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Text File | 1994-10-01 | 22.1 KB | 463 lines

Printing Reports ================ This document describes how to print out selected data from a Powerbase application, including the printing of individual records and of labels. Output destination ================== Bring up the main menu, go to the ‘Print’ submenu and choose the ‘Options’ entry to display the ‘Print options’ dialogue box. This is a large window containing many icons and might appear rather daunting at first. Efforts have been made to render it easier to use by dividing it up into several areas each dedicated to a specific aspect of printing. In the bottom right corner is the area which determines the destination for printed output. Three options are available: ‘Window’, ‘File’ and ‘Printer’, each of which is described below. The ‘Window’ destination ======================== This option (which is set by default) results in all output being displayed in its own window which opens on top of the record window when the report is complete. Clicking MENU over this window displays the ‘List’ menu which offers the following choices:- Save as text —————— This leads to a ‘Save’ box from which you can save the report as a text file. The default pathname uses the leaf-name “List” for the file and points to a subdirectory called ‘PrintJobs’ which is inside the database directory. Each database thus has its own ‘PrintJobs’ directory. Its contents can be displayed by selecting ‘Show jobs done’ from the ‘Print’ submenu. To save files with the least bother, therefore, either accept the whole default path-name or delete up to (but not including) the rightmost full-stop and type a new leaf-name then click on ‘OK’ or type RETURN. Make a habit of looking in ‘PrintJobs’ regularly to check up on what’s there and to get rid of files which you no longer need. As an alternative you can, of course, drag the icon from the ‘Save’ box to any filer viewer you choose, to the printer icon, or directly into any application (such as Edit) which can accept a text file. Sort —— The ‘Sort’ entry allows the report to be sorted alphabetically, but will be shaded unless you select the ‘Header p.1 only’ option in the ‘Print options’ window. Scrap ——- A large report can occupy a lot of memory which you may need to recover (in order to load another application without quitting Powerbase, for example). If you follow the big report with a small one the unused memory will be given back, but this is much more tidily accomplished by choosing ‘Scrap’ from the ‘List’ menu. Accessing records from a displayed report ========================================= The report window has another interesting and useful feature. If you point at a particular piece of displayed data and double click with SELECT the record will be displayed in the record window with the caret placed in the field on which you clicked. If you are using a report to look for errors in the data any which you find can be quickly corrected using this method. (The report won’t reflect the corrections which you make, though, unless you re-create it.) The ‘File’ destination ====================== If you select ‘File’ instead of ‘Window’ then the Save‘ box will pop up as soon as you tell Powerbase to go ahead and generate the report. The report is created when you click on the ‘Save’ box’s ‘OK’ button or drag the icon into a directory viewer. The default pathname calls the file “List” and points to ‘PrintJobs’ as described above. The ‘Printer’ destination ========================= This generates the file in memory then sends the data directly to the printer. No copy of the file is saved. If you use this option make sure that !Printers is installed on the icon-bar and that the printer is ready before you give the command to create the report. What types of field can Powerbase print? ======================================== The procedure to be described enables you to print data from the following types of field:- (1) Any field into which you can directly type data. (2) ‘Text’ and ‘Text Block’ fields. (3) Check Boxes. What is actually printed differs from what you see in the check box. Thus:- (a) “Tick/Cross”-type boxes result in “Yes” or “No”. (b) “Tick/Blank”-type boxes result in “Yes” or nothing. (c) “Star/Blank”-type boxes result in an asterisk or nothing. ‘Draw’ and ‘Sprite’ fields can be printed by clicking on the relevant button in the record window to load the external file into “Draw” or “Paint” then printing from that application in the normal way. You may, of course, do the same with ‘Text’ fields. ‘Picture’ fields must be exported to “Paint” via the ‘Field’ submenu’s ‘Save contents’ entry. How do I specify what to print? =============================== There are two stages to this:- (1) Specifying which FIELDS from the record to print. (2) Specifying which RECORDS to print. Specifying a field selection —————————————— Highlight the fields which you want to appear on the report by clicking on them with ADJUST. If you change your mind you can deselect fields by clicking a second time with ADJUST. Note that the order in which you select the fields is important since that’s the order in which they will appear in the report. There is no visible indication on the record screen of what the order is so take care when making your field selection. The only fields which can be highlighted in this way