How to Specify Formatting in a Report

In this section:

You can specify your report formatting using a style sheet. A style sheet is a set of declarations that defines the appearance of a report. For some types of formatting, you may need to supplement style sheets with other features, such as SET parameters and TABLE commands. In each case, this manual describes everything required to achieve a given kind of formatting.

Benefits of using style sheets. For some types of formatting you can choose between using a style sheet or a different feature. Style sheets are usually preferred because they enable you to centralize and reuse formatting logic. This provides you with several advantages:

There are different kinds of style sheets that you can use to format a report. You can learn about them and how to choose between them in How to Choose a Type of Style Sheet.

Example: Specifying Formatting for the Order Revenue Report

This report displays the order number, order date, and total order revenue for Century Corporation for the third quarter of 2000:

The report is formatted by a WebFOCUS StyleSheet and by formatting commands in the report procedure itself. The procedure, Revenue.fex, is shown below, followed by the StyleSheet file, OrderRev.sty:

Revenue.fex

   TABLE FILE CENTORD 
1.HEADING
1. " " 
1. "C e n t u r y C o r p o r a t i o n" 
1. " " 
1. "Order Revenue - 2000 Q3" 
1. " " 
1. "page <TABPAGENO" 
1. " " 
2. SUM ORDER_DATE/MtDY ORDER_NUM LINEPRICE AS 'Order,Total:'
   BY LOWEST 9 ORDER_DATE NOPRINT
   WHERE (ORDER_DATE GE '2000/10/01') AND (ORDER_DATE LE '2000/12/31');
   ON TABLE SET ONLINE-FMT PDF 
3. ON TABLE SET SQUEEZE ON
4. ON TABLE SET STYLESHEET OrderRev 
   END

OrderRev.sty

5. TYPE=Report, GRID=Off, UNITS=Inches, TOPGAP=0.06, BOTTOMGAP=0.06, $ 
6. TYPE=Data, FONT='Times', $ 
7. TYPE=Data, BACKCOLOR=Aqua, COLOR=Navy,  
7.      WHEN=LinePrice GT 500000, $ 
7. TYPE=Data, COLUMN=LINEPRICE, BACKCOLOR=Aqua, COLOR=Navy, STYLE=Bold, 
7.      WHEN=LinePrice GT 500000, $ 
8. TYPE=Title, FONT='Helvetica', $ 
9. TYPE=Heading, FONT='Helvetica', STYLE=Bold, SIZE=14, JUSTIFY=Center, 
9.                       BACKCOLOR=Dark Turquoise, COLOR=White, $ 
9. TYPE=Heading, LINE=6, BACKCOLOR=White, COLOR=Dark Turquoise, $ 
9. TYPE=Heading, LINE=7, BACKCOLOR=White, $
  1. Adds a page heading to the report.
  2. Reformats the order date from (for example) 2000/10/07 to Oct. 7, 00.
  3. Aligns the heading with the report margins instead of the page margins.
  4. Identifies a StyleSheet file to format the report.
  5. Increases spacing between report lines.
  6. Uses a proportional serif font for the report data.
  7. Highlights each order that totals more than $500,000 by applying a navy font and an aqua background, and by bolding the order total.
  8. Uses a proportional sans serif font for the report column titles.
  9. Formats the report heading by centering it, applying a larger sans serif font, coloring most of it with a dark turquoise background and white lettering, and applying the inverse coloring to the page number (the sixth line of the heading).

This is only a summary of what these formatting instructions do. You can find complete explanations in the topics that describe each formatting feature.

The formatting logic that you apply to your own reports may be briefer or more extensive than this example, depending on the report and on what formatting you choose to apply.

How to Choose a Type of Style Sheet

You can choose between two types of style sheets to format a report:

How do you choose between the two types of style sheets? Consider choosing: