Step 3 - Format Display Fields

The Field Characteristic Definition Screen shows the Display Fields, Selection Fields and Sort Fields that were chosen in the previous Field Selection Screen. It also displays the Charting Fields and Other Fields. On this screen, characteristics of the data are defined.

The Display Fields Section allows the columns' labels to be set, formatted and/or subtotaled. The Display Fields are clearly identified throughout the report creation process with the light purple background on the header.

1. Field Name: Displays the name of each data field selected to display in the report.
2. Column Name: Displays a default column name that will appear on the report. This field may be edited to contain any text.
3. Formatting: Contains the various formatting options available for that field. Use the dropdown arrow to view the formatting options that are available.
   
   • "None" – will display the data exactly how it is stored in the database without any formatting
   • "Trim" – will trim off leading or trailing spaces from the data field
   • "TITLECASE" – will capitalize the first letter of each word
   • "UPPER CASE" – will convert all letters to upper case
   • "LOWER CASE" – will convert all letters to lower case
   • "Excel Non-Numeric" – for example, if the report output is HCSV or CSV and location code is a display field, using this format would force excel to keep location code 0030 instead of excel changing it to 30
   • "DD-MMM-YYYY" – will format dates as per the mask
   • "DD-MMM-YYYY HH:MM.SS" – will format timestamps as per the mask (HH:MM.SS = hours:minutes.seconds)
   • "(###)###-####" - will cause phone numbers to be formatted
   • "###########" – "B#######.##" - select and display the number field with the selected decimal place. (########.## = 1234567.89)
   • With numerical fields, there are several options for the number of decimal places. Choosing the option with the "B" at the beginning will display a blank as opposed to a 0.00 if the field value is zero.
4. Width: Indicates how much space is given to that particular field (note that this is not a true font value. It is a portion of the total width of the display fields). For example, the report has a display field that has a width of 30 and all the field widths totaled for this report equals 120. Dividing 30 by the total of 120 equals 0.25. Therefore, that field would take up 25% of the entire width of the report.
5. Truncate: Controls whether or not a field is truncated. Selecting "Yes" will cause the field to truncate to the number of characters specified in the width column. Selecting "No" will not truncate the field and if it takes more space than is allocated for it, the field will wrap and take up multiple lines in the report.
6. New Line: Controls whether the specified field will be displayed on its own separate line
   
   • Selecting "YES" will display the field in its own separate line. (An example of why to select this option would be a comment field that could consume many characters. Choose YES to display it on its own line of the report.)
   • Selecting "NO" (this is the default setting) will display the field on the same line as the other fields.
   • Selecting "YNH" means "Yes, No Header. In other words, yes, the column data will be printed on a new line, but the header information that normally precedes it will be suppressed. If the column data happens to be blank, then nothing (neither header nor data) will be printed.
   • Selecting "YOL" means "yes move the data to a separate line, but display all the data on one line." What this does is make the background colour continue into the following line instead of alternating colours, should the separate line field take up more than one line (if the data contains forced carriage returns/line feed characters).
   • Selecting "YFT" means "yes move the data to a separate line, but display the field in the footer" (as opposed to after each detail line). See the following example:

   C0506-0007	29-Mar-2006	Student Services/Teacher	Hatzic Secondary School	15.00	22.22		Additional info...
   		Dist Secretary	Cherry Elementary School (Auth Loc)	10.00	25.00
   	JOB SPECIFIC DETAILS
   	DISTRICT EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANT
   	Supporting a low incidence student with significant needs (autistic/OCD/aggressive); CPI training an asset; supporting LD and behaviour students integrated in classrooms.

   The report above is sorted by posting number. This option displays all records for the posting, and then displays the comment (which is the YFT field) instead of displaying the first position, followed by the separate line field and then the second position.

7. Subtotal: Controls whether a numeric field should be subtotaled. If the field is not numeric only the "No" option will be available.
   
   • Selecting "YES" will subtotal the field in the footer section of the report. If footers have been chosen not to display on any fields, choosing "YES" will have no effect on the report.
   • Selecting "NO" will not subtotal the specified field in the footer section of the report.
   • Selecting "AVG" (average) will display an average of the selected field's values. For example, if subtotaling 5 records and the total of these records is 100, then the report would display the average of these 5 records, which would be 20.
   • Selecting "RUN" will display the column's values as a running total.
   • Selecting "FRM" (formula) will cause the formula – provided a formula is used – to be calculated on the subtotaled amounts of the report.
   • NOTE: When using subtotal, ensure the field you are using this for is at the bottom of the display fields to ensure that all the information displays for the other columns. 

8. Where Column C Subtotal field is set to YES

   	Column A	Column B	Column C
   Row 1	1	4	4
   Row 2	2	5	10
   Row 3	3	6	18
   Footer	6	15	32

   Column C footer contains the total of the three rows.
   Where Column C Subtotal field is set to FRM

   	Column A	Column B	Column C
   Row 1	1	4	4
   Row 2	2	5	10
   Row 3	3	6	18
   Footer	6	15	90

   Column C footer contains the product of 6 * 15.
   TIP: When choosing to subtotal a field, which has a selected range (i.e. units absent of 20-999), the Select on Subtotal must be used. For example, create a report of employees with over 5 days' sick leave. Without the Select on Subtotal, the report will only display employees with an individual absence record of 5 days (which is impossible, so the report will be blank). By selecting Absence_Code under Select on Subtotal for Units, the report will then display all employees who have over 5 days total under the selected absence code.

9. Suppress If Repeat: Controls whether a repeated field is suppressed.
   
   • Selecting "YES", will suppress repeated fields. For example, if a report lists the same location 5 times in a row, the last 4 occurrences of the location would be suppressed. This can sometimes improve the readability of the report.
   • Selecting "NO", will not suppress repeated fields and instead, will print all data, regardless of repetition.
   • If "ALWAYS" is selected, then the repeated field will always be suppressed. This will only display a subtotal of a numeric field in the footer line without displaying its value in each detail line.
10. Font Type: Controls the font type for that specific column. The available font types are – Normal, Bold, Bold Italic, Italic, Strikethrough, and Underline. This field may be left blank - the report writer will use the default values.
11. Font Size: Controls the font size for the data in the specific column. This field can also be left blank and the report writer will use the default values.
12. Font Colour: Controls the colour of the font for the data in the specific column. When left blank, the report writer will use black. See Step 9 - Evaluated Fields, to learn about applying to colour to evaluated fields (for example, show Employee Name in red if the Employee Category is Teacher).
13. Alignment: This controls how the column of data is aligned; the options are Left, Right or Centered. Leaving this field blank will cause the report writer to use default values. For example, if a text column is placed after a monetary column, readability is difficult as the monetary column aligns right and the text column aligns left. By adjusting the alignment on the text column to right justify, the readability of the report is restored. There are other alternative ways to fix this particular alignment issue. Some of the options include cell spacing or literal text field columns.