are those which can actually be printed (see above). Several entries on the ‘Print’ submenu deal with field selections. ‘Save selection‘ lets you preserve the current selection for re-use. The default pathname in the ‘Save’ box points to a directory called ‘PrintRes’ (i.e “Print resources”) which (like ‘PrintJobs’ - see above) resides inside the database application directory. ‘Show resources’ on the ‘Print’ submenu will display the contents of this directory. Selection files are of type &7f3 and are distinguished by an icon bearing an “S”. They may be reloaded by dragging from the ‘PrintRes’ viewer and dropping on the record window or by simply double-clicking on them. Other entries in the ‘Print’ submenu enable you to select all the fields in the record or to clear the selection completely. Specifying which records to print ————————————————- The first item on the ‘Print’ submenu is ‘Match’. Clicking on this (or, even simpler, clicking on ‘Print’ in the main menu) opens the ‘Match’ window in which you specify the criteria which must be met by records for inclusion in the list. Clicking OK (or typing RETURN) without entering anything produces a list of the whole database (or, more accurately, of the the whole of the current subfile). Exactly how the list is delivered depends on the setting of the destination buttons in the ‘Print options’ window (see “Output destination“ above). If the mouse pointer is over the record window or ‘Match’ window the hourglass will tell you how far things have progressed. Pressing Escape causes the process to be aborted. Most database queries will be more selective than this; in other words there will be a target group of records which are specified by entering a SEARCH FORMULA before clicking OK. A search formula describes the criteria which records must match in order to be included in the report. Getting to grips with search formulae is, perhaps, the biggest hurdle faced by the new Powerbase user and you are referred first to the simple examples described in the ‘Tutorial’ file. A SEARCH FORMULA consists of one or more SEARCH ELEMENTS. A search element specifies that a field value must fit a certain condition and takes the form: <TAG LIST><COMPARATOR><TARGET LIST> The angle brackets are there for clarity and are not used in entering the actual formula and there must be no spaces between the three parts. A tag list has the form:- tag1,tag2,tag3,.... where tag1 etc. are the field tags which identify the fields to be matched. A target list has the form:- target1,target2,target3,.... All comparison are case specific unless you deselect the button on the Match window which controls this. It is impossible to describe the use of search formulae adequately without quoting actual examples. As in the ‘Tutorial’ file we will again make use of the ‘Elements’ sample database supplied with Powerbase. An example of a search criterion is GP=T where:- GP is the field tag = is the comparator T is the target. In plain English this means “The field whose tag is ‘GP’ must contain the value ‘T’“, i.e. all transition elements (but no others) are to be included in the report. A slightly more complex one is GP=1,2,3 which would be interpreted as “The ‘GP’ field matches one of ‘1’,‘2’ or ‘3’”. This may also be entered as GP=1 OR GP=2 OR GP=3, which is possibly easier to understand but also somewhat longer. A further example is OX1,OX2,OX3=3, meaning “One of the first three oxidation state fields has the value 3.“ This could, of course, be entered as OX1=3 OR OX2=3 OR OX3=3. Yet another way of entering this is OX1-OX3=3, i.e. you may specify a range of ADJACENT fields by giving the first and last separated by a hyphen. Note that in the above examples the search is EXCLUSIVE, i.e. ONE OF the fields in the tag list matches ONE OF the targets in the target list. Sometimes we want an INCLUSIVE search so that ALL OF the fields in the tag list match a given target or, less frequently, a field contains ALL OF the values in the target list. To convert an exclusive to an inclusive search you need to DOUBLE THE COMPARATOR, in other words use == instead of =. The comparators available, which may be seen by clicking the Match window to full size, are =, <>, <, >, <=, >=, {and }{{ is to be read as “contains” and is used where the target value is expected to be part of the field but not to take up the whole field. }{does not contain . You may invert the logic of a search criterion by putting NOT in front of it. To print all non-transition elements you would use NOT GP=T. Note the space after NOT, and that the syntax isn’t “GP NOT=T”. You could equally well use GP<>T and may find this form more understandable. Multi-criterion searches may be implemented either by placing tags and targets in comma-separated lists as described above or by stringing search criteria together with the connectives AND and OR. Use AND when a field must meet ALL of a set of criteria. e.g. GP=T AND Z>50 AND NAME{would find all transition metals with atomic numbers greater than 50 whose names contain “IUM”. Use OR when a field must meet ONE of a set of criteria. e.g GP=L OR GP=A would find all lanthanide and actinide elements since the formula says, in effect, “either L or A; I don’t care which”. Using AND and OR can lead to search formulae which are ambiguous. e.g. does GP=1 OR GP=2 AND Z<50 mean “group 1 or 2 elements (don’t care which) with atomic