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Report Generator

Report Generator​

Purpose The Generic Report Writer is designed to allow a user to create reports using any file in DockMaster. A list of functions which can be performed through this program are shown below:

  • Create a new report and save it if desired.
  • Pull up an existing report, change it and save it under a new report name.
  • Save a report to an existing menu.

The pre-defined reports provided by DockMasterrepresent the most commonly used reports by our customers. These reports can be saved under a different name and then modified; the original version will not be affected. Note: Refer to the Data File topic for a listing of the file by module.

From the menu select System Administration, Report Generator.

  • Report ID – Enter a Report ID or press F6 to list the standard Reports. You can also select List DM Reports from the Command Panel. To get a listing of custom reports that have been created by the customer, press F7 or List Cust Reports from the Command Panel. Note: The List DM Reports and List Cust Reports are standard options in all Report Generator screens.

        Rules for creating Report IDs:

  • A maximum of 35 letters and/or numbers can be used.
  • No spaces can be used in the report id (the system will delete all spaces and merge your words together). If you want to create a break in your report id, use a "_" or "." to break up the id. For example, if you create a Customer Current Balance Report, give it an id of Customer_Balance or something similar.
  • The only characters supported in a Report ID are letters, numbers, periods or underscores.
  • You cannot give a report the same id as an existing standard report. Hint: All standard reports start with "DM.". Use your company initials in place of "DM" for your reports.
  • If an existing report name is entered, the Report Title is displayed to the right. If this is a NEW report, the cursor will stop at the Report Title prompt and allow you to enter a title. The report title will appear at the top of your report under your Company name. Hint: Try to be as descriptive as possible as you will be retrieving this report from a list of other reports.
  • Report Name - This field contain the descriptive name of the report and if 50 characters long.

Report Main Tab​

  • File Name - Enter a File Name or press F6 to list the DockMaster files. A list of file names for each module is also shown in the DockMaster Data Files section. Once a valid File Name is entered, the File Description is displayed to the right.
  • List Name - Enter a pre-defined List Name. This list can be generated using the Report Generator or with an ACCESS statement through the Execute D3 Commands program. If you are not sure how to create a list, call DockMaster for a schedule of available ACCESS seminars.
  • Modules – Enter the module where this report will reside. This prompt controls what reports can be accessed when the Report Generator is accessed through a particular module menu. Click the down arrow to display a list of modules.

-- Information --​

The Information section of this tab allows you to select the Information Options to be included on this report. Each area of this section is described below.

  • The Available List grid displays all possible Field Names that can be included on the report.
  • The Selected List grid displays only the actual Field Names that will be included on the report. The Field Names will print across the page in the order selected.
  • The Current Width field displays the width of the report based on the Field Names in the Selected List grid.
  • To SELECT an information option, click on (highlight) a Field Name in the Available List grid and click the Right Arrow button (>>) to move it to the Selected List grid. A Field Name can only be in one of the List grids in the Information section.
  • To REMOVE an information option, click on (highlight) a Field Name in the Selected List grid and click the Left Arrow button (<<) to move it back to the Available List grid.
  • Click the Select All button to move all Field Names from the Available List into the Selected List.
  • Click the Remove All button to remove all Field Names from the Selected List.

Using the Customer File (CM) as an example, if you choose the information options ID, Customer Name, and Boat Name, the report will print each field across the page from left to right in the order selected. A sample is shown below.

  ID  Customer Name  Boat Name
 ----------- ------------------------ ----------------------------
 00100 Doe, John Doe's Revenge
 00105 Craig, James Bimini

Sort & Totals Tab​

-- Sort --​

The Sort section of this tab is used to select the Sort Options for this report. One or more sort options may be selected; the report will print in the order the Field Names are listed in the Selected List grid. If you select more than one option, the report will sort by the first option and then by the second and so on. For example, if you are using the Customer File (CM) and select Postal Code and Customer Name as your sort options, the report will sort by postal code and then within each zip by customer name.

Sort Ascending or Descending - All reports will sort in alphabetical (ascending) order by default. Click the Descending box next to each Field Name that you want to sort in descending (Z to A) order. If the sort option is a date, ascending order is from earliest to latest (01/01/03 - 12/31/03).

