Assessing .

NET: Report Designer

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 Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
About This Course ........................................................................................................... 2
Contact Us........................................................................................................................ 2
The Basics .................................................................................................................. 3
Getting Started ................................................................................................................ 4
Add the Report ................................................................................................................ 8
Edit the Report .............................................................................................................. 11
Report Designer Layout................................................................................................ 12
Toolbox; Field List; Property Grid ................................................................................ 14
Set the Report Page Layout (Portrait or Landscape) ................................................. 19
Add a Section ................................................................................................................. 20
Resize a Section ............................................................................................................. 23
Add Fields ...................................................................................................................... 27
Resize a Field (Stretch; Shrink) ..................................................................................... 36
Add an Object (Line; Shape; Picture; etc.) ................................................................... 38
Align Fields ..................................................................................................................... 41
Move Fields .................................................................................................................... 46
Summarize Fields .......................................................................................................... 50
Add Date and Page Numbering ................................................................................... 59
Properties (Appearance) and Field Tasks ................................................................... 65
Dialog Fields ............................................................................................................ 69
Set Up the Dialog Field ................................................................................................. 70
Add the Dialog Field to Your Report............................................................................ 74
Test the Dialog Field ..................................................................................................... 76

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Report Designer

Calculated Fields and If Statements ..................................................................... 81

Create a Calculated Field .............................................................................................. 82
Create an If-Statement ................................................................................................. 93
Advanced Queries ................................................................................................. 101
Filters and Conditions; And/Or .................................................................................. 102
Set Up an Advanced Query ........................................................................................ 105

[ ii ]
 Introduction

Introduction

[1]
Report Designer

About This Course

This course is designed to offer a hands-on experience with the Report Designer that is
included with all BS&A applications. It is not an exhaustive demonstration of the software.
This course manual is intended to be a companion to the Assessing software manual, the
electronic version of which may be used during class time.
This course covers adding and designing user reports using the built-in Report Designer.
This course manual is intended to be a companion to the Assessing software manual, the
electronic version of which may be used during class time.

This book is yours to keep. Space has intentionally been made

available throughout for you to record your own notes.

Contact Us

Help Menu
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Email asgsupport@bsasoftware.com

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Fax (517) 641-8960

[2]
 The Basics

The Basics

[3]
Report Designer

Getting Started
It is important to select the proper report Category on which to base your user report. For
example, if your report will be comprised primarily of personal property data, be sure to
select Personal Property Reports from the Reports menu.

[4]
 The Basics

If you happen to have selected a different Category from the Reports menu, you may
switch categories in the Run Reports screen.

[5]
Report Designer

The "Assessing Reports" Category gives you the option of either basing your report on a
system report, or adding a blank report. The System Report option includes fields that may
be added to, removed, or otherwise manipulated; the Blank option does not - you have a
clean slate from which to begin. This course will take you through adding a blank report.

[6]
 The Basics

The other Categories only allow you to base your report on a system report. Pictured is
"Audit Reports."

The "Other Reports" Category does not allow user report creation.

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Report Designer

Add the Report

1. Select the Assessing Reports Category and click the Add Report button.

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 The Basics

2. Select Add Blank Report.

Include Page Header defaults to on; Include Report Footer defaults to off; Master
Report Table defaults to Parcels. We will accept these defaults. Adding a footer will be
covered separately. Utilizing Child Tables will be a class discussion, time permitting.
3. Click OK, then click Yes when prompted to continue. You are prompted to enter a
name.

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Report Designer

4. Click Ok. The Report Designer opens.

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 The Basics

Edit the Report

Designing a report can be an elaborate undertaking. You may need to exit the designer
from time to time. You can easily return to edit mode by clicking the Edit button in the Run
Reports dialog.

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Report Designer

Report Designer Layout

1 - Title Bar

The Title Bar includes the name of your user report.

2 - Menu Bar

File, Edit, Format, and View contain numerous options to aid in report design.