numbers less than 50“ or does it mean ”group one elements (of any atomic number) or group 2 elements whose atomic numbers are less than 50“? You probably want the former, but Powerbase will give you the latter. To get what you require USE BRACKETS to make the logic clear. In other words write it: (GP=1 OR GP=2) AND Z<50. Queries are, by default, case-sensitive. If you don’t want case to be disregarded deselect the ‘Case specific’ button on the ‘Match’ window. If a Numeric field appears in a search formula then the comparison with the target is made by NUMERIC VALUE, e.g. “NUM=5” would match “5”, “05”, “5.0” etc. For other types of field the comparison is by CHARACTER MATCHING. This can easily catch you out. Suppose for example you want to print records for which “NUM<8”. You might be surprised to find records in which NUM contains values such as 55, 20, or 13 being printed, as well as those containing 4, 6, 2 etc! If this happens, check that the field is defined as numeric. You can FORCE a comparison-by-value for a non-numeric field by enclosing the field tag in square brackets, e.g. [NUM]<8 would produce the desired result in the above example. This is useful where you want to make such a comparison but still allow the field to accept non-numeric characters. The comparison-by-value can only work in such cases, however, if the number part of the field comes first. e.g. it will deal correctly with 55A, 20B, 13X but not with A55, B20, X13. Record numbers ============== It is sometimes useful to have a list of the numbers of records. If you toggle the ‘Match’ window to full size you will find an option button to ‘Include record numbers’. These will appear in an extra column at the left hand side of the report. Print format ============ The ‘Format’ section of the ‘Print options’ window provides four choices:- Horizontal Records are displayed one to a line, the fields being aligned in columns with headings. Table This resembles the ‘Horizontal’ format but each record is underlined and a user-definable number of ruled columns (6 by default) is placed to the right of the text, thus producing a grid. You are advised to set the print pitch to 10 or 12 when using this format. The width of the blank columns is determined by the value in ‘Column width’. Vertical Fields are printed underneath each other with the identifier (i.e. tag or descriptor) at the left hand side. The total width of the text (including the identifiers) is determined by the value in ‘Text width’. If the field will not fit onto a single line it is word-wrapped (as on a word- processor) and formatted so that the identifier “hangs” in the left margin. Label For printing on special label stationery. A special window lets you set the label size, the number of labels in a row (1-3) and the number of lines on a label. Each field normally appears on a separate line, but holding down SHIFT while selecting a field with ADJUST causes the selected field to print on the same line as the previous field. Notes ——- (1) If the print selection contains a ‘Text’ or ‘Text block’ field then only ‘Vertical’ format may be used and this will be selected automatically. (2) In ‘Label’ format you may include in the print selection one field more than the number of lines to be printed on each label. A switch in the ‘Label’ window will, if set, cause this extra field to be substituted for another if the latter is blank. You may specify which field is replaced in this way. Another switch causes the primary key of the record to appear on each label as a means of identification, which can be useful if the data printed on the label doesn’t make it obvious which record it comes from. Field analysis reports ====================== The ‘Field’ submenu has an ‘Analyse’ option which allows you to print a breakdown of the field contents under certain special circumstances: (a) If the field is INDEXED. The menu entry will read ‘Analyse index’. When chosen it will produce a list of all the values in the index along with the number of times each one occurs. e.g. A database of college students might have a field for the school of origin. If there are 20 different schools and if the field is indexed then a list of those schools will be generated showing how many students came from each school. (b) If the field contains either an 8 or 10 character date (e.g. 19-10-42 or 19-10-1942) then the menu entry reads ‘Analyse months’ and a breakdown by month will be printed. There will be a line for each of the 12 months showing the number of records for each month. This could, for example, be used in an orders database to find out quickly how many orders were received or dispatched in each month. This feature will work on editable ‘Date’ fields and also on ‘Date stamp8’ and ‘Date stamp10’ fields in the ‘Stamp’ class. It is, of course, possible for a field containing a date to be indexed. Action (a) (above) takes precedence in such a case. You can, however, force action (b) instead by first selecting the field with ADJUST, then choosing from the menu. For cases not described above the menu entry simply says ‘Analyse’ and is shaded. Printing is always to a window (from which the report may, of course, be saved): the ‘Destination’ buttons in the ‘Print options’ window have no effect. Other features controlled by the ‘Print options’ window ======================================================= Column headings ———————- The headings which appear in all except ‘Label’ format are either the field tags or field descriptors depending on the settings of a pair of radio buttons in the ‘Print options’ window. Print pitch —————- Four radio buttons control the number of characters per inch printed on most printers. Expand codes —————— Causes extra data from a validation table to be substituted for (or added to) the coded data in fields linked to such tables. See ‘Validation’ for further details. Underline ————- This switch causes underlining of all output when hard copy is produced, but not when it appears on the screen. If you print using the ‘Table’ format with output sent to a window you will see the vertical lines defining the blank columns, but not the underlining which divides the table into cells. If, however, you drag the file to the printer the horizontal lines duly appear. Upper case ————— Causes all textual output to appear in capital letters only. Date stamp ————— Causes the date and time at which the report was created to appear as part of the header information. Header page 1 only ————————— Header information not only means column headings in ‘Horizontal’ and ‘Table’ format as described above but also the following:- * A title derived from the search formula used to create the report. * An optional additional title entered in the ‘Print options’ window. * The data and time stamp (if selected). Normally this information appears at the head of every new page of the report. Setting the above-named switch restricts the header information to the beginning of the report and inserts no page breaks within the remainder. The purpose of this is to allow sensible use of the ‘Sort’ option which is available when a report is sent to a window. Shrink list —————- In ‘Horizontal’ and ‘Table’ format the width of the columns is determined by the maximum defined length of the fields included in the print selection. These lengths are often rather generous compared to the length of data actually present in the fields, resulting in a lot of “white space” between the columns. Setting the ‘Shrink list’ switch BEFORE generating a report causes Powerbase to make two passes through the data. The first determines what the ACTUAL, as opposed to the ALLOWED, maximum field lengths are. The second creates the report using these maxima, thus closing up the space between columns in most cases. Page length —————- Total length of page, including header, footer and top margin. For an A4 page this is 70 lines (the default). Standard fan-fold computer paper such as is usually used in dot-matrix printers is more likely to be of the page size known in the U.S.A. as “letter”. This requires a page length setting of 66 lines. In ‘Vertical’ format Powerbase will try to avoid splitting a record between pages, but this can happen when the report includes ‘External’ text fields (‘Text’ or ‘Text Block’) of greatly varying length. It will also happen, of course, if the number of fields to be printed exceeds the length of the page! Line spacing —————— A setting of 1 (default) leaves no blank lines between the lines of print- out. 2 results in “double spaced” output. Higher values may be used but are seldom useful. Title ——- The normal header information includes a title which Powerbase constructs from the search formula used to produce the report. This is often quite sufficient but you may supplement it with a title of your own typed into the writable icon provided for this purpose. Top and left margins —————————— These may be used to adjust the position of the report on the page so that a short, narrow list may be positioned somewhere near the centre. The top margin is specified in lines and the left margin in character widths. Text width ————— This specifies the line length used when printing in ‘Vertical’ format. Column spacer ——————- The character string in this box is used to specify how the columns are separated when printing in ‘Horizontal’ or ‘Table’ format. Columns are first padded with spaces to the maximum width of the relevant data field (but see ‘Shrink list’ above) and the spacer string is then printed before starting the next column. The ‘Column spacer’ box contains 1 by default, meaning that the default spacer is a single space. A maximum of 5 characters is allowed. Three interpretations of the contents of this box are possible:- (1) A number by itself means use the specified number of spaces. (2) A number followed by a non-numeric character means use a string of the specified number of that character, e.g. 3- means 3 hyphens. (3) A non-numeric string is used “as is”, e.g. “|” or “ | ”. Printing single records ======================= The ‘Match’ window contains a large button marked ‘Print this’. When clicked this causes only the displayed record to be printed. The field selection and format are chosen in exactly the same way as for a more extensive report. A second way of printing the displayed record is to press the ‘Print’ key on the keyboard. For this to work you must have first saved a field selection file called ‘Default’ in the ‘PrintRes’ subdirectory of the database. If this file is not found an error message is displayed, otherwise the current record is printed in ‘Vertical’ format. The ‘Print’ key has two other actions which can be useful short-cuts. Used in conjunction with SHIFT it opens up the ‘Match’ window. With CTRL it opens the ‘Print options’ window.