Producing reports

You can print, email, or fax reports, and output them to various file formats—for example, HTML, PDF, text files—or export them to other software for further modifications.

To display and print reports

Go to the Reports menu and choose Index to Reports. The Index to Reports window appears.

Select the report you want to display or print and click Display. The Report Display window appears.

If you want to reposition or resize columns:

Select Screen Report in the View field.

To reposition a column, position the cursor over the column header until the cursor changes to the hand icon (

), then drag the column header to a new position.

To change the width of a column, position the cursor over the icon of a column header (

) and then drag it to change the column’s width. Only columns that have this icon can be resized.

If you want to filter the data and refine the appearance of the report, click Customize and specify the data you want. For more information, see ‘Customizing reports’.

Select Print Preview from the View list in the report toolbar.

If you want to save the new report layout as a custom report, click Save As. This new format will be available from the Custom tab of the Index to Reports window.

Click Print.

To save reports as files

You can save reports in various file formats so that they can be viewed and edited in other programs.

Go to the Reports menu and choose Index to Reports. The Index to Reports window appears.

Locate and select the report you want to display.

If you want to filter the data and refine the appearance of the report, click Customize and specify the data you want. For more information, see ‘Customizing reports’.

Click Send To and choose one of the following file formats:

■

PDF (Portable Document Format). If you save a report as a PDF file, the person who receives the report must have software, such as Adobe Reader, that is capable of opening a PDF file.

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HTML. When you save a report in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) format, the report can be viewed in browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer.

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Tab-Delimited Text File. When you save a report in tab-delimited text file format, fields in the report are separated by tab spaces. Tab-delimited text files can be opened by most word processing and spreadsheet software.

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Comma-Separated Text File. When you save a report in comma-separated text file format, fields in the report are separated by commas. Comma-separated text files can be opened by most word processing and spreadsheet software.

■

Simple Text File. When you save a report in simple text file format, fields are separated by spaces so the appearance of the report is as similar as possible to a printed version of the report. Simple text files can be opened by most word processing and spreadsheet software.

In the Save As window, specify a name and location for the file and click Save.

To send reports by email

When you send a report by email, the report is saved as a PDF file and attached to the body of the email message. Your recipient needs a PDF file viewer, such as Adobe Reader, to view the report.

Go to the Reports menu and choose Index to Reports. The Index to Reports window appears.

Locate and select the report you want to email.

If you want to filter the data and refine the appearance of the report, click Customize and specify the data you want. For more information, see ‘Customizing reports’.

Click Send To and choose Email. The Email window appears.

In the Name field, type or select the individual or organization you want to send the report to. If necessary, add or change the email address.

In the Cc and Bcc fields add additional emails to send copies to others.

Type the Subject and Message of the email.

Click Send. The email is sent to your email software’s outbox with the report attached as a PDF file.

Send the email and attachment from your email software as you normally would.

To view reports in Microsoft Excel

You can open reports that you have saved as tab-delimited files, comma-separated files or unformatted text files. You must have Microsoft Excel installed on your computer.

Go to the Reports menu and choose Index to Reports. The Index to Reports window appears.

Select the required report.

If you want to filter the data and refine the appearance of the report, click Customize and specify the data you want. For more information, see ‘Customizing reports’.

Click Send To and choose Excel. Microsoft Excel starts and the selected report appears.

Modifying OfficeLink templates for Microsoft Excel

Each report in your software has a corresponding Excel template. All Excel templates are stored in a folder named Spredsht, which is located in your software folder. You can modify these templates if you want.

For a list of the Excel templates and the reports they correspond to, see Microsoft Excel templates.

caution : Use caution when modifying Excel templates

If you modify the Excel templates, do not move the [[Tbl:Body Table]] field. This field must be located in Column B, row 11, in order for each report’s total amounts to be calculated correctly. If you move [[Tbl:Body Table]], the totals will be inaccurate.

Also note that if you want to perform additional calculations using the exported report data, you should either create a macro that will perform the calculation after the report is imported, or place your reference fields on a separate spreadsheet and update it after the report is imported. Please refer to your Excel documentation for more information.