Formatting in BusinessObjects

2 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Appropriate Use And Security Of Confidential And Sensitive Information

Due to the integrated nature of the various Human Resources, Finance and Student modules in Banner and the reporting information in the Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), you may have access to information beyond what you need to perform your assigned duties. Your access to Banner and the EDW has been granted based on business need, and it is your responsibility to ensure the information you access is used appropriately. Here are some reminders of good data stewardship to help you carry out your responsibility: Do not share your passwords or store them in an unsecured manner. Do not leave your workstation unattended while logged on to administrative information systems. You are responsible for any activity that occurs using your logon id. Do not share confidential and sensitive information with anyone, including colleagues, unless there is a business reason. Retrieve printed reports quickly, and do not leave the reports lying around in plain view. Secure reports containing confidential and sensitive information (e.g., FERPA, EEO or HIPAA protected data). When disposing of reports containing confidential or sensitive information, shred the documents in a timely manner. Your responsibilities regarding the protection and security of administrative information are outlined in the University of Illinois Information Security Policy posted at http://www.obfs.uillinois.edu/manual/central_p/sec19-5.htm. Any violation could subject you to disciplinary action, which could include dismissal or, in those cases where laws have been broken, legal action. You should have signed a compliance form that indicates you have read, understand and agree to comply with the University's Information Security Policy for Administrative Information. If you have not already signed the compliance form, please see your Unit Security Contact, who is responsible for maintaining these forms.

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Formatting in BusinessObjects Table of Contents

Appropriate Use And Security Of Confidential And Sensitive Information............................................ 2

About this Course......................................................................................................................... 5

Objective............................................................................................................................................ 5 Instructor Led Course ........................................................................................................................ 5 Training Data ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Practice.............................................................................................................................................. 5 Files ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Demos ............................................................................................................................................... 5

Chapter 1...................................................................................................................................... 7
Cell Formatting..................................................................................................................................... 7 Create the report................................................................................................................................ 7 Changing Column Headings .............................................................................................................. 8 Text Wrapping ................................................................................................................................... 8 Toolbars............................................................................................................................................10 Using the Formatting toolbar.............................................................................................................10 Custom Border..................................................................................................................................11 Centering on the page ......................................................................................................................12 Margins .............................................................................................................................................13 Copying Cell Formatting ...................................................................................................................13 Number Formats...............................................................................................................................13 Exercise 1: Cell Formatting ................................................................................................................15

Chapter 2.................................................................................................................................... 17
Report Formatting ...............................................................................................................................17 Inserting a column header on each page..........................................................................................17 Multiple Line Titles ............................................................................................................................18 Adding a Logo...................................................................................................................................19 Cell Positioning .................................................................................................................................20 Inserting Page Numbers ...................................................................................................................20 Aligning elements with the Grid ........................................................................................................20 Exercise 2: Report Formatting............................................................................................................23

Chapter 3.................................................................................................................................... 25
Inserting Freestanding Cells ...............................................................................................................25 Inserting the Last Refresh date.........................................................................................................25 Add a Label ......................................................................................................................................26 Align Elements using Alignment .......................................................................................................26 Page background..............................................................................................................................27 Templates ...........................................................................................................................................28 Saving a Report as a Template. .......................................................................................................28 Choosing a template for a new document ........................................................................................28 Appling a template to an existing report............................................................................................30 Exercise 3: Templates........................................................................................................................31

Chapter 4.................................................................................................................................... 33
Alerters................................................................................................................................................33 Adding an Alerter ..............................................................................................................................33 Using Alerters to Format Reports........................................................................................................37 Variable ............................................................................................................................................37 Adding a Second Alerter ...................................................................................................................38 Changing the Order of the Alerters ...................................................................................................41 Exercise 4 Alerters ...........................................................................................................................42

Chapter 5.................................................................................................................................... 43
Block Types ........................................................................................................................................43 Table Block Type ................................................................................................................................44 Convert a Table to a Crosstab ..........................................................................................................44 Converting to a Chart........................................................................................................................46 Renaming the Blocks........................................................................................................................47 Relative Positioning ..........................................................................................................................48

4 Formatting in BusinessObjects
Documents with Multiple Reports........................................................................................................49 Renaming Reports............................................................................................................................49 Duplicate a Report............................................................................................................................49 Deleting Blocks.................................................................................................................................49 Adding row and column totals...........................................................................................................50 Exercise 5: Block Types.....................................................................................................................51

Chapter 6 ....................................................................................................................................53
Formatting Charts ...............................................................................................................................53 Convert a Table to a Chart ...............................................................................................................53 Resize the Chart...............................................................................................................................54 Display Gridlines...............................................................................................................................54 Change the Scale .............................................................................................................................55 Set the Z-Axis ...................................................................................................................................56 Add a Title and a Legend..................................................................................................................56 Resort the Chart ...............................................................................................................................56 Change the Chart Title .....................................................................................................................57 Changing the 3-D Options ................................................................................................................57 Exercise 6: Formatting Charts............................................................................................................58

