In Version 9 we have extended the ability in Report Designer to export reports to an e-mail recipient. The Send via MAPI button in the Report Designer now includes a new Mail Options button that allows you to divide a report based on group definitions and then automatically send each section to a different e-mail address that is specified in the database. Note that bursting is currently available for HTML, RTF and Text export only.
Auto Send has also been added as an option for our traditional MAPI support of sending the entire report to a single recipient. You can now address the mail message prior to export file creation and have it automatically sent to the mail system when the export file is complete. No additional user intervention is needed. Auto send is available for all MAPI exports.
As users become more involved with R&R, the number of reports they create and manage increases significantly. Modified versions of reports are saved, often in a variety of locations, and finding the right report can be particularly difficult at times.
When the data sources change, including the table and field names, updating reports can be a substantial problem. Identifying the report contents across reports is a frustrating search-and-locate process, making this one of the most costly aspects of updating systems.
Report Librarian is a new component of R&R that allows report users to coordinate and centralize the storage and retrieval of report format information. The librarian automatically keeps track of report changes and provides solid front-end access to a variety of users to identify, load and run reports. It also lets administrators find all the uses of a table, field etc. since one can view or report on the key contents of reports. Report Librarian has been written in MS Visual FoxPro and uses DBF files and CDX indexes. Since you can launch Report Designer from within Report Librarian, Librarian becomes the natural port of entry to Report Designer since it will add on the benefit of cataloging reports based on a specific user.
Librarian contains an on-line help system. There is also complete Librarian documentation in the file RLDOC.PDF that is installed in the \RL subdirectory.
Quite often when a report is executed, certain values in the report need to be modified at runtime. One example is a date range selection that may change each time the report is run.
To address the need for a more robust method of prompting, in Version 9 we have added a new field type called a ParameteRR field. A ParameteRR field is a special kind of field constant that allows you to define a default value/format mask and a validation rule that will be applied at runtime both within the Report Designer and via the runtime Report Viewer.
At report execution, a single ParameteRR Value Entry screen is displayed that contains a selection list of all available ParameteRR fields for that report. As you scroll through the ParameteRR list you are presented with the instructions for entry to that field and can change or accept the current value. Once the prompt selections are made, pressing the OK button proceeds with the selected print/export/display of the report.
Nearly any aspect of the report may be controlled with ParameteRR fields. This allows for a very robust set of options for building reporting applications without needing to add any additional external programming.
This feature can be combined with R&R’s ability to export a report to a DBF file so that you now have the power to customize both your own tables and indexes. Users of the SQL version of R&R can now extract data from their database server, save it to DBF and then access this “SQL” data in Version 9 Xbase using the power of FlexLink.
The Rapid Runner™ utility program to batch reports is now automatically included with product.
Quickly create a report set with reports from any libraries or report files.
Set timer to run reports after hours.
Easy access to settings of any report in the set.
Run reports without using an R&R license.
Change settings and run reports without having to edit reports in R&R (and risk damage).
Save time by creating sets of reports that run together.
Copy specific settings to all reports in set.
Change report settings for scope, queries, export files, printer and more for all reports from one screen.
Rapid Runner has replaced the Scheduler utility that was shipped with earlier R&R versions. There is not a conversion utility to convert Scheduler events to Rapid Runner sets.
There are now two option settings that extend the band color schema that was added to the product in Version 8.1. These options are:
Enabling this choice will display color coding of the Band Area in the main Designer window and will also display the same color coding at the left and right sides of the Print Preview page within Report Designer.
Enabling this choice will display color coding of the Reset level listing within the New/Edit/Auto Total dialogs and will also display color coding within the Group order dialog.
LASTPAGE()
Returns total number of pages in a report. You can finally create Page X of Y reports!
REPORTPAGE()
Returns a sequential page number as does the current PAGE() function. However, REPORTPAGE() will not re-start numbering when Reset page is enabled at a group level. It will always represent the sequential page number for the entire report.
The Database Relations dialog has been redesigned with new graphic elements to simplify and direct the process of linking tables. The options button has been removed so that all relation options can now be selected from a single screen. Support for the new FlexLink indexing has been added to this screen. There is now a checkbox to select a FlexLink index for a related table and an Edit Key button that is enabled when the FlexLink box is checked. The Edit Key button brings you to a dialog where you can create the User Index Expression. The dialog contains a drop down list of fields from the related table and a listing of available functions that can be used within the FlexLink user index.
The Result Set Browser Window now allows for immediate drill-down, sorting and grouping based on any displayed field. You can right-click on a column heading to display a menu that allows you to either sort or group on the selected column. The grouping option allows you to contract your result set so that just one record per unique group value is displayed. There is also a new button to revert the table back to its original state. The Save button in the Result Set Browser allows you to export your result set directly to a Microsoft Excel 5 workbook or an Xbase database.
Support has been added for dBase7.5 tables for the following field types:
Character Logical Double
Date Memo Autoincrement
Numeric Long Float
Note that dBase7.x tables cannot be used with FlexLink indexing in the current release.
To facilitate common tasks, new buttons have been added to the standard toolbar.
File->Export
Calculations->ParameteRR Field
We have also added an additional button to the Formatting Toolbar.
View Field Names
At the request of many users, we have included an R&R PDF printer driver with Version 9. With this driver you can “print” the fully formatted output of your report to PDF file.
This PDF file can then be read using any PDF viewing program such as the Abode Acrobat Reader (which is also included with R&R in the PDFDOCS directory of the distribution CD.) The R&R PDF driver is only available for use within R&R. Each time you run the Report Designer, the driver is installed for internal use and then removed when you exit the program.
To create a PDF file within R&R, select File Print and then from the printer menu select R&R PDF Export. Then check the Print to File checkbox and enter a file name with the extension .PDF in the Print File text box. When you click ok, R&R will create the PDF file.
The R&R PDF driver can also be used within the Report Viewer by explicitly setting RI_WPTR to R&R PDF Export and RI_OUTFILE to a filename.PDF. Note that you cannot prompt the user at runtime to select the PDF driver by using an RI_PRINTER=? value.
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