Please see the Report Main tab section to review how to move Field Names from the Available List grid to the Selected List grid.

-- Totals --​

The Totals section of this tab is used to select the Field Names that should be totaled. The report will print totals for each Field Name you've selected regardless of whether it makes sense to total the option or not; be sure to only select Information Options from the Available List that will yield numeric totals. For example, if you try to print a numeric total for the option Customer Name, which is a non-numeric option, you will get a zero as your total.

Please see the Report Main tab section to review how to move Field Names from the Available List grid to the Selected List grid.

A sample report that totals the Current Balance of each customer appears below.

 Id  Customer Name  Boat Name Current Balance 
 --------- ------------------------ ---------------------------- --------------------
 00100 Doe, John Doe's Revenge 1,500.00
 00105 Craig, James Bimini 600.00
    -------------------
    2,100.00

Specific Values Tab​

-- Specific Values --​

The Specific Values grid is used to search for only a specific item or range of items in a file.

  • To select a Specific Value, click in the Field Name column and press F6 to see a list. Click on the Field Name you want to select and click the Select button.
  • Click in the Operand column to select the operation you would like to perform with the Field Name. This is a required field. Click the down arrow to see the valid operands; a list is shown below.
    • EQUAL TO
    • GREATER THAN
    • GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO
    • LESS THAN
    • LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO
    • NOT EQUAL TO
  • Click in the Value column to enter the specific value for your selection criteria. If the Field Name is a date field, the system will expect a date to be entered, if the Field Name is a File Id, you must enter the Id exactly how it is stored in the system (e.g. customer Ids are 5-digit numbers; you must enter all five digits (00095) to get the proper result).
  • The value is what you are selecting by or excluding. In this example we are excluding all parts with a Perpetual Quantity not equal to 0 and null (blank)
  • Wildcards are [ ] if we preceded a value with the right facing bracket, we are selecting all items the end in 0. Example [0 If we entered a value followed by the left facing bracket we are selecting all items that begin with 0 Example 0]
  • The " " can be used with the operand Equal To, to select multiple values. For example if we wanted to select all customers residing in the states of FL, GA, SC, we would enter all of the states in the value field like this example. "FL" "GA" "SC"
  • Click in the And/Or column if you will have more than one Field Name. This column is better described with an example. If you are requesting a report for a specific date range, you would enter a date Field Name in the first line of the grid and choose AND in the And/Or column and enter the same date Field Name in the second line of the grid.

Example #2 – You want to select customers with the first names of John and Mary. If you enter First Name = John and First Name = Mary, no items would be found. If you Select Customer with First Name = John or First Name = Mary then the result would be a list including John and Mary. Note: You will never need to select anything in the And/Or column if only one Field Name is selected or for the last Field Name entered in the grid.

Example of Specific Value Functionality
Assume you want to get a list of all Customers with a Current Balance greater than zero and less than 1,000.00.

  • The Field Name in row 1 would be Current Bal.
  • The Operand in row 1 would be GREATER THAN.
  • The Value in row 1 would be 0 (zero).
  • The And/Or value in row 1 would be AND.
  • The Field Name in row 2 would be Current Bal.
  • The Operand in row 2 would be LESS THAN.
  • The Value in row 2 would be 1000.00.
  • You would not have an And/Or value because it’s the last Field Name.

-- Sub-Title --​

This section is used to place an additional title line under the main Report Title of the report. You can either select to print a Field name or type your own Text as the sub-title; if you select a Field, anything you type in the Text area will not print.

  • Field - Click the down arrow to select a Field Name; you can only select a Field Name displayed in the Specific Value grid. By selecting a Field Name, the sub-title printed on the report will be whatever is in the Value column in the Specific Value grid for that Field Name.
  • Text – Click in the Text field to type your own Sub-title for this report.

-- Save-List --​

This section is used to save the data file items selected by the report and store it as a List Name. You can use the list name to run a report at another time; to do this, simply enter the list name in List Name field on the Report Main tab.