Chapter 7 ....................................................................................................................................59
Drilling .................................................................................................................................................59 Hierarchies .......................................................................................................................................59 Scope of Analysis .............................................................................................................................60 Simple Drilling...................................................................................................................................60 Drilling down .....................................................................................................................................62 Drilling up..........................................................................................................................................63 Drilling across ...................................................................................................................................64 Drilling through .................................................................................................................................65 User Defined Hierarchies..................................................................................................................67 Saving a Snapshot ...........................................................................................................................70 Setting Options for Working in Drill Mode .........................................................................................70 Exercise 7 Drill Mode .......................................................................................................................72

Appendix A Review Answers....................................................................................................73 Appendix B - Number Formatting ...............................................................................................75 Appendix C Standard Report Style..........................................................................................77
Standard Report Style ......................................................................................................................77 Saving the default settings................................................................................................................77 Changing the Standard Report Style ................................................................................................77 Resetting to the default settings .......................................................................................................78

About this Course

Objective The objective of this course is to teach different report formatting options available within the BusinessObjects editor. Instructor Led Course This course is presented in a computer lab with an instructor. The instructor presents the information by completing the examples in each chapter on the screen. The students in the class follow by doing the same steps as the instructor. At the end of each chapter the students complete an exercise, which is similar to the example. Training Data Two generic universe/databases are used in the course. The eFashion universe is used for all the examples, and is very small and easy to use. The EDW R&A Training universe is used for all the exercises. The data was used as test data for Recruiting and Admissions. While this is still generic data, it is more like the production universes. Practice To repeat the examples and exercises on your own, you can use play accounts which have access to the training data. These accounts have the same access as the accounts used during the class. The play accounts are: dsplay1, dsplay2, , dsplay10. The password for all these accounts is 1234. Files Completed versions of the examples an exercises are available in a zip file at the following location: http://www.ds.uillinois.edu/training/formatting_files.zip Demos For a list of demos on a variety of topics related to using the BusinessObjects editor see: http://www.ds.uillinois.edu/how_to.asp

6 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Chapter 1: 7

Chapter 1
Cell Formatting
You have complete control over the look of your report. You can move table columns, move freestanding cells, change fonts, colors, and other formatting to customize your report. We will start by looking at the formatting options for individual cells. Create the report 1. Use the New Report Wizard to create a standard report using the eFashion universe. 2. Select the following objects: Year State City Store name Name of manager Sales revenue 3. Add the This year predefined condition. 4. Run the query. The report should look like this:

5. Double-click the right border of the City column to resize it. 6. Double-click the right border of the Store name column to resize it.
Note: Dont resize the Name of manager column. We will handle it differently later.

8 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Changing Column Headings When a report is created, BusinessObjects uses the names of the objects as the default column headings. These headings can easily be changed to something more appropriate. 1. Double-click the Store name column heading (not the data area). The formula for the cell is displayed, =NameOf<Store name>.

2. Type the new heading, Store, and press the Enter key.
Note: Only the column heading has changed. The object for the column remains Store name.

3. Change the heading for the Sales revenue column to Sales. Text Wrapping If the text within a column is exceeds the columns width, and you dont want to widen the column to fit the content on one line, you can have the text wrap to multiple lines within the cell. This is especially useful when the name of an object is much longer than the values for the object. For example, if an object has possible values of Y or N, the name of the object will be much wider than the values. We will wrap the text in the column heading. You can wrap the text in the body of table in the same way. 1. Move the cursor over the left edge of the header row. The mouse cursor will change to a black arrow pointing to the right. 2. Click to select the header row.

3. Right-click anywhere on the header row to display the pop-up menu. 4. Select Format Cell from the pop-up menu.

Chapter 1: 9

5. Select the Alignment tab.

6. Select Wrap Text in the Settings portion of the dialog box. This will cause the text in the cell to wrap to a new line. 7. Select Row by row auto fit. This will cause the height of each row to increase only if the text for that row has multiple lines. This way there is no wasted space if the text for a cell has only one line. 8. Change the Vertical setting to Bottom. 9. Click OK to close the dialog box. Notice that the Name of manager heading has wrapped to a second line.

10 Formatting in BusinessObjects

10. Drag the right border of the Name of manager column to make the column just wide enough to display the text in the body.

Toolbars There are a total of eleven toolbars available. Which of these you display is a personal choice. In this class we will use three of the most basic toolbars; Standard, Formatting, and Report. 1. Choose Toolbars on the View menu. 2. Select the Standard, Formatting, and Report toolbars. 3. Click Close. Using the Formatting toolbar While the Cell Format dialog box gives you a comprehensive list of formatting options, many formatting functions are also available on the Formatting toolbar.

Font Font Size Bold , Italic, Underline Align Left, Center, Align Right, Justify, Center Across Break Currency Style, Percent Style, Million Style, Add a Decimal Place, Remove a Decimal Place Decrease Indent, Increase Indent Border Font Color, Background Color, Border Color

1. Double-click Report Title in the cell above the table. 2. Enter the new title, Sales by Store, and press the Enter key.

Chapter 1: 11

3. Use the Formatting toolbar to make the following changes: Font: Times New Roman, Font Size: 24 Font Style: Bold off Font Color: Dark blue The newly formatted title should look like this:

Custom Border 1. Click anywhere on the title to select it. 2. Click Format Cell 3. Select the Border tab. 4. Select the thicker black solid line (second row, first column) under Style.

