer, or any of your master print options (header/footer/etcetera).
When you select this option, you will be asked if you want to select
printer or change print options. Highlight the desired option and
press Enter.
Select Printer
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If you pick "Select Printer" and you have not yet selected a printer,
you will be given a list of printers from which to select. Use the up or
down arrows or the PgUp and PgDn keys to locate your printer. You may
also type in the first few letters of your printer's name. For example,
if you have an HP Laserjet, press "H" to jump immediately to that group
of printers. Once you have located your printer, press Enter to install
it.
You should then enter a printer description and port. The description
should be anything that helps you to identify that particular printer.
Printer ports supported by Grumpfish Reporter are LPT1-3 and COM1-4.
If you pick the "Select Printer" and have already selected at least one
printer, then you will be given the Defined Printers window. While you
are in the Defined Printers window, you may press Ins to add a new
printer or Del to remove the currently highlighted printer. You may
also press Alt-E to edit the description or port for currently
highlighted printer.
All printed output will be directed to the current default printer
(i.e., the one with the checkmark next to it in the Defined Printers
window). If you have only one printer installed, then obviously that
will serve as the default. If you have more than one printer installed,
you can select a default by highlighting the desired printer and
pressing Enter.
Print Options
If you select "Change Options", you will be given the Printer Options
window. The Print Options window is divided into three sections: Printer
Options, Header Information, and Footer Information. You can use the Tab
key to move quickly between these three sections. Press PgDn to save any
changes you make, or press ESC to exit without saving changes.
Page Length represents the total number of rows that can be printed on
one page. If you are using a laser printer, you should probably change
this to 60.
Left margin indicates where printed output should begin on the left
side of the page. This can be set between 0 and 49. The default left
margin is 5.
Top Margin indicates where printed output should begin at the top of the
page. This can be set between 1 and 19. The default top margin is 0.
"Print total records" allows you to print the total number of records at
the end of your report. By default, this information is not printed.
"Eject After Subgroups" allows you to force each new subgroup to be
printed on a new page. (By default, this is not the case.) This applies
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only when a sort order is active.
"Column Spacing" represents the number of spaces to separate each of the
columns on your report. The default spacing is 1, and you can increase
this as high as 19 if you wish.
"Suppress Duplicate Values?" will suppress duplicate key values. For an
example of this, please refer back to Quick Start Part Two. NOTE: This
is only relevant when there is an active sort order, and can only be used
to suppress values that serve as the primary sort key.
"Show Record Count for Subgroups" allows you to see at a glance the
number of records printed for each subgroup based on the primary sort
order. For an example of this, please refer back to Quick Start Part
Two.
"Double-Spaced Output" allows you to have a blank line between each row
of data. This is useful if you need to make annotations directly on the
report. By default, reports will be single-spaced.
"Show % of Total for Subgroups" allows you to print the percentage of
the total records in each subgroup. This requires an active sort order.
By default, percentages will not be printed.
"Summary Report Only" allows you to suppress the printing of detail
records. If you specify a summary report, the only items printed will
be the report header, footer, subtotals for each subgroup, and grand
totals. Note that it makes little sense to print summary reports if you
do not have subgroups (i.e., an active sort order).
"Auto-compress" determines whether Grumpfish Reporter will force your
printer to compressed mode for reports wider than 80 columns (110
columns for landscape, 140 columns for landscape legal). By default,
auto-compress is turned on. However, you might want to turn it off if
you have a printer that will accommodate wide paper. Naturally, this
feature will not do anything if your printer doesn't support compressed
mode.
"Printer port" determines the port to which to send the report.
Grumpfish Reporter supports LPT1-3 and COM1-4.
"Orientation": If you are using a laser printer, you will be given the
option of changing the page orientation. "P" is Portrait, which is
standard 8 1/2" width, 11" length. "L" is Landscape, which is 11"
width, 8 1/2" length.
"Lines per inch": If you have a printer that supports 8 lines per inch
(LPI), you will be given the option of switching between 6 and 8 LPI. 8
LPI allows you to cram more data onto the printed page.
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Header/Footer Information
The next two sections of this window are devoted to Header and Footer
Information, respectively. The header and footer are each composed of
four lines. Each of those four lines is divided into three sections:
Left, Center, and Right. Items in the Left section will be printed
flush against the left margin. Items in the Center section will be
centered horizontally on the row. Items in the Right section will be
printed flush against the right margin.
