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1991-09-09
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dSHAREWARE dBASE REPORTER
dShareware Reporter requires very little from the user beyond
pointing at a desired action and hitting the ENTER key. It was designed
this way from the start.
After selection the REPORT EXECUTION option from the MAIN MENU the
user can choose a report definition he or she has created from a scrolling
list. The report description is reviewed by moving the light bar to the
desired report definition and hitting ENTER. Fields from the primary file
are displayed along with the active query if one was created for use with
the report. Report parameters and the query can be edited before running
the report again.The report definition can then be run or deleted. Output
can be sent to the printer, screen, or to a disk file. It's as simple as
that!
CREATING A REPORT DEFINITION FOR THE FIRST TIME:
You must first select the REPORT CREATION option from the MAIN MENU.
A screen where you may enter parameters for the current report will appear.
You can control things like the left margin, spaces between printed fields
on the report, page width, page length, etc. The only parameter that may
be confusing to the new user is the subtotal parameter.
Say, for example,you have a file of customer purchases like ORDER.DBF.
It is indexed on customer number and you are trying to total the purchases
for each customer and want a a grand total of all purchases. If you choose
the subtotal option on the report parameter screen dShareware Reporter will
print and sum all of the purchases for customer 100, display a subtotal,
space,and then begin printing and summing the purchases by customer 200 and
so forth. Create a report with the subtotal option for ORDER.DBF. Total
the QTY and SELL fields for practice. The subtotal option's use will
then become clear.
Next all of the fields from you database file will be presented to you
in a scrolling list. Simply select any or all of the fields in your file to
include in your report by moving the lite bar to the field name and hitting
ENTER. The fields will appear on your report in the order in which they are
chosen. Stike F10 or ESC when you are done choosing fields.
You will now be given a chance to provide a column heading for each
field you have selected. If you do not enter a value the field name will be
used as a column heading. In the following screen you select the numeric
fields you may wish to total. A check mark will appear next to the ones you
select.
Next you will have the opportunity to create 3 calculated fields if you
desire. You can select a numeric field in your report to perform a calculation
on. Simply select a numeric field from the list and then define your calculation
by respoding to the simple prompts. You must provide a column heading for each
calculted field you define. The maximum number of calc fields is three.
You are now given the opportunity to create a Query for you report. This
is an extremely powerful feature of dShareware dBASE Reporter. The query you
define will select a subset of your records for your report. For example, you
may only want to create a report of your customers with a zipcode of "97051".
In this case you would select your ZIPCODE field and then select the EQUAL TO
query option. Finally, you would enter 97051 at the value prompt. Experiment
with the query function. It is extremely powerful and useful!
The last step in the report creation process is to save your report
definition. Simply give the report definition name and strike enter. If you
already have a report definition with the name you enter you will be warned.
You can change the name you enter or choose to write over the old defintion
you have by that name on disk. Now all that is left to do is to choose where
you want to send the report, to printer, disk, screen, or to a file. If you
choose to send your output to a file a file named REPORT.TXT will be created
on your disk. The program will pop up a viewer for this file as soon as the
report completes. You can view the file again with any public domain list
program or an ASCII editor.
Thats all there is to using dShareware dBASE Reporter! You choose your
primary file from a scolling list. You choose the fields you wish to include
in the report from a scrolling list. You are prompted for everything!
Nothing could be easier! Just remember the following:
1. A MAXIUM OF 27 FIELDS FROM EACH FILE MAY BE USED IN THE REPORT.
2. THREE CALCULATED FIELDS MAY BE DEFINED PER FILE.
3. MEMO FIELD PROCESSING IS LIMITED TO ONE MEMO FIELD IN A SINGLE FILE
REPORT.
4. FIELDS APPEAR ON THE PRINTED REPORT IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY WERE
SELECTED.
5. IF YOU DO NOT ENTER A COLUMN HEADING FOR A FIELD THE FIELD NAME WILL
BE USED AS A COLUMN HEADING ON THE REPORT.
6. IF YOU ARE USING TOTALS, SUBTOTALS, AND/OR CALCULATED FIELDS EXPECT
YOUR REPORT TO BE WIDER THAN THE WIDTH OF THE SELECTED FIELDS ALONE.
EXTRA SPACE IS ALLOCATED TO A FIELD BEING TOTALLED AND TO A CALC FIELD
BEYOND THAT WHICH IS DISPLAYED BY THE FIELD SELECTION SCREEN.
Enjoy using dShareware dBASE Reporter and share it with others.
Please read READ.ME which describes dINFO Professional 3.1, a COMPLETE
data managment system for all your dBASE files!