5. Apply this line style to the right and bottom edges of the table. This will give the edge of the title a 3-D appearance.

12 Formatting in BusinessObjects

The title should look like this:

Centering on the page We will now center the title on the page. You could manually drag the title cell until it appeared to be centered. However, the following method makes sure the cell is centered, even if the page margins change. 1. Right-click on the title cell to display the pop-up menu. 2. Select Format Cell from the pop-up menu. 3. Select the Appearance tab. 4. Click the down arrow for Horizontal Position Relative to:. 5. Select Center across the Page.

6. Click OK to close the Cell Format dialog box. The title cell is now centered across the report. To see this more clearly we will change to Page Layout mode. 7. Select View Page Layout.
Note: The last button in the Report toolbar can be used to change to Page Layout mode.

Chapter 1: 13

Page Layout mode shows the margins on the page as dotted lines. Page Layout also shows the current page number and the total number of pages for the report.

Margins We will make the margins smaller so that the table will fit on the page. You can change the margins by dragging the lines displayed in Page Layout mode, or by using the menus. 1. Select File Page Setup. 2. Click the Margins button. 3. Set all four margins to 0.5. 4. Click the OK button to close the Margins dialog box. 5. Click the OK button to close the Page Setup dialog box. Copying Cell Formatting 1. Click the Year column heading. 2. Click the Italic button in the Formatting toolbar. 3. Click Edit Copy or press Ctrl+C to copy the contents of the cell. 4. Drag across the remaining cells of the header row to select them.

button or press Ctrl+Shift+V to copy the 5. Click the Paste Format Only formatting of the Year heading to the other column headings. Number Formats Numbers can be displayed in many different ways by choosing different formats. There can be different format settings for positive and negative values as well as for zero and null values. 1. Right-click a value in the Sales column to select the column and display the pop-up menu.

14 Formatting in BusinessObjects

2. Select Format Cell from the pop-up menu. 3. Click on the Number tab if it isnt already displayed. 4. Select the Currency category on the left side of the dialog box.

5. Select the top format option $#,##0.00. This will add two decimal places to the sales values.
Note: See Appendix B - Number Formatting for an explanation of the formatting characters.

6. Click OK to close the dialog box. The report should now look like this:

7. Save the document as Sales by Store.rep

Chapter 1: 15

Exercise 1: Cell Formatting

Review 1. What effect does setting Wrap text and Row by Row Auto Fit have? 2. Is the Center across the page option on the Alignment or Appearance tab? 3. What view layout shows the page margins? Exercise Create the report below using the EDW R&A Training universe. Objects: First Name, Last Name, UIN, City, State, Zip Code, ACT Composite Score Condition: (Predefined) Urbana-Champaign Save the document as Formatting Exercise 1. Finished Report
Times New Roman Size 28 No Bold Centered on the page

Change headers

Double line bottom border

Wrap text

Margins: .5

16 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Chapter 2: 17

Chapter 2
Report Formatting
In this chapter we will examine formatting options affecting the whole report. Inserting a column header on each page By default, the column headings are only displayed on the first page. We are now going to change the report to display the column headings on every page: 1. Create a new standard report using the New Report Wizard and the eFashion universe. 2. Select the following objects: Store name Lines 4. Run the query. 5. Resize the Store name column to be wide enough for the values. 6. Click File Print Preview or click the Print Preview toolbar. button in the Standard Sales revenue

3. Use the This Year predefined condition:

7. Page through the report to see how it will look when printed. Notice that the column headings are only printed on the first page. We will change this to have the headings printed on every page. 8. Click the Close button or press Esc to close the print preview. 9. Click anywhere on the table to select it. When the table is selected, a diagonal line border appears around it.

10. Select Format

Table

18 Formatting in BusinessObjects

The Table Format dialog box is displayed.

11. Select the Page Layout tab. 12. Select Repeat header on every page. Now the column headings will appear at the top of each page. 13. Click OK. 14. Select File Print Preview and page through the report to see the change. The column headings should now appear at the top of each page. 15. Close print preview. Multiple Line Titles When entering text in a cell, like the report title, you can move to a new line by pressing Ctrl+Enter. The previous text will scroll up and may no longer be visible. When you press Enter to end the text input, the complete text will be displayed. 1. Change the report title to: Sales Revenue by Product Lines. 2. Drag the right edge of the cell to make it slightly wider than the text.

Chapter 2: 19

The top of the report should look like this:

Adding a Logo There are different ways to add an image to your report. One way, Insert Picture, creates a link to the image file. The other way, Insert Object, imbeds the image into the BusinessObjects document. Unless you are sure the image file will be accessible while the user is viewing the report and will not be moved or renamed, its better to embed the image in the document. 1. Select View Page Layout.

2. Click on the background of the report to deselect the table. This is an important step because if something is selected when a new object is inserted, the new object replaces the selected object. 3. Click Insert Object. 4. Click in the upper-left corner of the report page underneath the word Header to establish the location of the image. 5. Select the Create from File radio button. 6. Click the Browse button to find the image file. 7. Move to the My Documents\My BusinessObjects Documents\Formatting folder. 8. Select the ds_logo.bmp file 9. Click the Open button 10. Click the OK button. The logo is added to the report.

