Report Designer: Define report content and formatting

The Report Designer is accessed via the ReportIt Report Portal and comprises five main areas.

The five main areas are:

  • The Report Design Surface, the center canvas where entities and attributes can be dragged and dropped to create tables, charts, or other controls that will form the basis of a report.
  • Ribbon tabs (located in the toolbar above the Report Design Surface) including the Menu, Properties and Data tabs.
  • Menu tab (located in the top left-hand corner of the Ribbon toolbar). When selected will expand to reveal the Report Explorer, Group Editor, and Report Controls.
  • Properties and Data tabs (located on the right-hand side of the Ribbon toolbar). Respectively display either the properties of a selected report element, or provide access to report data sets and parameters in a panel to the right of the Design Surface.
  • The Designer Buttons toolbar (located beneath the Report Design Surface).

For more information refer to Web Designer Interface Elements.

  • Drag the Text box icon (one of the Report Controls) onto the Report Design Surface.
  • Enter text, for example the report title into the text box and resize it as required.

The Properties tab displays related formatting options for the text box.

  • Use the formatting options available under the Properties tab to format the text box.
  • Select Preview to review a final version of the report.
  • Select Back to leave preview mode.
  • Select the File tab in the Ribbon toolbar to open the Save dialogue screen and save the report.

The report is saved in the ReportIt Report Portal in the No Category section.

The report is ready to have data added to it.

Data Sets

It is necessary to select and connect the report to data in order for it to display in the finalised version. This is achieved with the various Data Set, Parameter, and Common Value options.

Data Sets allow for sections/tables to be selected in order for specific information to be displayed in the report (for example, Company, Addresses, Officer, etc.).

To access Data Sets:

  • Select the Data icon (located on the right-hand side of the Ribbon toolbar.

The Data panel displays.

  • Select +Add in the Data Sets section.

A list of Data Set entities display.

  • Double-select a listed entity to access its related Entity Tree.

An Entity Tree lists the various Attributes of the selected entity. For example, selecting the Company Entity will reveal a list of Company related attributes, such as Company Name, Date of Last Accounts, Registration Number, etc.

If any Attributes contain additional sub-attributes, these additional options will be indicated by an Eye icon.

Selecting the sub-attribute icon will cause the selected entity to listing to expand and reveal the additional sub-attributes. Once expanded, selecting the icon once more will close the expanded view.

Identified attributes can then be dragged and dropped onto the Report Deign Surface. Each Attribute selected will be represented as a field in the report.