3 - Tool Bar

In addition to typical formatting buttons, the following tool buttons are available:
Show/Hide Toolbox, Field List, and Property Grid: This button acts as a toggle to
show or hide a pane that provides tools, fields, and property settings. This will be
covered in detail later.
Manage Dialog Fields: A dialog field prompts users for input. Dialog fields will be
covered in detail later.
Zoom In; Zoom Out: These buttons are used to zoom in and out of the design field.

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 The Basics

4 - Sections

Available sections and their titles vary by report Category. Sections can be quite complex;
the following is a rough sketch of their use in report design. Each section has a specific
location in the report body.

Top Margin: Fields placed here appear in the top margin of every page generated.
Report Header: Fields placed here appear at the beginning of the report.
Page Header: Fields placed here appear at the top of every page generated.
Group Header: This is used in reports for which separate totals are wanted. Fields
placed here appear once at the top of the data group.
Detail: Fields placed in this section appear once for each record found.
Group Footer: This is used in reports for which separate totals are wanted. Fields
placed here appear once at the bottom of the data group.
Report Footer: Fields placed here appear at the end of the report.
Page Footer: Fields placed here appear at the bottom of every page generated.
Bottom Margin: Field placed here appear in the bottom margin of every page
generated.

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Report Designer

Toolbox; Field List; Property Grid

When the Report Designer opens, this pane is hidden; the button uses the term, "Show."

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 The Basics

It is recommended that you click this button upon accessing the report designer. The
button will change to "Hide."

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Report Designer

Field List

This tab contains the fields that you can place in the different report sections. It is divided
into three groups of fields: Report Fields are fields drawn from the program, subject to the
type of report you are designing. Report Field Favorites contains fields you marked as
favorites. Dialog Fields contains dialog fields you set up for the current report.
Report Fields is further divided into fields specific to the Category in which you added the
user report, and "SystemInformation" fields. System Information is data that spans
Categories, including the database name and system date. When you highlight a field in the
Field List, a snapshot of information is provided in the Selected Field Information box.

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 The Basics

Toolbox

This tab offers tools to aid you in the design of your report (text labels, lines, pictures, etc.).

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Report Designer

Property Grid

This tab lets you set the properties of the currently-selected field or section, such as font
and size, text alignment, etc.

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 The Basics

Set the Report Page Layout (Portrait or Landscape)

For the purpose of this course, we will use the default Portrait page layout. To change the
page layout to Landscape, go to Format>Report Page Layout.

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Report Designer

Add a Section
When we added the report, we did not include the Report Footer.

1. Right-click in any section.

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 The Basics

2. Select Insert Section, then Report Footer.

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Report Designer

The section is added in its "natural" location.

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 The Basics

Resize a Section
In our example, the Parcels_Section is the Detail section. Fields placed in this section will
repeat for every record found. To keep the report from containing too much "white space"
between records, we need to shrink this section.

1. Position your cursor on the border between the Parcels_Section (Detail) and
Parcels_Section_Report Footer.

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Report Designer

2. Press and hold down your left mouse button and drag your mouse up.

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 The Basics

3. Release your mouse button.

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Report Designer

If you wish to increase or decrease the depth of the header and/or the footer section
(pictured), place your cursor at the bottom of that section and repeat, moving up or
down.

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 The Basics

Add Fields
This lesson will add a label field and a data field, in two different sections. The label field
"describes" the data that will appear in the data field.

Label Field

1. Click the Toolbox tab.

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Report Designer

2. Position your cursor on top of Text Label, press and hold down the left mouse
button, and drag your cursor to the bottom left of the Page Header.

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 The Basics

3. Release your mouse button. The label is placed, and defaults to Text Label.

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Report Designer

4. While the field is "selected" (surrounded by a border and handles), type Parcel
Number. Do not press Enter.

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 The Basics

5. Click an area outside of the selection box to "place" the label field.

Your screen may resemble the screen shot above, where we can't see the entire
word, "Number." Resizing a field will be covered shortly.

