FormMaker Quick Tour

When FormMaker is first started, the following screen comes into view.

This window includes a list of available FormMaker report types, represented by yellow folder icons. FormMaker reports that have already been created will be displayed in the tree beneath the appropriate report type folder. In the above example, there are two Payroll Employee List reports. The name given to the report displays in the Report column. The filename (with .rpt as an extension) is listed in the File column. The reports displayed in this window are all the *.rpt files found in the company data folder. In the above example, the company data folder is shown at the very top of the Report column. If any file with an .rpt extension is copied into the company data folder, it will show up in this list box.

From this screen, the user can add, change, delete, or print FormMaker reports.

Print (button)

Press the Print button to print the highlighted report.

Expand All (button)

Press the Expand All button to open all the possible folder.

Contract All (button)

Press the Contract All button to close all folders.

Add to Favorites (button)

Press the Add to Favorites button to add this report format to the Favorite Reports list.

Add (button)

Press the Add button to add a new report to the list. The following question will be displayed:

To create a totally new report or form, click the Add button. To search for an .rpt file that already exists in a different folder on this computer, click the Find button and a file dialog box will be displayed so the user can search for the desired report file.

Change (button)

Press the Change button to change an existing report.

Delete (button)

Press the Delete button to remove an existing report.

Recover Preset Reports (button)

New FormMaker Preset Reports are always being created and being made available to users. These reports are templates which can be modified to the user's specifications. When new Preset Reports have been obtained, they can be brought into the list box by pressing the Recover Preset Reports button. The following screen will be displayed.

The list box will contain any Preset Reports that do not currently exist in the main FormMaker list. Tag any or all of these reports using the tagging buttons and press the Proceed button to bring the tagged reports into the main FormMaker list.

As new reports are added, the screen will update itself automatically. The screen will show detailed information about each report file: its filename, creation date, creation time, and its file size. The name of the report "Test Report" is the same title that the user defines. Notice that to the left of the category "Payroll Employee List" is a small box with a minus (-) sign inside. This means that the tree has been expanded to show the report file(s) for that category. If the minus sign is clicked, it will contract the tree list for that "branch", which hides information under that "branch".

Getting started - the Report Formatter screen

Whenever a report is created or modified, the Report Formatter screen is used to place item(s) in the desired location. The screen is very easy to use with a toolbar of commonly used commands, a pulldown menu, and use of the right mouse button to modify item(s) on the screen.

Alignment Buttons

Use these buttons to center, right or left justify the text as well as align the text to the top, middle, bottom, or spaced locations inside the frame.

Border Buttons

Use these buttons to choose which borders of the frame will be visible when printed.

Color Buttons

Use these buttons to fill the frame or color the border with a desired color.

Report Bands

There are eight types of report bands that can be defined in a report:

Page Header - The report can contain only one page header. This report band is printed at the top of the output on each generated report page.
 Report Header - The report can contain only one report header. This report band is printed at the top of the output on only the FIRST generated report page.
 Sorting Band - The report can have multiple Sorting Band details. A sorting band may contain it's own header, footer and/or additional breaks. A sorting band is the mechanism for SORTING a report.
 Group Header - This band is printed at the top of each page when the group break value has changed.
 Detail - The report can have multiple DETAIL bands. A detail band is responsible for retrieving database information required for the report and printing the data onto the report.
Group Footer - This band is printed at the bottom of each page when the group break value has changed.
 Report Footer - This band is printed at the bottom of the last generated page in the report.
 Page Footer - This band is printed at the bottom of each page in the generated report.

Frames

Frames are used to mark the boundaries of an object placed in a report band. Frames are usable on certain report bands that are added to a report. To define a new frame:

Left click inside the desired report band; this will select the report band to receive the empty frame
 Right click the mouse to display a popup menu; from this menu select 'New Frame'

A new empty frame is now displayed inside the report band where previously clicked:

As shown above an empty frame was placed inside the Page Header Report Band; red blocks outline the frame, indicating that it can be stretched to meet printing size requirements. The empty frame can also be dragged to a different location inside the report band by left clicking inside the empty frame, then drag the empty frame to the desired location. When dragging the empty frame the border will turn completely red - release the left mouse button after moving the frame to set its position.

Once the frame has been moved and resized, what will bet printed in this location must be defined. A frame can contain many things:

A database field used in the application
 A text string (such as a report header, column header, etc)
 A calculated field that is generated at runtime
 A page counter
 The current date or time
 Total fields (such as total expenditure, dollar total, etc)

Frames can also contain MULTIPLE items - this is handy when database information needs to look a certain way. Here are some examples of combining multiple items inside a frame:

Two or more fields: CUS:Fname & CUS:Lname
 Two or more fields; remove empty space at end of each field: clip(CUS:Fname) & ' ' & clip(CUS:Lname)
 Two or more fields; highly formatted: clip(CUS:Lname) & ', ' & clip(CUS:Fname)
 Fields and text: '* ' & clip(ITE:Description) & ' *'

Notice that the function clip() was used with text information (remember to ALWAYS surround any text information with the ' symbol). Any of the FormMaker functions may be used to format database information (such as the Upper() and Lower() functions). To change the contents of a frame and/or it's properties, use the Report Formatter Frame Edit Box.

Dictionary

The dictionary is the "heart" of the FormMaker - it contains information on all the database fields used by the program, as well as internal variables and functions that can be used to customize the output. Here is a sample dictionary:

The dictionary uses an expandable "tree" format to access the different types of information that can be placed inside a frame. The tree above is shown in collapsed form for a better overall view. To gain insight into what the different dictionary categories are, click on one of the following items in the above screen capture:

Processed Files
 Data
 Built-In Variables
 Standard Operators
 Standard Functions
 Calculated Fields
 Gather Totals

A dictionary stores all the data used in this application in an easily accessed format. It also provides access to powerful tools for manipulating data required for fancier reports.

Pictures

A picture is a way of converting information from it's original format to a different format. On the frame characteristics dialogue box is a tab for the picture:

It is assumed that the contents for the frame have already been selected. If the contents of the frame is going to be a date field, it is recommended that an appropriate date picture be used (otherwise the date will be generated as the number of days that have elapsed since January 1, 1801).

Click on the mask button shown above to display the Picture Wizard to assist in generating an appropriate picture:

The default choice is NONE; radio buttons are provided for each different type of picture that is available. If a radio button is selected different than NONE, a series of screens that will assist in creating the appropriate picture will come up.

A picture can be changed at any time - remember that a picture MANIPULATES data - it won't change/delete any database information. If a picture does not do what is desired, it can be changed to something else, then use the print preview screen to see the resultant output.

Here are some sample pictures that are commonly used. Each picture has sample data, and the resultant output listed by category: