Step 5 - Define Report Sorting

The Sort Fields Section defines how to sort the report. The fields are clearly identified through the report creation process with the use of the light green background on the header.

1. Field Name displays the name of each field that has been selected to sort on the report.
2. Ascend/Desc allows the user to choose whether each sort field is sorted in ascending (from smallest to largest) or descending (from largest to smallest) order. Note if sorting on alphabetical values, A is considered smaller than B.
3. Header/Footer allows the user to specify what (if any) header or footer options apply to the report.
   A header is comprised of a name and value which will precede each subsequent sorted group of records. A footer is comprised of a name, value, an optional count and optional subtotals which will succeed (appear below) each sorted group of records. There are seven options: 
   
   • "No Header or Footer" indicates that neither header nor footer information applies.
   • "Header and Footer" indicates that both header and footer information apply.
   • "Header Only" indicated only the header information should be displayed.
   • "Footer Only" indicates that only the footer information should be displayed.
   • "No Header or Footer!" is the same as selecting "No Header or Footer" except that this new option will reset the suppression flag on sorts that have the "No Header or Footer!" option selected. This causes the repeated value to be displayed if the "Suppress if Repeat" field in the Display Field section is set to "Yes". Normally this only happens on sorts that are either headers and/or footers and not sort fields that are designated as "No Header or Footer". This is a very subtle change but an important one. 
   • For example, an assignment report may show Employee Name, Position, Start Date, End Date and FTE.
   • To clean up the report, we will suppress the repetition of the employee name and position description, so that if one employee has two assignments with the same position code, it will not be repeated.
   • This report may not be clear in that it suppresses the repetition on each employee (see employee Jeff Bordignon – ESL Teacher in the example down to Emmanuelle Boucher.) Although we want to suppress the repeating position if it repeats on the employee, we want the position description to display if it is new for that employee. 
   • This is where we use the "No Header or Footer!" on the sort field of Employee Name:
   • In the above example, now the position only suppresses if it is a repetition of that employee's position.
   • In other words, if the previous position was the same as the current one, but belonged to another employee, it would not be a good idea to suppress it (even though it was the same as the previous one). Prior to the addition of the "No Header or Footer!" option, the only way to accomplish this was to choose a real "Header or Footer" option. The new "No Header or Footer!" option allows repeated values to print within similarly sorted sort fields without having to specify it as a header or footer. 
   • "Header and Footer NL" and "Footer Only NL" are new options in the Header/Footer drop down. They work in conjunction with the new YFT New Line option mentioned above. If either of these sort header/footer types is selected, then any fields designated as "YFT" (Yes display field on a separate line, footer) will be displayed in the report footer.
4. Page Break allows the user to choose whether to start a new page each time the specified sort field changes values.
   
   • "No" is the default option. Select "No" if a new page should not be started each time the specified sort field changes value.
   • "Yes" will cause the report to start a new page each time the specified sort field changes value.
   • "Yes-Reset" works the same as the Yes option above except that the page numbering will be reset to 1.
   • "Yes-PG1 Only" displays the field on a new page, but will only display it on page 1 (the very first page). With this, a literal text field can be used to display something only on the first page of the report without repeating it on every page.
5. Sort on Subtotal/Count on Subtotal is comprised of two separate prompts, one above the other.

• • "Sort on Subtotal" allows for the selection of whether to sort records based on each individual record value, or based on the subtotal of a number of records.
  • For example, a GL report which displays the fund, object and the expenditures to date. 
  • The report is sorted by Fund (ascending), Expenditure To Date (descending) and Object (ascending). The table below represents data in the GL file.

• • If "NO Sort On Subtotal" is selected, the report will display the records in the following order:

• • Note that the above records are sorted by fund, expenditure to date, and then object. Each record is sorted based on its own values.
  • However, if the Object field in the "Sort On Subtotal" option is chosen, the report will display the records in the following order:

• • Note that the above records are sorted by fund, then by the object's subtotals of expenditure to date, then by object. Because the Certified Salary object has the greatest amount (375,000), it comes first on the report. The Regular Salary object has the least expenditures, so it comes last on the report.
  • In the next example, Absence Code has been selected to Sort on Subtotal of units.  
  • "Count on Subtotal" will display a count of the records in the specified footer section. Note: Using the Count on Subtotal option without a footer will not have any effect on the report. A footer option must be selected for the subtotals to appear on the report.
  • If the "NO" option is selected, the footer section of the report will not contain a record count.
  • If any of the other options are selected, the report will count the number of times the specified value changes. For example, if sorting by fund and Count On GL Account is chosen, the fund footer will display a count of the number of different GL accounts in that section.
  • Another example of a count on subtotal would be on a report that displays employees' dispatches. If the report was sorted by employee and counted on units, the employee footer will display a count of how many dispatches the employee had. Note: Using the Count on Subtotal option without using a footer will not have any effect on the report.

6. Header Name/Count Name is comprised of two separate prompts:

• • Header Name: the name that will be displayed in the header.
  • Count Name: the name that will appear beside the count in the footer.

7. Font Type, Size and Alignment is comprised of three separate prompts:

• • "Font Type" controls the font style for the data in the header/footer on the report. Leaving this blank will keep the font at default settings. Customizations include: Normal, Bold, Bold Italic, Italic, Strikethrough and Underline.
  • "Size" controls the font size of the header/footer.
  • "Alignment" controls the header/footer alignment on the report. If left blank, the values will remain at the default settings. The types of alignment available are: Left, Right, Centre, Left No Subt, Right No Subt, Centre No Subt. 'NO SUBT' represents No Subtotal. By default, anything in the subtotal area will be preceded by the words "Subtotal For" and by choosing an alignment option with the NO SUBT will remove these words from the subtotal area specified.