11. Turn off the border for the image by using the Border option in the Formatting Toolbar.

20 Formatting in BusinessObjects
Note: BusinessObjects only supports the TIFF or BMP graphic file formats.

Cell Positioning We want the logo to be in the upper-left corner of the report. 1. Right-click the logo to display the pop-up menu. 2. Select Format Cell. 3. Select the Appearance tab. 4. Change the Horizontal Position Relative to: setting to Left Margin. 5. Change the Vertical Position Relative to: setting to Top Margin. This places the logo in the upper-left corner of the report. 6. Click OK to close the Cell Format dialog box. Inserting Page Numbers BusinessObjects has predefined fields that can be inserted in your reports directly from the Insert menu. These fields are automatically updated when the information changes. 1. Scroll down until the bottom of the page is visible. 2. Click the page number at the bottom of the page to select it.

We are going to overwrite the existing page number with a new one. 3. Click Insert Special Field Page Numbers Page # of #. 4. Resize the cell to be large enough for the text. 5. Use the Formatting Toolbar to change the formatting of the text to: Size 9 No Bold The page number cell should now look like this:

Aligning elements with the Grid One way to align the edges of several elements on a page, is to use the Grid options. The Show Grid option displays a grid of lines on the background, and allows you to determine the distance between the grid lines. The Snap to Grid option forces the upper-left corner of any elements you move to a grid line.

Chapter 2: 21

We will change the size of the grid and turn on the Snap to Grid option. 1. Click Tools Options. 2. Select the Display tab. 3. Check the Show Grid and the Snap to Grid options. 4. Change both the Height and Width options to 2 to make the lines of the grid 1/8th of an inch apart. The Options dialog box should look like this:

5. Click OK. 6. Click the cell with the title to select it. 7. Drag the cell so that the top is at the top margin and the left edge is two grid blocks to the right of the logo. The report should look like this:

8. Click Tools

Options.

9. Select the Display tab.

22 Formatting in BusinessObjects

10. Uncheck the Show Grid and the Snap to Grid options. 11. Save the document as Logo Report.rep.

Chapter 2: 23

Exercise 2: Report Formatting

Review 1. Embedding the image file in the document means the image will become a part of the document and will always be available. True or False? 2. What are two of three ways you can make sure the left edges of two elements are aligned? Exercise Create the report below using the EDW R&A Training universe. Objects: Campus desc, Decision desc, Term Desc, Count of Applications Conditions: none Logo image file: C:\My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\Formatting\uillinois.bmp Save the document as Formatting Exercise 2. Finished Report
Times New Roman Size 22

Margins: .5

24 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Chapter 3: 25

Chapter 3
Inserting Freestanding Cells
In this chapter we will add information to the report in freestanding cells. A freestanding cell is a single cell that is not attached to any other report component. It can be moved and formatted independently. Freestanding cells can be used as containers for titles, page numbers, graphics, or descriptions. Inserting the Last Refresh date We will now create a cell with the last refresh date. 1. Open the Logo Report document. 2. Click on the background of the report to make sure nothing is selected. 3. Click Insert Special Field Date and Time Last Refresh.

The cursor changes to the Insert Cell cursor. 4. Click just under the report title to establish the location of the cell. 5. Right-click the cell with the refresh date. 6. Select Format Cell. 7. Select the Number tab. 8. Select the Date/Time category. 9. Click in the Date/Time input field under Properties. 10. Select mm/dd/yy for the format.

26 Formatting in BusinessObjects

11. Click OK.

Note: See Appendix B - Number Formatting for an explanation of the formatting characters. Note: If #### is displayed after changing the format, it is because the cell contents are wider than the cells width. To display the contents again, you need to resize the cell. You can also auto-size the cell height by double-clicking the top or bottom border.

Add a Label 1. Click the background to remove any selection. 2. Select Insert Cell. 3. Click under the left edge of the title cell to establish the location of the new cell. 4. Enter the text for the cell: Data as of:. 5. Double-click the right edge of the cell to resize. The top of the report should look somewhat like this: Align Elements using Alignment The Alignment option also allows you to align the edges of cells. This option moves the second element selected to the first element selected so that the specified edges align. The order of selecting the cells is very important. The first element selected becomes the anchor. The second element selected will be moved to match the location of the first. We will align the left edges of the title and label cells. 1. Hold down the Alt key and click anywhere on the table to select it. 2. Hold down the Ctrl key and click the title cell. 3. Click Format Placement Alignment. The Align Elements dialog box is displayed.

Note: There is an Alignment toolbar that allows you to align elements with one click.

Chapter 3: 27

4. Select Right to move the label cell to the left edge of the title cell. 5. Align the top edges of the text cell and the cell with the refresh date. 6. Click OK. The top of the report should look like this:

7. Save the document as Logo Report.rep. Page background 1. Click Format Page Background. 2. Click the New button. 3. Click the Browse button. 4. Select the watermark.bmp file from the Formatting folder. 5. Click OK to close the Insert Object dialog box. 6. Click OK to close the Page Background dialog box. The finished report should look like this:

Note: The page background is only seen in Page Layout mode.