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Report Designer

Data Field

1. Click the Field List tab.

2. We want to add the data field that will bring in the parcel number. We can expand
the Parcels list beneath Report Fields and scroll until we find it, or we can search for
it.

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 The Basics

Position your cursor in the Search box and type parceln. As each character is typed,
the intelligent search features kicks in and tries to find matching fields.

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Report Designer

3. Position your cursor on top of Par_ParcelNumber (pnum), press and hold down the
left mouse button, and drag your cursor to the Detail section, below the location of
the label field from the last exercise.

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 The Basics

4. Release your mouse button and click an area outside the selection box to place the
data field.

Your screen may resemble the screen shot above, where the alignment of the label
field and the data field is off. Aligning fields will be covered shortly.

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Report Designer

Resize a Field (Stretch; Shrink)

The Parcel Number label field from our last lesson is too small to accommodate the
visibility of all letters.

1. Click on top of the Parcel Number label field. Notice the handles that surround it.

2. Position your cursor over the handle that appears along the right side of the selection
box.

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 The Basics

3. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag your cursor to the right.

4. Release the mouse button.

5. Repeat for the data field.

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Report Designer

Add an Object (Line; Shape; Picture; etc.)

This lesson adds a line to the Page Header, to make the label fields that get placed there
"pop" as headings.

1. Click the Toolbox tab.

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 The Basics

2. Position your cursor on top of Line, press and hold down the left mouse button, and
drag your cursor to a location beneath the Parcel Number label field in the Page
Header.

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Report Designer

3. Release your mouse button. The line is placed.

We can increase the length of the line by way of the handle, like we did for the label
and data fields, or we can use the Property Grid tab. This will be covered shortly.

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 The Basics

Align Fields
We now have three fields (two fields and one object; but for these purposes, we'll just use
the term "fields") on our report, none of which are aligned along the same axis.

1. You should still be on the Toolbox tab. Click on Pointer.

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Report Designer

2. Position your cursor above the Parcel Number label field, press and hold down the
left mouse button, and drag your mouse down through all three fields.

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 The Basics

3. Release your mouse button. All three fields are selected.

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Report Designer

4. Go to Format>Align and select Lefts.

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 The Basics

The fields are aligned.

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Report Designer

Move Fields
This lesson takes the three fields from the previous lesson and moves them to the left.

1. You should still be on the Toolbox tab, and Pointer should still be the active tool.

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 The Basics

2. Repeat the selection method shown in the previous lesson.

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Report Designer

3. You can either press and hold your left mouse button on any of the fields and
click/drag, or use your keyboard's arrow keys. Regardless of your chosen method,
move the fields to the left.

4. Click outside any of them to remove the selection. Move the line object a little further
left, using whichever method you're comfortable with.

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 The Basics

If you need to move the label field closer to the line, as in our example, do so now.

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Report Designer

Summarize Fields
Numeric fields can be summarized in the footer of a report. In this lesson, we will add three
additional data fields (and their accompanying label fields), two of which will be
summarized in the Report Footer.

1. Click the Toolbox tab and add a Text Label called Land Table. If necessary, stretch the
field to accommodate the letters.

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 The Basics

2. Add another label field for Current Land Value. You can either repeat the action from
step 1, or copy/paste the label from step 1 (used in this example).

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Report Designer

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 The Basics

Click the caret in the upper right of the label field and change the text [class
discussion on Multi-line and Word Wrap properties].

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Report Designer

Copy/paste the Current Land Value label field and change "Current" to "Previous."

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 The Basics

3. Add the data fields to pull in the land tables, and current and previous land values.

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Report Designer

4. Copy/paste the current and previous land value data fields into the Report Footer.

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 The Basics

5. Click the Par_Asr_Year1_Land (landass) data field to select it, then click the caret to
open its properties.

6. Click the ellipsis at the right edge of the Summary setting.

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Report Designer

7. Click the dropdown at the right edge of the Summary Function setting.

[class discussion of the options]

Repeat for Par_Asr_Year2_land (landass_1).