  • Click in the Name field and enter a name for your list.
  • Click the Create List button to create your list.
  • Note: The Lists are static when they are created. If your data has changed and you need to update it, you will need to re-select the report and enter the same list name again.

Advanced Options Tab​

The Advanced Options Tab is used to change how data is presented in the report and how the report should function when it is recalled for printing again.

All reports default to the following settings:

  • Single Spaced
  • Detailed Information
  • Underlined Totals
  • Allow Information Changes
  • Don’t Enter the Specific Value Window
  • No Footer
  • No Break on Sorted Options
  • No Page Break on Sorted Options
  • Double Space - Click on this option to place a space between each line of data on the report for easier reading and auditing.
  • Detail Suppress – Click this option to summarize the data printed on the report; the data is summarized based on the Field Names in the Sorted Options to Break-On grid. Warning: The report output may not appear as desired when printing in suppressed mode.
  • Underline Totals - Click this option to underline all subtotals and totals on the report. If the Break-On options do not have more than one line, the single line total will print with out an underline.
  • Lock Information Changes - Click this option to prevent anyone from changing any report options.
  • Enter Specific Values - Click this option to force the user into the Specific Values when the report is selected. If you design your report to ask for any specific values that may change (date range, customer number, etc.), you should enable this option.

For example, if you use this report to run a daily sales report for the Point of Sale, then you should request that the Specific Values window appear each time the report is run so that you don’t have to remember to change the date.

  • Run Saved AQL Statement – If this option is checked, you have the ability to run/save a modified AQL Statement.
  • Suppress Grand Total - This option is for use with the Universal Sales Tax Report. When checked, the grand total lines WILL NOT print on the bottom of the tax report.
  • Footer – Check the box to print a footer at the bottom left hand corner of each page in the report.
  • QSelect Statement - This prompt enables you to type an AQL command to pre-select data prior to executing the report. The QSelect Statement functions similar to the Save-List in that it runs the report against a selected list of data file items instead of the complete file. Note: This statement is not saved when you press the Save or Save As button.
  • For example: A Qselect statement allows you to take a list name that was created in another Data File that has a Shared Key. Such as the Vendor File VM and the Master inventory File IM and then select data to print or export. For instance you could select all parts within a vendor cost effective date range. Save the report as a list. Then Qselect the Vendor VM File in a new report to pull their phone numbers and addresses to request new price files.
  • Preliminary Command – This prompt will mostly be used by DockMaster personnel. It is used when a program/routine needs to be run at TCL before running the report. Instead of running the routine through TCL, the routine can be entered in this field.
  • This prompt defaults the program Process Tax Report Specifics when running the Universal Sales Tax Report. The report will require this program to properly select tax codes when running the tax report. These specifics allow you to report on multiple tax codes, multiple locations or multiple zip codes

-- Sorted Options --​

The Sorted Options section controls how the data in the report is separated. For example, if you run a Storage Contract report sorted by Customer Name, the system would break or separate the report between each name. Therefore, you would see all Storage Contracts for one customer grouped together, then a break (blank line or total), and then all Storage Contracts for the next customer. If any Field Names are being totaled, you will see a total for those fields at the break.

The Field Names shown in the Sorted Options to Break-On grid are from the Selected List in the Sort section on the Sort & Totals tab. If you don’t see the Field Name you want to Break On, you must select the Sort & Totals tab and add the Field in the Selected List.

You will only see Field Names in the Sorted Options with Page Break grid if you check the Break On box next to a Field Name in the Sorted Options to Break On grid.

  • Sorted Options to Break On - Place a check mark in the Break On column for each Field Name a break is desired.
  • Sorted Options with Page Break - Place a check mark in the Page Break column for each Field Name a break is desired. This option will start a new page each time a break occurs in the report.

AQL Statement Tab​

  • The AQL Statement tab shows the Access Query Language (AQL) text statement created by the Report Generator to produce this report. You can modify this text statement and print the report by clicking the Preview Report Using AQL or Generate Report Using AQL.

-- AQL Text String --​

  • Click the Generate Report Using AQL button to preview the report based on the changes made to the text statement. The report will look the same if you don’t make changes to the statement or you don’t click this button when you DO make changes.