Getting Started with CA Culprit › How to Produce a CA Culprit Report › Step 1. Planning the Report

Step 1. Planning the Report

1. Define the report objectives:
   1. What information do you want in the report?
   2. Do you need each data occurrence?
   3. Do you need totals? Subtotals?
2. Identify the data source:
   1. What is the name of the file?
   2. What data is in the file?
   3. How is the file organized?
3. Define the report output:
   1. Do you need a title? Subtitles?
   2. What columns do you need?
   3. What are the column headings?
   4. Do you need total line labels?
4. Define the processing functions required to obtain the information needed in the report:
   1. Are certain data items to be selected?
   2. Should the data be sorted?
   3. What calculations (if any) are needed?
   4. Is testing (comparisons) needed between data items?
   5. Will branching be used?
   6. What logical sequence is required?
   7. Other procedures?