InFocus Report Design

Overview

The following tutorial will discuss Report Design in InFocus. All reports in InFocus use the Microsoft Report Designer that ships with all versions of SQL 2005.

Reports are broken down into five categories: Invoices, Project Management, Financial Statements, Standard Reports, and Custom Reports. The first three employ unique wizards geared to the report styles to simplify report creation. Report design for standard reports is limited to layout only. Custom reports are the only reports where the user can define the interface.

Report Components

All reports have three components: Interface, Layout, Dataset.

Interface

 
The interface refers to the passing of print criteria at run time. The interface is fixed and cannot be changed by the user (except for custom reports). The interface is different for each report type. The criterion is used for two purposes: (1) to dynamically populate the data in the dataset, and (2) to provide the conditional formatting employed by the layout.

Layout

Layout refers to the print layout that is controlled by the Microsoft Report designer. A vast array of format issues can be controlled here. Examples are columns to print, subtotals, grouping of data, underlining totals, and indentation.

Dataset

The dataset refers to the fields presented and controlled by the layout. In  the case of invoices and project management, the fields are selected by the wizard and, therefore, vary from design to design. In all other reports the field list is static. The data that populates the dataset is based on selections made in the interface.

Microsoft has various web sites and forums providing information on the use of the Report Designer.

Report Categories

Invoices

Invoice design is segmented into sections. Each section controls a particular area of an invoice. An invoice design can have an unlimited number of sections. All section types, except for the border, can appear multiple times on an invoice. However, no section design can appear twice. Section designs can be reused between invoice designs.

For more information about Invoices, see the Invoice Design section of this manual.

Project Management Reports

Project management reports are project-based. Only data related to projects are available.

For more information about PM Reports, see the PM Report Designer section of this manual.

Financial Statements

Financial statement designer provide for very flexible statement generation. Balance sheets, profit & loss (consolidated and by profit center), and other statements can be created here. The basic premise is that and group of G/L accounts can be combined to appear on a financial statement design.

For more information about Financial Statements, see the Financial Statement Designer section of this manual.

Standard Reports

All reports not covered under one of the three specific report designers are called standard reports. Examples of standard reports are journal reports, general ledger reports, utilization reports, checks, etc. All standard reports can be copied and modified using the Report Management applet. You cannot modify the original report, but you can mark it inactive.

For more information about Standard Reports, see the Report Management section of this manual.

Custom Reports

This designer allows the end user to construct their custom reports that will be housed in the application and will appear on InFocus menus. Knowledge of SQL is required.

For more information about Custom Reports, see the Custom Reports section of this manual.