Report Fields

In the Explorer Tree, locate the field that you wish to modify.

Expand the Template Information object, locate the desired template and expand it. Locate the block on which the field exists and expand it. Select the field that you wish to modify and display the Property Sheet for it.
Expand the Group Information object and any sub-groups until you can select the desired report and expand it. Locate the block on which the field exists and expand it. Select the field that you wish to modify and display the Property Sheet for it.

Modify the field properties. These will either be displayed in Alphabetical or Logically, depending on the setting of the [Sort Alphabetically/Logically] button. The following instructions are assuming that the properties are sorted logically.
In the Name property, the name assigned to the field when it was created will be displayed. It can be changed, if desired.
In the Description property, enter a user-defined description for this field.
In the Type pop-list, select the desired field type. Choices are:

Currency
Date (only): Date fields must have a format mask assigned.
Date and Time: Date and Time fields must have a format mask assigned.
Numeric
Text

In the From Database pop-list, select true if the field value will be taken from the database. Select false if the field value will not be user-defined.

When set to true, the Size, Key Field, From Query, and From Column properties will be displayed. All fields with this pop-list set to true obtain their values from the column defined in the From Column property and the query for the block defined in the From Query property.
When set to false, the Contents property will be displayed.

In the Size field, enter the database character size for this field. Only database fields will have this property.
In the Key Field pop-list, select true if this field is a primary key for the table/view. Select false if the field is not a primary key for the table/view. Only database fields will have this property. Key fields are marked with a key icon in the Explorer Tree.
In the Break Type pop-list, if a totals block should be created based on this field, set this pop-list to the desired setting. For more information on breaks and totaling in reports, see the Automatic Total Blocks section.

Break on Column: When the value of this column changes, create a break in the report. An automatic total block will be created within this block.
Page Break on Column: When the value of this column changes, create a break in the report and start a new page. An automatic total block will be created within this block.
Automatic Totals: Total this column automatically. An automatic total block will be created within this block. Only numeric fields will have this option.

In the Break Position pop-list, select the order in which this column will be used when creating breaks in the report. Only fields with break types have this property.
For example, if you have a break on the customer number field, the sales order number field, and the item number field in a block, and you want the report to first be ordered by customers, then by orders, and then by items on those orders, you would give the customer number field a break position of 1, the sales order number field a break position of 2, and the item number a break position of 3. The report would then look like this:

Customer 1001A

Order 101

Item A1

Item A2

Order 103

Item A4

Customer 1001B

Order 102

Item A1

Item A3

Set the Visible pop-list to true if the field will be displayed on the entity. Select false if the field will be included on the entity, but not displayed.
When set to false, the Field Style, Display As, Tool Tip, Format Mask, Contents, and Text Case properties are not displayed.
In the Hyperlink To property, enter the linking information for the field, if appropriate. When possible, relative URL's should be entered (/xephr/show/entity) rather than absolute URL's (http://test1.ndsasp.com/xephr/show/entity). Only visible fields have this property.

When building linked reports, links into pdf's should not use the generic Show(); Xephr function. Instead, they should use the specific ShowReport(); or ShowParam(); javascript code as Adobe Acrobat has deficiencies regarding redirect.

HRef links and Javascript should always use single quotes ( ' ) instead of double quotes ( " ).

When an entry is made in this field, the Link Style property will be displayed.
In the Link Style property, select the style to be applied to links for this field. If set to (from parent), the style used will be the Link Style from the block properties. Only visible fields with an entry in the Hyperlink To property will have this property.
In the Hyperlink Scripted pop-list, select true or false. Only visible fields with an entry in the Hyperlink To property will have this property.

When this pop-list is set to true, it indicates that the entry in the Hyperlink To property is a script. If you entered a Database Function Calls or a Link between Entities, this pop-list should be set to true.

When this pop-list is set to false, it indicates that the entry in the Hyperlink To property is a direct link and not a script.
In the List of Values property, if a list of values should be applied to this field, select the desired pre-defined list of values from the pop-list. Only visible fields have this property.
In the Field Style pop-list, select the style to be used for this field on this block on this screen. If set to (from parent), the default field style for the block will be used. Only visible fields have this property.
In the Display As property, select the desired display setting for this field. Choices are:

Image: The Image Location property will be displayed for non-database images. Otherwise the value from the database column will be used as the location.
Label: The Contents property will be displayed for non-database labels. Otherwise the value from the database column will be used as the label.
Text
Text Area

In the Tool Tip property, enter the data to be displayed when the user hovers over this field with the mouse. Normally used for images, when the user hovers over the field in the browser with the mouse, the data entered here is displayed. Although offered for all field types, the browser on which the user is running the entity will determine whether the tool tip is displayed for field types other than image. Only visible non-label fields have this property.
In the Format Mask property, select the format mask for this field from the list of pre-defined format masks. Only visible text and text area fields have this property.

Date fields must have a format mask entered. Format masks can only be applied to date, date/time, and numeric type fields.
Xephr expects dates returned from the datasource to be in the format defined in the datasource. The format mask is then applied to the date returned from the datasource.

For more information, see the Format Masks section.
In the Text Case pop-list, select the text case with which to display values for the field. Choices are None, Uppercase, and Lowercase. Only visible non-image fields have this property.
In the Image Location property, enter the location of the image. When possible, relative URL's should be entered (/xephr/images/image.gif) rather than absolute URL's (http://test1.ndsasp.com/xephr/images/image.gif). Only visible non-database image fields have this property.
In the From Query pop-list, verify that the correct query block is displayed in this field. This is the block for which the database query is used to define the data displayed for this column. Only database fields have this property.
In the From Column pop-list, verify that the correct column is displayed in this field. This is the column selected in the query defined in the 'From Query' property from which the data for this field will be obtained. The value in this field can be changed to another column from the same table/view. Only database fields have this property.
In the Is Formula pop-list, select true if the field contains a formula. Select false if the field does not contain a formula. Only visible non-database text and text area fields have this property.

