Print Template Workspace

Print Template - The Workspace

Preparing the Workspace
Working in the Workspace can be either "from scratch" or by loading a "prototype" into a special Prototype area appended to the top of the Workspace. To use the Prototype, press the Prototype toggle button. This will subdivide the Workspace by adding the Prototype area above the actual Workspace, and display the Print templates view of the Palette.

The use of the Prototype is optional and is usually employed when, for example, a Header has been created as a single template and you wish to properly line up the Body template that is associated with it, or vice versa.

However, before doing any of the above, you must establish the Paper Size and the Margins of the report, and decide on the Grid density (use the Menu selection shown or the Page Layout button in the tool bar of the Template Workspace):

The grid positions mark locations on the page relative to the page frame; they do not represent the number of characters that can be printed between the grid lines. Rather, the print field's outline shows the limits within which the field can print its contents.

The printed text prints on the Base line (the horizontal grid line) and aligns with the vertical grid lines:

with the left field boundary if the text is left-aligned,
with the right boundary if it is right-aligned, and
with the center of the field if it is centered.

However, beyond this, little can be said about location of the printed text: it is printed either until it is finished, or until it runs out of the space allocated within the print field (at which point it is truncated, if necessary). The pre-determined Grid density always generates a square grid pattern (e.g. the 8 / inch Grid density has a Grid spacing of H:9 and V:9); to create a more compact layout capacity try Grid density Other and set the Grid spacing to e.g. H:4 and V:9.

Make sure that you understand the constraints of the "expandable" Text field.

Print templates are also sensitive to the page-end and page-start conditions set by the template's Print Template Inspector settings:

and the Segment Inspector, and can print designated segments when these conditions arise. Beyond this, print templates do not implement any logic; they are no more that "dumb" forms that know how to print data when the data becomes available. They don't know how to get the data from the database, or how to calculate it. Getting data is the function of Report Procedures.

Populating the Workspace
You can now proceed to fly in the fields (Components or Local/Database fields) from the Palette and start creating a new template.

Whether to utilize dynamic Print fields or existing Database fields must be decided on a case by case basis. The following example utilizes a dynamic Print field:

To place a desired object into the Workspace, mouse-drag it.
If the object is released prematurely (before the object is entirely within the Workspace area), the object will snap back to the Palette; however,
when the object is landed in the Workspace, it will snap into position by aligning itself to the bottom left corner (origin) of the nearest grid space (example shown is a dynamic Print field (i.e. the text is dyn #), the text of a Database field is its field name):

The Vernier Adjustment Tool
Normally, all fields, underlines, etc. in the Template are aligned to the grid. This means that the field's origin, associated with its left bottom corner, can be moved only in fixed increments of the grid size.
The Adjustment, % (vernier) provides for the fine-tuning of the field's location between the grid points. It allows for the repositioning of a field by up to + or - 50% (1/2 a defined grid spacing - up or down, left or right), in order to assist in achieving aesthetically pleasing Reports.

Naming Dynamic Fields
The landed object (dynamic Print field) is now added as a new resource, with the generic name dyn1, to the Local area of the Palette under the heading Dynamic. Additional fields will be named in a like manner on an incremental basis, if necessary (e.g. dyn2, dyn3). By double-clicking the generic name the cell will convert into an editable field with the generic name text selected and ready for renaming with a more meaningful name:

Segmenting the Workspace
A single Print Template can contain up to three possible Segment components: Header, Body, and Footer. How to embody these features in a Report depends upon the desired format i.e think it through before you begin.

For example, assume that you want to create a Financial Statement consisting of a report header; two visually identical sections each consisting of a section header, section detail lines, section total; and a final total. Two Print templates will handle the job:

Print Template #1
Header: to provide the Report Header data
Footer: to provide for the Final Total
Print Template #2
Header: to provide the Section Header
Body: to provide a single print line definition for the Section Detail
Footer: to provide the Section Total