Generating Reports › Specifying General Page Format › Modifying the Format for One Report

Modifying the Format for One Report

Although you can generate a report using default assignments for the layout, you can modify these values using the Parameter fill‑in to suit each report.

The Parameter fill‑in prompts for attributes that apply globally to the report. These attributes include:

• The length and width of a page
• The spacing between lines and columns
• Column headings and how they are highlighted
• Control breaks
• Group continuation indication
• Heading definition
• Summary information
• Date and page specification

You can override many of the global attributes on the Parameter fill‑in with values specified on other fill‑ins. The Detail fill‑in specifies attributes for individual columns. The Report Header fill‑in and Column Header fill‑in specify individual headings.

You can modify the defaults on the Parameter fill‑in by overtyping the appropriate fields. The range of valid values for each attribute displays next to the data entry field. The following segment of the Parameter fill‑in shows the first five fields. These fields define the page length, width, and the number of spaces between lines and columns and between headings and details.

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 ‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑ Partially shown
 IDEAL   : RPT PARAMETERS        RPT CUSTRPT  (001) TEST           SYS: DOC  DISP 
                                                                                
 Lines per page on printout           060  (0 thru 250)                         
 Report width                         132  (40 thru 230)                        
 Spacing between lines                1    (1 thru 3)                           
 Spacing between columns              02   (0 thru 66 OR A=Automatic)           
 Spacing after page and column hdgs   1    (0 thru 9)                           
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The lines‑per‑page value specifies the total number of lines on the printed page. This includes all headings and footings, spacing, and details. You can suppress page breaks by specifying a 0 for lines‑per‑page. The report then prints on every line including any perforation lines.

When page breaks are not suppressed, the value specified by lines‑per‑page represents the maximum number of lines on the page, including all headings, footings, details, and blank lines. To determine whether a page break is to occur, RDF first determines the number of lines required for the page heading, column headings, page footing, and associated spacing. This value is subtracted from the lines‑per‑page specification. The remaining lines are available for the page body consisting of the details and control break headings and footings.

When a detail that does not cause a control break is produced, a page break occurs if the complete detail does not fit on the page. When a detail that causes a control break is produced, a page break occurs if the appropriate control break footing or heading does not fit on the page.

Other global attributes specified on the Parameter fill‑in are described under relevant topics. For example, the Parameter fill‑in area for specifying a page heading is described in the section on headings.

For detailed information about every field on the Parameter fill‑in, see the appendix "Fill-in Descriptions."