These items can contain either stock insertion items or actual text.
Stock insertion items are things that you would ordinarily like to have
as part of your report header/footer, but do not necessarily want to
retype each time. You can insert the following stock items anywhere in
the header or footer by pressing F10:
- Date
- Time
- Company Name
- Page Number
- Report Description
- Query Description
You may also insert free-format functions by selecting "<FUNCTION>". It
can be any function that is available to the application.
The following text enhancement codes may also be inserted anywhere in
the header or footer by pressing F10:
- Bold On
- Bold Off
- Underscore On
- Underscore Off
- Italic On
- Italic Off
- Compressed On
- Compressed Off
WARNING: If you turn on a text enhancement, you must turn it back off or
it will remain on for the duration of your report!
The default report header is comprised of the following:
Line 1: Date (flush left), Company Name (centered), Page # (flush right)
Line 2: Time (flush left)
"Lines between header and column headings" represents the number of
blank lines to insert between the end of the report header and the
beginning of the column headings. The default value is 1, though you
can increase it to as many as 9.
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"Lines between bottom of data and footer" represents the number of blank
lines to insert between the end of the data and the beginning of the
report footer. The default value is 1, though you can increase it to as
many as 9.
TIP: Consider setting up a basic header and footer that can serve as a
template for all of your reports. Then if you need to insert specific
information for one particular report, you will not have to bother
reconfiguring the entire header or footer. Instead, you can simply
insert the desired new text.
Remember that whenever you change print options, the new settings will
remain in effect until you either load a previously saved report or
change the options again.
b) Case Sensitive
The "Case Sensitive" option is a toggle that determines whether queries
should be case sensitive or not. It also applies to sort order -- i.e.,
if case sensitivity is off, then all character sort fields will be
automatically converted to upper-case.
By default, queries will not be case sensitive. For example, if you are
checking for a field that contains the word "BASEBALL", a case
insensitive query will also find "Baseball", "baseball", and any other
permutation of the word. If it is paramount that the query only find
the word "BASEBALL", then you should toggle Case Sensitivity on.
If a checkmark appears next to "Case Sensitive", that indicates that
queries will be case sensitive.
c) Show Alias
The "Show Alias" option is another toggle that determines whether
database aliases should be shown throughout Grumpfish Reporter. By
default, aliases will be shown.
This is purely a matter of aesthetics. Some people do not like having
to look at the database aliases. Here is a quick example of the
difference:
Showing Aliases
SAMPLE->TITLE
SAMPLE->AUTHOR
SAMPLE->KEYWORDS
Not Showing Aliases
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TITLE
AUTHOR
KEYWORDS
If a checkmark appears next to "Show Alias", that indicates that
database aliases will indeed be shown.
d) Show Deleted Recs
The "Show Deleted Recs" option is another toggle that determines whether
deleted records should be displayed when you view data on-screen. By
default, deleted records will be shown.
If a checkmark appears next to "Show Deleted Recs", that indicates that
deleted records will indeed be shown.
e) Show Index Status
The "Show Index Status" option is another toggle that determines whether
the omnipresent status bar should be displayed. By default, the status
bar will be shown.
It is our recommendation that you leave this option set on for your own
benefit. The status bar plays an important role in keeping you apprised
of the status of executing queries and the like. It is true that by
stifling the status bar, the process will be quicker because Grumpfish
Reporter does not need to take the time to display the status bar.
However, it will seem like an eternity if nothing is being displayed on
the screen -- take our word for it.
If a checkmark appears next to "Show Index Status", that indicates that
the status bar will be shown.
f) Date Format
The "Date Format" option allows you to change the way that Grumpfish
Reporter displays and prints dates. The following date formats are
available:
- mm/dd/yy (default)
- yy.mm.dd
- dd/mm/yy
- dd.mm.yy
- dd-mm-yy
- yy/mm/dd
- mm-dd-yy
- mm/dd/yyyy
- yyyy.mm.dd
- dd/mm/yyyy
- dd.mm.yyyy
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- dd-mm-yyyy
- yyyy/mm/dd
- mm-dd-yyyy
Use the arrow keys to select the desired date format, and press
Enter to select it.
g) Company Name
This option enables you to change the company name printed on reports.
Type in the desired company name, and press Enter.
h) Bells and Beeps
The "Bells and Beeps" option allows you to enable or disable sound. By
default, sound is disabled. If sound is enabled, Grumpfish Reporter will
give you tones in conjunction with error and wait messages. Some people
like it, and some don't, which is why we let you turn it off.
If a checkmark appears next to "Bells and Beeps", that indicates that
Grumpfish Reporter will use sound.
i) Toggle Video Mode
The "Toggle Video Mode" option allows you to switch between standard 25-line
video and 43/50-line video. If you have EGA or VGA video, you may wish
to take advantage of this option so that you can get more data on screen
at once. By default, Grumpfish Reporter starts up in 25-line mode.
TIP: If you toggle the video mode and then save your global information,
Grumpfish Reporter will put you in the desired video mode when you fire
it up again.
j) 43/50 Line Forms
The "43/50 Line Forms" option is similar to "Toggle Video Mode".
However, it is restricted to the form painter. If you have this set on,
you will automatically switch to 43/50 line mode upon entering the form
painter. The reasoning behind this is that you can therefore have longer
forms. NOTE: This option is meaningless without either an EGA or VGA
video adapter.
If a checkmark appears next to "43/50 Line Forms", that indicates that
the option is enabled.
k) Wildcard for Search
This option allows you to specify a file specification to limit files
available for selection. (By default, Grumpfish Reporter will search for
all files with the .DBF extension.) For example, if you only want to
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select files beginning with the word DEPT", you could specify
"DEPT*.DBF" as the wildcard for search. This can also save the day if
all of your database files have an extension other than .DBF.
l) Input File Path
This option allows you to determine where to save and load any *.GR?
files (e.g., reports, forms, queries, and data dictionaries). If you
do not specify an input file path, all of these Reporter files will be
saved to and loaded from the current DOS directory.
m) Output File Path
This option allows you to determine where to create output files,
including reports, forms, databases, spreadsheets, ASCII files, and
crosstabs. If you do not specify an output file path, these files will
be created in the current DOS directory.
n) Large Index Warning
This option enables a warning in the event that you are about to create
an index on a database of greater than 50,000 records (which can be a
time- consuming process). This applies either when processing queries
or setting up relations without using existing indeces. (Note to
developers: The number of records can be changed by modifying the
INDEX_WARNING_RECCOUNT manifest constant in the GR.CH header file.)
If a checkmark appears next to "Large Index Warning", that indicates
that warnings are enabled.
o) Ignore Datadict Path
Data dictionaries store the path for databases and indeces. This option
allows you to ignore those paths. This is useful if you have the files
in two places for testing purposes.
If a checkmark appears next to "Ignore Datadict Path", that means that
the paths will be ignored.
p) Scanning Relations
Whenever you open related databases -- manually, via a data dictionary,
or as part of a presaved report or query -- Grumpfish Reporter looks at
this option to determine how to build the relations between those files.
If a checkmark appears next to "Scanning Relations", that means that all
relations will be scanning rather than one-to-one.
The difference between one-to-one and scanning (one-to-many) relations
is that one-to-one relations only find the first related record in the
child database, while a scanning relation will find all related records.
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To illustrate this difference, let's look at a brief example. We have a
customer file that contains the following three customer IDs: JACK, JOE,
and JON. We also have an order file that contains the following orders:
Date Customer
06/01/94 JACK
06/03/94 JON
06/04/94 JOE
06/05/94 JACK
06/08/94 JACK
06/10/94 JACK
06/16/94 JON
06/17/94 JOE
06/20/94 JOE
If you open the customer and order databases using a scanning relation
and then sort on customer ID, your output will resemble the following:
Customer Date
JACK 06/01/94
JACK 06/05/94
JACK 06/08/94
JACK 06/10/94
JOE 06/04/94
JOE 06/17/94
JOE 06/20/94
JON 06/03/94
JON 06/16/94
If you open the customer and order databases using a non-scanning
(one-to-one) relation, you will only get the first order for each
customer, like so:
Non-Scanning (One-to-One) Relation
Customer Date
JACK 06/01/94
JOE 06/04/94
JON 06/03/94
q) Save Globals
The "Save Globals" option allows you to save the current state of both
all global options and your defined printers so that you can use them in
the future without having to reset everything. If you select this
option, the message "Saving global info" will appear briefly, then
disappear. The files GR.CFG (global configuration) and GR.PRT (printer
configuration) will be saved in the same directory from which you loaded
GR.EXE.
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If you select this option, and either GR.CFG or GR.PRT already exists,
you will be asked to confirm that you wish to overwrite them.
*** end of file GR.DOC ***
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