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Formatting the report

In this lesson, you improve the appearance of the report with dynamic text and formatting.

You will create a more readable report by adding information and formatting. In the report you created, the data type information is duplicated in the column headings and in the data rows. Also, the table, column, and data type information is not clearly labeled. You decide to further refine your report design by adding dynamic labels that enable you to list and label each table by schema, and the columns for each table are listed below the labels. This practice improves the readability of your reports.

To format the report:

  1. Click the Layout tab at the bottom of the Report Editor to open the view.
  2. Create dynamic text for the Column name header:
    1. Delete the Data Type data element from the header row of the Columns table.
    2. From the Palette, drag a Dynamic Text element into the header cell where you deleted the Data Type data element. The Expression Builder window opens.
    3. In the Expression Builder window, add the following string to the Expression field, then click OK:
      "Data type: " + row["Data Type"]
      The Expression Builder window should look like the following image:
      Expression builder with dynamic text
    The expression is added to the dynamic text element, as shown in the following image:
    Dynamic text element with expression.
  3. In the Property Editor, open the Padding tab and change the left padding of the dynamic text element to 20.
  4. In the Report Editor, double-click the Name label in the Columns table, which is found below the new dynamic label, and change the text to Column name.
  5. In the Columns table, delete the Data Type label and [Data Type] data element from the right column. In the Report Editor, the report looks like the following image:
    Updated report in the Report Editor
  6. Create a dynamic text element to display the table name:
    1. Delete the blue Name data type from the TableInfo detail row.
    2. Copy and paste the dynamic text from the Columns table into the cell where you deleted the Name data element.
    3. Click in an empty cell, then click the text in the new cell. The Properties tab updates. You can change the expression to dynamically fetch table names.
    4. In the Property Editor, click the Expressions tab.
    5. In Value Expression, update the text to "Table: " + row["Name"].
      Dynamic text expression in the Property Editor.
    6. In the Property Editor, open the Padding tab and change the left padding of the dynamic text element to 1.
  7. Create a dynamic label to list the source schema:
    1. Delete the Source Schema data type from the TableInfo detail row.
    2. Copy the dynamic text that you created for the table name and paste it into the cell where you deleted the Source Schema data element.
    3. Click in an empty cell, then click the text in the new cell. The Properties tab updates. You can change the expression to dynamically fetch table names.
    4. In the Property Editor, click the Expressions tab.
    5. In Value Expression update the text to "Schema: " + row["Source Schema"].
  8. In the Report Editor, delete the TableInfo header row that contains the Name and Source Schema labels.
  9. From the Palette, drag a Label element into the bottom footer row of the Columns table. Placing a blank label in the footer row adds a space after the last column name for a table. In the Report Editor, the report layout looks like the following image:
    Report layout in the Report Editor
  10. Preview the report. In the Report Editor, click the Preview tab. In the Report Editor, the report preview looks like the following image:
    Preview of the report that uses nested tables.

    In the report, there is a space between the listing of columns for each table.

You have added dynamic text that will display the list of data objects under each table and schema. This report design makes it easy for application developers to identify the key columns and tables within each schema because they are conveniently sorted by data type.
Your report design is complete. Next, you can create a report configuration so that users can use the report design.
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