[ 58 ]
 The Basics

Add Date and Page Numbering

To include the date on which the report is generated, we will add a SystemInformation field
from the Field List. Page numbering is added from the Toolbox.

1. Click the Field List tab and expand the Report Fields category.

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Report Designer

2. Expand the SystemInformation category, then click/drag SystemDate to the upper left
corner of the Page Header.

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 The Basics

Release the mouse button to place the field.

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Report Designer

3. Click the Toolbox tab, then click/drag PageInfo to the upper right corner of the Page
Header.

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 The Basics

Release the mouse button to place the field.

Notice how it defaults to 1/1. This means that when the report is generated, you will
see [page number] / [number of pages].

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Report Designer

If you would rather see just the page number, click the caret, click the dropdown next
to Page Info, and select Number.

The printed result:

[ 64 ]
 The Basics

Properties (Appearance) and Field Tasks

So far, field properties have been touched upon, but not explored in detail. This lesson will
primarily consist of class discussion.

Each field on the report has its own "tasks" menu that is accessed by clicking on the caret
that is provided in the upper right corner when the field is selected.

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Report Designer

The tasks menu is an abridged form of the properties available in the Property Grid.
Pictured is an example using a data field. Label (Text) fields, System fields, and Objects all
behave in a similar fashion.

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 The Basics

In an earlier lesson, we showed you how to resize fields by using handles. Resizing can also
be done in the Property Grid. In this example, we've selected the line object. Its length
defaults to 100 pixels.

We've changed 100 to 600.

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Report Designer

The Property Grid tab reflects the element currently selected. This will be a data or label
field, an object (line, box, etc.), or the section itself. Pictured is an example where the
Report Footer section is the active selection.

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 Dialog Fields

Dialog Fields

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Report Designer

Set Up the Dialog Field

A dialog field prompts users for input.

1. Go to Edit>Manage Dialog Fields.

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 Dialog Fields

2. Click Add and enter a name - no spaces - for the dialog field.

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Report Designer

3. Click Ok. You may now set the properties of the dialog field.

For our example, we will accept the default Get Text Value, but we're changing the
Max Text Length to 40. When we receive the prompt, we will be able to enter the
report population we selected in any manner we wish; for example, we can combine
the selected Population and Special Population ("All/Ad Valorem+Special Acts"). Our
only restriction will be the Max Text Length. Examples of Numeric, Date, and Yes/No
Values are given below.
[class discussion on setting up additional dialog fields and the order in which they
appear]
4. Click Ok.

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 Dialog Fields

Dialog Prompt Examples

Once the dialog fields have been created, they will be available to add to the report (next
lesson). Upon running the report (two lessons from now), users will be prompted for data
entry according to the type of dialog fields that have been added. Our example above uses
Text; pictured are what the prompts will look like for Numeric, Date, and Yes/No dialog
fields.

[ 73 ]
Report Designer

Add the Dialog Field to Your Report

1. Click the Field List tab and expand the Dialog Fields category. You will see the dialog
field1 we created in the last lesson.

1
Or more, depending on class discussion

[ 74 ]
 Dialog Fields

2. Click/drag the ReportPopulation field to the Page Header, just above the Land Table
and Current Land Value label fields. Stretch the field to accommodate 40 characters.

Repeat for additional fields, if they were created.

3. Save and exit the report.

[ 75 ]
Report Designer

Test the Dialog Field

1. Make sure the Name field is displaying your user report and that the Destination is
set to Screen, and click Run Report.

[ 76 ]
 Dialog Fields

2. You will receive a Report Options dialog. Leave the settings as they are and click
Close.

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Report Designer

3. You are prompted to enter the ReportPopulation.

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 Dialog Fields

4. For this example, we've entered All AdVal & Special Acts.

The button is labeled Ok, because in this example, we're only using one dialog field. If
during the class we set up more, the button will be labeled Next to indicate that more
prompts are coming.

