The Output Menu
Output Menu Overview
The Output menu provides access to the following sub tab options
:-
Page Headers - Allows text to be added to the top of report
pages output in PDF format.
Page Footers - Allows extra text to be added at the bottom of
report pages output in PDF format. Useful for adding page
numbers.
Display Order - Allows the order of columns printed on a report
to be reordered.
Groups - Sets up how rows should be grouped on a report and
allows you to define what group header values should be printed and
also how to present group totals, averages etc in group
trailers.
Graphs - Sets up which columns should be graphed and how to
represent the graph.
The Page Headers Sub Tab
A page header is a piece of text that appears at the top of all PDF
reports generated by Reportico. This could be a report title, today's date
and time, the page number or any other text. Selecting the Page Headers
tab button provides access to the existing page headers. To add a new page
header click on the Add button and a new Page Header button should appear.
Click on the relevant Page Header button to modify its attributes.
Line Number
Which line number starting after the top margin, the header text
should be displayed
Header Text
The Text to be displayed. This can either be straight text or
special functions to display page number or date as follows :-
pageno()
Displays the current page number at the top of the PDF
page
report_title() or {report_title}
Displays the current page number at the top of the PDF
page
date("format")
Displays current date and time in the specified format. This
is the same format that would be used in a PHP date function. So,
date("Y-m-d H:i:s") would give something like 2005-06-30
14:13:01
Column Start
Indicates how far across the page the page header text should
start. Values can be expressed in cm, mm. So a value of 1cm or 10mm will
provide a margin of 1 centimetre. If only a number is entered then the
value is measures in points. A sheet of A4 is 842pt x 595pt.
Justification
Indicates how the page header text will be aligned within the
Column Width specified below relative to the Column Start. Values may be
left, right or centre.
Column Width
Indicates how wide the page header text should extend to. As with
Column Start values can be expressed in cm, mm.
The Page Footers Sub Tab
A page footer is a piece of text that appears at the bottom of all
PDF reports generated by Reportico. This could be a today's date and time
or the page number, a summary of the user's criteria entry or any other text. Selecting the Page Footers tab
button provides access to the existing page footers. To add a new page
footer click on the Add button and a new Page Footer button should appear.
Click on the relevant Page Footer button to modify its attributes.
Line Number
Which line number starting after the top margin, the footer text
should be displayed
Footer Text
The text to be displayed. This can either be straight text or
special functions to display page number or date as follows :-
pageno()
Displays the current page number at the top of the PDF
page
date("format")
Displays current date and time in the specified format. This
is the same format that would be used in a PHP date function. So,
date("Y-m-d H:i:s") would give something like 2005-06-30
14:13:01
Column Start
Indicates how far across the page the page footer text should
start. Values can be expressed in cm, mm. So a value of 1cm or 10mm will
provide a margin of 1 centimetre. If only a number is entered then the
value is measures in points. A sheet of A4 is 842pt x 595pt.
Justification
Indicates how the page footer text will be aligned within the
Column Width specified below relative to the Column Start. Values may be
left, right or centre.
Column Width
Indicates how wide the page footer text should extend to. As with
Column Start values can be expressed in cm, mm.
The Display Order Sub Tab
The relative position of column values produced in a report is, by
default, the order of the columns as specified in the main query SQL. The
relative position may be changed here by using the move up or move
down buttons. Alternatively an order value may be selected by clicking on
the relevant column button and changing the Order Number parameter.
Order Number
Sets the absolute order number of the column
The Groups Sub Tab
Allows identification of which query columns the report should be
grouped by. Each set of report output data relating to a particular output
column value will be grouped together with optional headers and trailer
values. When defining a group you identify which query column triggers a
new set of output, how the change in group data should be reflected and
which column values to print as part of the group header and which as part
of the group trailer.
On selecting the Groups sub tab, you are presented with a list of
the current report groups, if any. To add a new group click on the add
button, then modify the parameters accordingly in the Details sub tab.
