Report Structure

Reports have two components, a layout component that defines the report appearance and a query component that defines the data included in the report A layout is used to present the data in an orderly fashion with respect to lists, charts and crosstabs. The report should be laid out in a manner where the data is allowed to flow freely from one page to the next page. Borders, color, and images are used to enhance the appearance of the report but a greater importance should be placed on the manner in which the data is viewed by the user.

Pages contain the objects used to build a report. Pages should have, at a minimum, a header, a body and a footer. When the amount of data in a report exceeds one page, the primary page, the one you created, repeats for all additional data. You control the flow from page to page.

Objects are lists, charts, text blocks, and other layout items that are added during the creation of a page. Queries determine the data items that appear in the report. Most data can be obtained by using the SELECT statement. You can also calculate data and then display the calculation results, rather than the data columns used to produce the calculation.