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Report Designer

5. Click Ok.
The report processes and appears onscreen.

6. Close the report to return to the Run Reports dialog, then click the Edit button to
return to the Report Designer.

[ 80 ]
 Calculated Fields and If Statements

Calculated Fields and If Statements

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Report Designer

Create a Calculated Field

Calculated fields are custom fields that use mathematical expressions to achieve a specific
output. In this lesson, we will add a calculated field to the Detail section that subtracts the
Previous Land Value from the Current Land Value. Time-permitting, more complicated
examples may be addressed as part of class discussion.

1. If you haven't already, click the Show Toolbox, Field List, and Property Grid button.
2. Click the Toolbox tab, then click/drag Calculated Field to the right of the Previous
Land Value data field in the Detail section.

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 Calculated Fields and If Statements

3. When you release your mouse button, your screen should resemble the following
picture.

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Report Designer

4. Type ChangeInValue in the Expression Name field, then click the UseExpression radio
button.

5. The formula we're going to use, if written out longhand, would read as follows:
(Par Asr Year1 Land(landass) - Par Asr Year2 Land (landass 1))

It is important that the field name be exact, so it is oftentimes easier to use the
buttons to the right of the expression entry box and select the field name, rather
than attempt to type it out.

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 Calculated Fields and If Statements

6. Click the open parenthesis button. It is placed at the top of the entry box.

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Report Designer

7. Click the Insert Value button, then click the Data Column radio button.

[ 86 ]
 Calculated Fields and If Statements

8. Open the Parcels category and locate Par_Asr_Year1_Land (landass).

9. Click Ok to return to the Add Value dialog.

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Report Designer

10. Click Ok to return to the Calculated Expression Editor dialog.

[ 88 ]
 Calculated Fields and If Statements

11. Click the minus sign button. Click the Insert Value button, then click the Data Column
Radio button. The Data Column Selector has retained the set of fields you searched
through when trying to locate the current year land value field. Locate
Par_Asr_Year2_Land (landass_1).

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Report Designer

12. Click Ok to return to the Add Value dialog, then click Ok again to return to the
Calculated Expression Editor dialog. Click the close parenthesis button. Your screen
should resemble the following picture.

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 Calculated Fields and If Statements

13. Click Ok to return to the Report Designer. The calculated field is saved.

14. Save and exit the report. Run the report to see the results.

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Report Designer

We can quickly eliminate zeros from appearing through the Property Grid:

15. Close the report to return to the Run Reports dialog, then click the Edit button to
return to the Report Designer.

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 Calculated Fields and If Statements

Create an If-Statement
If-Statements are calculated fields that use conditional, if-true-then-[this]; if-false-then-
[that] expressions. In this lesson, we will build on the calculated field example we used in
the previous lesson. Time-permitting, more complicated examples may be addressed as
part of class discussion.

1. If you haven't already, click the Show Toolbox, Field List, and Property Grid button.
2. Click the Toolbox tab, then click/drag Calculated Field to the right of the Previous
Land Value data field in the Detail section. When you release your mouse button, the
Calculated Expression Editor appears just like in the previous lesson. Type
CheckIncrease in the Expression name field. Use If-Statement is selected by default.

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Report Designer

3. Click the Quick If-Statement Wizard button. The first part of the wizard appears.

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 Calculated Fields and If Statements

4. Click the Calculated Expression radio button. The calculated expression we used in
the previous exercise is selected.2

2
Deleting the calculated field from the report does not remove it from the database

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Report Designer

5. Change Operator to Greater Than. Constant Value is the default selection; enter 5000
in the Value field.

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 Calculated Fields and If Statements

6. Click Next. We are now on the "if true" part of the wizard. Constant Value is the
default selection. Change Type to String, and type CHECK VALUE INCREASE in the
Value field.

In effect, we just told the program that if it is true that the value has increased by
more than $5,000 between the current year and the previous year, we want the
report to display "CHECK VALUE INCREASE." Now we need to tell the program what to
display if that is NOT true, i.e., the value increase is $5,000 or less.