When set to true, the Formula property will be displayed and the Contents property will be removed.
You must enter a formula in the Formula property if you set the Is Formula pop-list to true.

In the Formula property, enter the formula for this field. This field is only displayed and must be entered when the Is Formula pop-list is set to true.
In the Contents property, if this field will display a value by default, enter the value here. Only visible non-database non-formula fields have this property.
In the X property, enter the location in the report's measurement units from the top left corner of this field on the X-axis (horizontal) of the layout screen. You can change this here, or it will be changed when you move the field with the Designer Tool.
In the Y property, enter the location in the report's measurement units of the top left corner of this field on the Y-axis (vertical) of the layout screen. This value is used in conjunction with the Y Anchor Type setting. You can change this number manually, or it will be changed when you are altering the layout with the Designer Tool.
In the Y Anchor Type pop-list, select the anchor for the Y-axis for this field. Choices are Fixed, Relative to Output, or Relative to Field.

When set to Fixed, the upper left corner of this field will be placed a fixed number of measurement units in relation to the upper left corner of the field's container. The number of measurement units is defined in the Y property for the field.
When set to Relative to Output, the upper left corner of this field will be placed a fixed number of pixels from the bottom edge of the output of the field defined in the Y Anchor property. This option should be selected if the field in the Y Anchor property is an expandable field and you do not know where the bottom of the field will be when the report is generated.
When set to Relative to Field, the upper left corner of this field will be placed a fixed number of pixels from the bottom edge of the specified field defined in the Y Anchor property.

In the Y Anchor property, select the block or field that will be used to determine the location of the field on the Y-axis. The property is only displayed when the Y Anchor Type pop-list is set to Relative to Field.
In the Width property, enter the width of the field in this report's measurement units.
In the Height property, enter the height of the field in this report's measurement units..
In the Expand Type pop-list, select the option that best defines how the field will be sized. Choices are Expandable, Fixed No Scroll Bars, and Fixed with Scroll Bars.

When set to Expandable, the field will be at least the size of the Width and Height values, but it can be larger.
When set to Fixed No Scroll Bars, the field will be the exact size defined using the Width and Height values.
When set to Fixed with Scroll Bars, the field will be the exact sized defined using the Width and Height values, but there will be a scroll bar that allows you to scroll up or down within the block or field.
Example: an address block on a report may be fixed size, while the block for the line items on an invoice will be expandable so that all line items will be visible when the report is generated.

In the Show On pop-list, select the pages on which this field will be displayed. Choices are All Pages, First Page Only, and All but First.
In the Hide If property, enter the conditions under which this field will be hidden. The field will be visible on the block when the conditions are not met. When an entry is made in this property, the Show If property will be hidden.

When the expression entered in this field evaluates to true, the field will be hidden. The evaluation of the expression occurs when the entity is generated, and not when the user is making modifications to fields on the block. (i.e. This does not "watch" user input in a field and dynamically show a field; everything is locked in when the entity is first output).
Example: $$VENDOR.ACTIVE$$ = 'Y'
Hides the field if the value of the active field on the vendor block is set to Y when the entity is generated.
Example: starts-with( $$CUST_NO$$, 'NDS')
Hides the field only if the customer number starts with NDS.
The code entered in this field can also include and/or expressions:
And is indicated by two ampersands &&
Or is indicated by two vertical lines ||

Example: ($$XEPHR_ENTITY_NAME$$='MENU')&&($$NEXTMENU$$='MM')
Hide this field if the current entity is the MENU entity and the NEXTMENU global value is set to MM.

Example: ($$CUST_NO$$='NDS')||($$CUST_NO$$='')
Hide this field is the customer number global is set to NDS, or the customer number global is null or doesn't exist.

In the Show If property, enter the conditions under which this field will be displayed. The field will be hidden when the conditions are not met. When an entry is made in this property, the Hide If property will be hidden.

When the expression entered in this field evaluates to true, the field will be displayed. The evaluation of the expression occurs when the entity is generated, and not when the user is making modifications to fields on the block. (i.e. This does not "watch" user input in a field and dynamically hide a field; everything is locked in when the entity is first output).
Example: $$VENDOR.ACTIVE$$ = 'N'
The field will be displayed when the value of the active field on the vendor block is N when the entity is generated.
Example: number( $$ORDER.TOTAL$$) = 0
Displays the field if the value of the total field on the order block is zero.
The code entered in this field can also include and/or expressions:
And is indicated by two ampersands &&
Or is indicated by two vertical lines ||

Example: ($$XEPHR_ENTITY_NAME$$='MENU')&&($$NEXTMENU$$='MM')
Show this field if the current entity is the MENU entity and the NEXTMENU global value is set to MM.

Example: ($$CUST_NO$$='NDS')||($$CUST_NO$$='')
Show this field is the customer number global is set to NDS, or the customer number global is null or doesn't exist.

In the Z Order property, enter the order in which the field will be displayed in comparison with the other fields on the block. At this time, Z order only affects fields when they overlap one another. For example, if you had 2 fields on the screen, one with a Z order of 1, and the other with a Z order of 2, the one with the Z order of 2 will be displayed because it was generated last.
The Created on property displays the date and time on which this field was created and cannot be changed.
The Modified on property displays the date and time on which this field was last changed, and cannot be modified.
When all changes have been made, press the [Save] button on the main toolbar.

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