Then use the Headers and Trailers sub tabs to identify what values to
print before and after any group data.
Multiple groups may be set up which will cause report data to be
nested.
The Groups => Details Sub Tab
Group On Column
Indicates which column will trigger a new group section when its
column value changes within the report.
Before Group Header
Indicates whether each group header section should begin with a page
break, a blank line or a solid line.
After Group Header
Indicates whether each group header section should be followed by a page
break, a blank line or a solid line.
Before Group Trailer
Indicates whether each group trailer section should begin with a page
break, a blank line or a solid line.
After Group Trailer
Indicates whether each group trailer section should be followed by a page
break, a blank line or a solid line.
The Groups => Headers Sub Tab
Each grouped section on a report can be preceded by a set of group
headers that would normally contain column values that relate to the group
or even the grouped column value itself. Each group header value printed
on a report is labelled with the Group Header Label attribute of the
column or the column name if unspecified. Selecting this sub tab displays the current list of group
headers. To add a new group header click on the Add button and then set
the appropriate column value. Note that it is normally desirable to set
the Display Column attribute of each group header column to hide since you
wouldn't want repeated values occurring in the main report detail.
Group Header Column
A column whose value will be printed in the relevant group header
sections.
The Groups => Trailers Sub Tab
Each grouped section on a report can be followed by a set of trailer
values. These normally are group totals, group averages or other values
that summarise a particular column. To create a trailer you would need to
create a new manual Query Column with appropriate assignments. Then use
the parameters below to indicate which column in the report under which
you wish to display the trailer value. As with group headers, it is often
desirable to set the Display Column attribute of each group trailer column
to hide since you would only want summary trailer values to appear at the
end of a group section.
Group Trailer Display
Column
Indicates under which column the trailer value should be
displayed.
Group Trailer Value Column
Indicates which column's values should be displayed when printing
this group trailer.
The Graphs Sub Tab
This is where you add graphs containing plots that are based on your
report data. The Details sub tab is where you set up the size, titles,
labels, colors and fonts that will appear on the graph. The Plots sub tab
is where you define which report values should be plotted and in what plot
style i.e. whether Bar chart, Line chart or Pie chart.
The Graphs => Details Sub Tab
Selecting this tab presents a list of the currently defined graphs,
if any. To add a new graph press the Add button. When adding a graph the
most important parameters to set are the Graph on Change Of parameter that
sets which group column relates to the report and the Column For X Labels
that identifies which column's values should be used along the X axis. It
is also necessary then to use the Plots sub tab to add column plot values
to the graph.
Graph On Change Of
Indicates which column's change in value will trigger the plotting
of this graph. This column must be a group column.
To plot a graph at the report end then you need to have added a group called REPORT_BODY within the Groups sub tab, and then select REPORT_BODY as this parameter.
Graph Color
The background colour for the graph. Enter a valid HTML color in
#FFFFFF form or as text colour such as white, red, green etc
Title
The title text to display at the top of the graph
Graph Width
The total width in pixels of the graph image
Graph Height
The total height in pixels of the graph image
Graph Width (PDF)
The total width in points of the graph image when outputting in
PDF mode.
Graph Height (PDF)
The total height in points of the graph image when outputting in
PDF mode.
X Axis Title
The title text to display under the X Axis
Y Axis Title
The title text to display under the Y Axis
Grid Position
Indicates whether the grid should appear over or under the graph
content. Valid values are back or front
X-Grid Style
Indicates whether a grid of vertical lines should appear to make
the graph more readable. Valid values are none (no grid is displayed),
major ( grid lines only show on major X Axis tick marks ) and all ( grid
lines shown on all X axis tick marks )
X-Grid Color
The color of vertical grid lines
Y-Grid Style
Indicates whether a grid of horizontal lines should appear to make
the graph more readable. Values are none (no grid is displayed),
major ( grid lines only show on major Y Axis tick marks ) and all ( grid
lines shown on all Y axis tick marks )
Y-Grid Color
The color of horizontal grid lines
Column for X Labels
The query column whose values will appear along the X Axis
describing each pint plotted.