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Report Designer

7. Click Next. We are now on the "if false" part of the wizard. Constant Value is the
default selection. Change Type to String and leave the Value field empty.

[ 98 ]
 Calculated Fields and If Statements

8. Click Finish. You return to the Calculated Expression Editor, and your If-Statement
appears in full.

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Report Designer

9. Click Ok to return to the Report Designer. The calculated field is saved. Increase its
width to accommodate the CHECK VALUE INCREASE statement.

10. Save and exit the report.

[class discussion on making some land value changes to a few parcels to get some
records on the report]
11. Run the report to see the results.

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 Advanced Queries

Advanced Queries

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Report Designer

Filters and Conditions; And/Or

Advanced queries give you the flexibility of setting up simple queries, such as "find records
where value equals X," and setting up more complex queries involving multiple filters and
conditions on those filters. Filters and conditions depend on AND and OR statements,
which are defined by determining "All" (AND) or "Any" (OR).

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 Advanced Queries

Filters: Report Data Must Match

ALL: The report engine will return only those records that match every filter set up in the
Filters pane, using that filter's conditions.
For example, you have two filters: one looking for A and one looking for B. Of 200
records, 50 records meet only the criteria for filter A, 30 records meet only the criteria
for filter B, 20 records meet the criteria for both, and 100 records meet neither. As a
result, 20 records will be returned.

ANY: The report engine will return records matching either filter.
For example, you have two filters: one looking for A and one looking for B. Of 200
records, 50 records meet the criteria for filter A, 30 records meet the criteria for filter
B, 20 records meet both, 100 records meet neither. As a result, 100 records (the
50/30/20 records) will be returned.

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Report Designer

Conditions: Filter Must Match

ALL: Only those records that match every condition set for the currently-highlighted Filter
Line will be included.
For example, you have two conditions: one looking for records that "equals" C and one
looking for records that are "less than" D. Of 100 records, 20 records meet only the
"equals" condition; 10 records meet only the "less than" condition; 5 records meet
both; 65 records meet neither. As a result, 5 records may be included (we say "may,"
because the number of records included will also be affected by your filter selection).

ANY: Records matching either condition set for the currently-highlighted Filter Line will be
included.
For example, you have two conditions: one looking for records that "equals" C and one
looking for records that are "less than" D. Of 100 records, 20 records meet only the
"equals" condition; 10 records meet only the "less than" condition; 5 records meet
both; 65 records meet neither. As a result, 35 records may be included (we say "may,"
because the number of records included will also be affected by your filter selection).

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 Advanced Queries

Set Up an Advanced Query

This lesson will guide you through setting up a simple query to find parcels that have a 0%
PRE, but have had a recent transfer in ownership (>0% Transfer). Time-permitting, complex
queries may be addressed as part of class discussion.

1. From the Run Reports dialog, select Assessing Reports as the Category, and Simple
List Report as the Name.

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Report Designer

2. Check the Apply Advanced Query to Population box. The Advanced Query button
becomes enabled.

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 Advanced Queries

3. Click the Advanced Query button. The Advanced Query dialog appears.

4. Report Data Must Match defaults to ALL Filters. We will keep this default. Click the
Add button in the Filters pane. Select Parcels as the Table; select Par_PRE_Percent
(homestead) as the Field, and leave the Operator set to Equals. Leave the Value set to
0.00.

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Report Designer

5. Click Ok. We now have our first condition for this filter.

6. Click the Add button in the Conditions pane. Select Parcels as the Table and select
Par_Transfer_PctEntered (pertrans) as the Field.

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 Advanced Queries

7. Change the Operator to Greater Than, and leave the Value set to 0.00.

8. Click Ok. We have the second (and final) condition for this filter.

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Report Designer

9. Assuming this is a query we will want to run from time to time, our best option is to
save it. Click the Save Query to DB button at the top.

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 Advanced Queries

10. New Query Name is the default selection. Enter the Query Name and click Ok.

11. Click Ok to clear the confirmation prompt that appears.

12. Click Close to return to the Run Reports dialog and run the report to see the results.

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