7. Save the document.

28 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Templates
A template is a file with an extension of .ret. which contains the saved formatting settings of a report. You can create a template from an existing document by saving it as a template. BusinessObjects documents are saved with an extension of .rep in the ..\userDocs folder. Templates are saved with an extension of .ret in the \templates\en folder. Saving a Report as a Template. 1. Click File Save As. The Save As dialog box displays. By default you are taken to the folder: \My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\userDocs 2. Change the Save in: folder to \My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\templates\en\. 3. From the Save as type: drop-down list, select BusinesObjects Templates (*.ret). 4. Click Save. You return to your report. 5. Select File Close to close the report.

Choosing a template for a new document 1. Click the New Report Wizard button on the Standard toolbar.

The New Report Wizard screen appears. You have two choices: Generate a standard report. Select a template. 2. Click the Select a template radio button. 3. Click Begin to display the available templates.

Chapter 3: 29

The list includes templates provided with BusinessObjects in the Templates folder, as well as templates you saved in this folder. If you saved your template in a different folder, use the Browse button to locate it. On the right side of the screen you can see a preview of the selected template. If you plan to use this template as the basis for most future reports, you can check the Set as My Default Template option on the bottom of the screen. 4. Select Logo Report and click Next. 5. Complete the query using the eFashion universe with the following objects: Year State City Store name Quantity Sold
Note: The set of columns that we are selecting for this new report is not the same as in the original template.

6. Run the report. Your report should look like this:

30 Formatting in BusinessObjects
Note: You will not see the page background or the page numbers in the new report until you display it in Page Layout format.

Appling a template to an existing report 1. Click Format Report. 2. Select Apply Template for a list of available templates. 3. Choose the Table Master Detail template.

4. Close the document without saving the changes.

Chapter 3: 31

Exercise 3: Templates
Review 1. The standard report style cannot be changed. True or False? 2. Once set, the report template cannot be changed without deleting the report. True or False? Exercise Open the Formatting Exercise 2.rep document saved in the previous exercise. Add the text for the refresh date, the author, and the description. Create a template from this report. Save the document as Formatting Exercise 3.rep. Finished Report

Arial Size 9

Chapter 4: 33

Chapter 4
Alerters
Alerters can be created to highlight values that meet specific criteria. The cell formatting is changed if the specified condition is true. Lets take the report that we just created and highlight the stores with Low sales. Adding an Alerter 1. Open the Sales by Store document. 2. Select the Sales column. 3. Click the Alerters menu). button on the Report toolbar (or select it from the Format

The Alerters window will open.

4. Click the Add button to add an alerter.

34 Formatting in BusinessObjects

The Edit Alerters window will appear.

5. Enter the name Sales indicator. 6. Click the Conditions tab. We now set the conditions for low, medium, and high sales in the Conditions tab. Low sales < $1,000,000 Medium sales >= $1,000,000 and < $1,500,000 High sales > $1,500,000

Well start by specifying the conditions for low sales. 1. Click the Operator 1 drop down list and select <. 2. Enter 1000000 for Value 1. 3. Select None in the Operator 2 field.

Chapter 4: 35 Note: You cannot include the $ or commas in the value.

4. Click the down arrow for Result and select Format. The standard Cell Format window will appear, permitting you to change the formatting of the selected cells.

5. On the Font tab, click Bold to display bold, red text if the value is less than 1000000. 6. Click OK to exit the Cell Format dialog box. We now need to specify the conditions for medium sales, which are between $1,000,000 and $1,500,000. 1. Click the second field below the Operator 1 label and select >= from the list of Operators. 2. Enter 1000000 for Value 1. 3. Click the Operator 2 drop down list and select <. 4. Enter 1500000 for Value 2.
Note: You could also use Between as Operator 1 and inter two numbers separated by a semicolon in the Value 1 field.

5. Change the font formatting to Bold.

36 Formatting in BusinessObjects

We now need to specify the conditions for high sales. 1. Click the third field below the Operator 1 label, and select > from the list of Operators. 2. Enter 1500000 for Value 1. 3. Select None in the Operator 2 field. 4. Change the font formatting to Bold..

5. Click OK to close the Alerters dialog box.

Chapter 4: 37

Now all sales are formatted according to the conditions we set in the alerter.

Using Alerters to Format Reports

Along with highlighting critical values within a report, alerters can be used in conjunction with calculations and variables to format reports. For example, you might use an alerter to hide sections of a report based on a value, such as college. The following example uses an alerter to create a banded report where alternate rows have a different background color in order to make the report more readable. We will create a variable which will alternate between 0 and 1 based on the line number. This variable will be used in the alerter to determine the background color. Variable 1. Click Data Variables. 2. Click the Add button to add a new variable. The Variable Editor window will appear. 3. Select the Definition tab. 4. Enter EvenLine as the name of the variable.

38 Formatting in BusinessObjects

5. Select Measure in the qualification section. 6. Select the Formula tab. 7. Enter the following formula: =Even(LineNumber()) The Even(number) function returns 1 for an even number and 0 for an odd number. The LineNumber() function returns the number of the current line in a block, beginning at the header row for each section. Therefore, the value of LineNumber for the first row of data under the header row would be 2. 8. Click OK. The EvenLine variable will become available.