Title Font
The font family used for the title displayed at the top of the
graph.
Title Font Style
Indicates whether the graph title is displayed in Bold and/or
Italic
Title Color
The color of the graph title text.
X Title Font
The font family used for the X Axis Title
X Title Font Style
Indicates whether the X axis title is displayed in Bold and/or
Italic
X Title Font Size
The font point size of the X axis title
X Title Color
The color of the X Axis title text.
Y Title Font
The font family used for the Y Axis Title
Y Title Font Style
Indicates whether the Y axis title is displayed in Bold and/or
Italic
Y Title Font Size
The font point size of the Y axis title
Y Title Color
The color of the Y Axis title text.
X Axis Color
The color of the X Axis line
X Label Font
The font family used for the X Axis labels
X Label Style
Indicates whether the X axis labels are displayed in Bold and/or
Italic
X Axis Font Size
The font point size of the X axis labels.
X Axis Font Color
The color of the X Axis label text.
Y Axis Color
The color of the Y Axis line
Y Label Font
The font family used for the Y Axis labels
Y Label Style
Indicates whether the Y axis labels are displayed in Bold and/or
Italic
Y Axis Font Size
The font point size of the Y axis labels.
Y Axis Font Color
The color of the y Axis label text.
X Tick Interval
Indicates how frequently a tick mark is displayed along the X
axis. A value of 1 means a tick mark will be displayed on every value
along the X axis. A value of 4 will display a tick mark on every 4th
value.
Y Tick Interval
Indicates how frequently a tick mark is displayed along the Y
axis. A value of 1 means a tick mark will be displayed on every unit the
Y Axis is divided into which depends on the scaling that has been
automatically generated based on the Y values.
X Tick Label Interval
Indicates how frequently a label is displayed along the X axis. A
value of 1 means a label will be displayed against every value along the
X axis. A value of 4 will display a label on every 4th value.
Y Tick Label Interval
Indicates how frequently a value label is displayed along the Y
axis. A value of 1 means a label will be displayed on every unit the Y
Axis is divided into which depends on the scaling that has been
automatically generated based on the Y values. A larger value will
display a label less frequently
Margin Color
The color of the axis labelling area surrounding the graph
plots.
Margin Left
The amount of space to leave on the left hand side for the Y axis
labelling. This is measured in pixels for HTML reports and points for
PDF reports.
Margin Right
The amount of space to leave on the right hand side of the graph.
This is measured in pixels for HTML reports and points for PDF
reports.
Margin Top
The amount of space to leave at the top of the graph for the Graph
Title. This is measured in pixels for HTML reports and points for PDF
reports.
Margin Bottom
The amount of space to leave on the bottom of the graph for the X
axis labelling. This is measured in pixels for HTML reports and points
for PDF reports.
The Graphs => Plots Sub Tab
This menu sets up which column values are to be plotted, what colors
to use and charting styles - currently bar charts, line charts and pie
charts are available. On selecting this tab the current plots, if any are
displayed. To add a new plot to the graph press the Add button. To
configure a plot, click on the appropriate plot button.
Column To Plot
the main report query column that holds the data to be
plotted.
Plot Style
Indicates how the plot values should be graphed. Valid values are
BAR, LINE, PIE, 3DPIE. Note that only one plot may be made for Pie
charts. It is possible to mix bar chart and line chart style plots
together, but note that plot are drawn in the order they are specified
so it is often sensible to specify a line plot after a bar plot.
Line Color
Indicates the color of lines for line plots and of the bar edges
for bar charts. Not relevant for pie chart plots
Legend
If specified, then a graph legend will appear within the plot area
that provides a description of the plot. This is useful where a graph
contains more than one plot and each plot needs describing.
Fill Color
For bar charts only. This is the fill color for each bar plotted
in the graph plot area.