9. Click the Close button. Adding a Second Alerter We will create an alerter that uses the EvenLine variable to change the formatting of alternating lines. 1. Drag across all columns to select them all. 2. Click the Alerters 3. Click the Add button. The Edit Alerters dialogue box will appear. 4. Select the Definition tab. button on the Report toolbar.

Chapter 4: 39

5. Enter Alternate Row Shading as the name for the alerter, and add a description. 6. Select the Conditions tab. 7. Set the Variable to Compare to EvenLine.

8. For Operator 1 choose =. 9. For Value box, type 1. 10. In the Result box, choose Format from the drop-down menu. 11. Click the Shading tab in the Cell Format dialog box.

12. Set the Foreground to light grey. 13. Select Solid (100%) in the Shading panel.

40 Formatting in BusinessObjects

This means that the color will include 100% of the foreground color and 0% of the background color. 14. Select the Font tab. 15. Change the font Color to Automatic. This turns off the default alerter setting of red text. 16. Click OK. The Edit Alerters window should resemble this:

17. Click OK to close the Edit Alerters window. The Alternate Row Shading alerter will be added to the Alerters window.

Chapter 4: 41

Note: Once an alerter is created, it can be turned on and off by checking/unchecking the check box to the left of the alerter on the Alerters screen.

18. Click OK to close the Alerters window. The rows should have alternating backgrounds. Some of the low values in the Sales column will now be black instead of red. This happened because the alterers are applied in order. In addition to changing the background color, the Alternate Row Shading alterer changed the font color to the default black. Changing the Order of the Alerters 1. Click on a value in the Sales column. 2. Click on the Alerters 3. Uncheck both alerters. 4. Check the Alternating Row Shading and then click the Apply button. 5. Check and apply the Low Sales alerter. This should change all the low values back to red text. button in the Report toolbar.

6. Save the changes and close the document.

42 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Exercise 4 Alerters
Review 1. The only thing you can change with an alerter is the color of the text or the background of the cell. True or False? 2. What determines the order in which alerters are applied? Exercises Edit report Formatting Exercise 2. Create one Alerter with three conditions for the Count of Applications column. Low Apps: < 5 Medium Apps: >= 5 and <= 10 High Apps: > 10 Red background Yellow background Green background

Save the report as Formatting Exercise 4. This will be used in a later exercise. Completed Exercise

Chapter 5: 43

Chapter 5
Block Types
BusinessObjects files are saved as documents, not as reports. A document can contain several reports, and a report can contain several blocks. So far we have only worked with one report per document and one block per report. Below are three major block types that BusinessObjects supports: Table, Cross Tab, and Chart. There is an Insert icon located on the Report toolbar for each of these block types. You can also convert a block from one type to another.

Insert Table

Insert Crosstab

Insert Chart

The resulting blocks look like the following:

We will create a report with each type of block.

44 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Table Block Type

First we will create a table. 1. Create a new document using the eFashion universe 2. Add the following objects: Year State Sales Revenue 3. Run the query. The table and the BusinessObjects window looks like this:

Convert a Table to a Crosstab Now we will make a copy of the table and convert it to a crosstab The crosstab and table blocks are both in the same report. In this case, the crosstab uses the same data as the table. If we wanted different data in the crosstab, we would use the Insert Crosstab button and select different objects in the query panel. 1. Click anywhere on the table to select it. 2. While holding down the Ctrl key, drag and drop the border of the table to the right. This will create a copy of the table.

3. Click the Format Block

button in the Report toolbar.

4. Select the Pivot tab in the Table Format dialog box.

Chapter 5: 45

The Pivot options are displayed.

If objects are moved from the Body folder into the Columns and Rows folders, the table is converted to a crosstab. 5. Drag and drop the State object to the Columns folder. 6. Drag and drop the Year object to the Rows folder. The Used Variables panel should look like this:

7. Click the OK button. The second table should now be a crosstab like the one below.

46 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Note: BusinessObjects has a bug in the way Pivot options are displayed. Items placed in the Rows folder display as columns, and vice-versa.

Converting to a Chart The last block we will add to the current report is a chart. We will make a copy of the crosstab and convert the copy to a bar chart.. 1. Click anywhere on the crosstab to select it. 2. While holding down the Ctrl key, drag and drop the border of the crosstab to the bottom. This will create a copy of the crosstab.

3. Click anywhere on the new crosstab to select it. 4. Click the down arrow on the Chart Type button in the Report toolbar.

5. Select the 3D Column button on the drop down menu of chart types.

Chapter 5: 47

The crosstab is converted to a 3D Column chart which uses the same data as the table and the crosstab.

6. Click just outside the right edge of the chart. 7. Drag the handle on the right side of the chart to increase the width to match the width of the crosstab.

Renaming the Blocks Blocks are given names as they are created. Sometimes you may want to rename the blocks with a more descriptive name. For example, the three blocks in this report are named Table 1, Table 1.0, and Table 1.0.1. We will rename them so we can tell which is which. 1. Right-click the table. 2. Select Format Table. 3. Select the General tab. 4. Change the name to Table. 5. Use the same process to rename the other blocks to Crosstab and Chart.

48 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Relative Positioning Relative positioning allows you to specify the location of an element relative to a block. For example, a text cell can be positioned one half inch below the bottom of a table. If the table changes size after a refresh, the text cell will still be one half inch below the table. We will use relative positioning to make sure the blocks dont overlap. 1. Right-click the crosstab. 2. Select Format Crosstab. 3. Select the Appearance tab. 4. Change the Horizontal Position Relative to: setting to Table.
Note: The reference point for a block for the relative positioning is the lower-right corner of the block. For example, if the position is relative to a table and the settings for Left and Top are both 0, the location is the lower-right corner of the table.

5. Set the Left setting to 4. This will move the crosstab so that the left edge is one quarter inch to the right of the table. 6. Right-click the chart. 7. Select Format Chart. 8. Change the Horizontal Position Relative to: setting to Table. 9. Set the Left setting to 4. 10. Change the Vertical Position Relative to: setting to Crosstab. 11. Set the Top setting to 4.

Chapter 5: 49

This will move the chart so that the left edge is one quarter inch to the right of the table and the top is one quarter inch below the crosstab. 12. Click OK to close the Cell Format dialog box. 13. To see the advantage of relative positioning, resize the Year column in the table and the height of the rows in the crosstab.

Documents with Multiple Reports

A document can contain multiple reports. In this example, we created a document with one report containing three blocks. Now we will create a second report with a modified version of the crosstab block. To create the second report, we will duplicate the existing report so that we dont have to recreate the crosstab. We could also insert a report, but this would create a blank report. Renaming Reports At the bottom of the panel displaying the 3 blocks, there is a tab named Report1. A tab will be displayed for each report in the document. 1. Right-click the Report1 tab. 2. Select Rename Report from the pop-up menu. 3. Enter All Blocks as the new name for the report, press Enter or click OK. Duplicate a Report 1. Right-click again on the All Blocks tab 2. Select Duplicate Report from the pop-up menu. A new report tab is displayed with the name All Blocks (1).

3. Change the name of the new report to Crosstab. Deleting Blocks 1. Click anywhere on the table to select it. 2. Move the cursor to the border. 3. Right-click to display the pop-up menu. 4. Select Delete from the menu to delete the table. 5. Delete the chart in the same way.

50 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Adding row and column totals Now we want to add row and column totals and row percentages. This can be accomplished in a number of ways. One way is to use the Calculator on the Slice and Dice panel. A second way is to use the Sum toolbar. 2. Click on a value for Sales revenue. 3. Click on the Insert Sum button in the Report toolbar. button found

button on the Report

1. Drag the border of the crosstab to move it closer to the left edge of the report.

The sums are added to the crosstab in both directions.

4. Use Save As to save the document as Two Reports. 5. Close the document. One advantage of using multiple report documents is that they facilitate the report development process and the creation of report libraries in the following ways: Report Development: By adding reports as you develop a document, you can save different versions of the same report as it is being developed. When finally completed, keep the report containing the final version and delete the other reports. This makes it easy to go back to an earlier version. Report Libraries: Having multiple reports makes it easy to run and distribute reports that are meant to be seen together. You can eliminate the need to distribute multiple documents when one document can contain all the various reports. An example of this is end of the month status reports.

Chapter 5: 51

Exercise 5: Block Types

Review 1. What tab is used in the Format Table dialog box to convert a table to a crosstab? 2. Which is the correct order from largest to smallest? Document Report Block Block Document Report Report Document Block 3. ____________ postioning can be used to maintain a constant distance between elements even if the elements change size. Exercise Create a document using the EDW R&A Training universe. The document should have two reports named One and Two. Report One should have a table. Report Two should have a crosstab and a chart. All blocks with be based on the same data. Objects: College desc, Term desc, College PGPA Conditions: (Predefined) Chicago Term Code Entry Matches Pattern %8 Add an Average calculation for the College PGPA. Finished Reports

52 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Chapter 6: 53

Chapter 6
Formatting Charts
BusinessObjects provides fifteen different styles of charts that can be added to reports. Each element of the chart can be edited to look just the way you want. As there are too many combinations of charts and elements to cover completely in this chapter, we will focus on the basic elements for a bar chart. Convert a Table to a Chart 1. Create a standard report based on the eFashion universe. 2. Select the following objects: Year State Sales revenue 3. Run the query. 4. Hide the Report Manager 5. Click anywhere on the table. to show more of the report.

6. Click the down arrow of the Chart Type 7. Select the 3-D Column chart type.

button.

The table will be changed to a bar chart.

54 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Resize the Chart 1. Click just outside the right edge of the chart. 2. Drag the middle box on the inner border to resize the chart. Make the chart approximately four inches wide.

Display Gridlines 1. Right-click anywhere on the chart. 2. Select Display Axes/Gridlines from the pop-up menu. The Axes and Gridlines dialog box is displayed. The Axes options will display or hide the labels. The Gridlines options will display or hide the gridlines on the walls and floor of the chart.

3. Check the gridlines for the X, Y, and Z axes. 4. Click OK.

Chapter 6: 55

5. The chart should now look like:

Change the Scale 1. Click the labels for the Y axis to select them.

2. Right-click any of the values to display the pop-up menu. 3. Select Format Axis Label from the menu. 4. Select the Scale tab. 5. Enter the following values: Minimum: 0 Maximum: 5,000,000 Major Unit: 1,000,000 6. The Y axis labels should now look like this:

56 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Set the Z-Axis 1. Right-click anywhere on the chart. 2. Select Format Chart from the pop-up menu. 3. Select the Pivot tab. 4. Move the Year object to the Z-Axis folder.

Add a Title and a Legend 1. Select the General tab. 2. Check the Title and Legend options. 3. Click OK to close the Chart Format dialog box. The chart should now look like this:

Resort the Chart 1. Click the 2001 label for the Z Axis. 2. Add a descending sort for the Year object. The chart should now look like this:

Chapter 6: 57

3. Right-click any of the Year values. 4. Select Delete from the pop-up menu to remove the labels.
Note: The labels can be displayed again by selecting the Z-Axis option on the General tab of the Format Chart dialog box.

Change the Chart Title 1. Double-click the chart title and enter the new title: State Sales by Year. 2. Change the font size to 12. 3. Turn on the Bold option. The updated title should look like this:

Changing the 3-D Options 1. Right-click anywhere on the chart. 2. Select Format Chart from the pop-up menu. 3. Select the Series tab. 4. Click the 3-D View button. 5. Change the Elevation value to 10. 6. Change the Rotation value to 10. 7. Click the OK button to close the 3-D View Format dialog box. 8. Change the Chart Depth setting to 150. 9. Change the Gap Width to 75. 10. Click the OK button to close the dialog box. The finished chart should look like this:

58 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Exercise 6: Formatting Charts

Review 1. How do you resize a chart? 2. The data in a chart can be sorted after the chart has been created. True or False? Exercise Create the following report using the EDW R&A Training universe. Objects: College Desc, Count(*) Conditions: (Predefined) Urbana-Champaign, Term Code Entry Equal to 120028 Chart Settings Chart Depth: 150 Gap Width: 200 Gap Depth: 100 Elevation: 15 Rotation: 10 Finished Report

Chapter 7: 59

Chapter 7
Drilling
BusinessObjects drill mode allows a user to analyze report data so that retrieved information can be viewed at different levels of detail. It is a very useful tool for discovering reasons for trends, and computing totals such as sums or counts for various levels of aggregation. Analysis is performed by navigating up, down, or across one or several hierarchies of data. You drill down on data to examine underlying detail, and drill up to examine the totals for that underlying detail. Drilling on a BusinessObjects document is only available in the BusinessObjects editor. You cannot drill a BusinessObjects document while viewing the document in InfoView. Drilling can be done only on dimension objects, not on detail or measure objects. As you drill to each new level, down or up, measure objects are recalculated for the new level of aggregation. Drilling process consists of the following basic steps: 3. In the Query Panel, set the Scope of Analysis. 4. Run the report. 5. Start the Drill Mode. 6. Drill. Hierarchies In order to drill, the objects in a universe must be organized into hierarchies, with the most general objects at the top and the most detailed objects at the bottom. A hierarchy has a one to many relationship from the top level down to the next level. The default hierarchies used for drilling are the order of the objects in the universe classes. For example, the following classes are set up as hierarchies in the eFashion universe: Time period class: Year, Quarter, Month, Week, Holiday (y/n). Store class: State, City, Store name. Product class: Lines, Category, SKU description, color, Unit price MSRP. A User defined hierarchy is a hierarchy created by a user when a need arises. It can include objects from several classes and is stored in the document where it was created. It is only available when editing that document. The order of dimensions that will be drilled can also be changed. These modifications are only at the document level. The original hierarchy remains unchanged.

60 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Scope of Analysis Scope of Analysis determines the additional objects to be included in the query so that the data will be available in drill mode. Before you can drill, you must use Scope of Analysis to select the objects to be retrieved in addition to those that were placed in the Result Objects.

When the query is run, all objects (those listed in the Query Panel and those checked on the Scope of Analysis screen) are retrieved from the database and stored in the data provider. The lower level objects that were checked in the Scope of Analysis do not appear until you start to drill. Simple Drilling The simplest drill consists of moving up or down on objects in the same class or hierarchy. In the following example we will analyze sales by state, city, and store. 1. Create a new report using the eFashion universe. 2. Select the following two objects: State Sales revenue button on the Query Panel tool bar.

3. Click on the Scope of Analysis

The Scope of Analysis dialog box appears and shows the hierarchies available for drilling.

Chapter 7: 61

Note: the State object is already checked and cannot be deselected.

4. Check the boxes for City and Store name. Or, alternatively, you can select the entire Store class by clicking the box next to Store. 5. Click OK. Observe that the Scope of Analysis drop down list has changed from Scope of Analysis: None to Custom Level.

Custom Level indicates that we set up our Scope of Analysis manually, rather than by using the drop down list which allows us to select by default only one, two or three levels. 6. Run the query.

62 Formatting in BusinessObjects

The report appears.

7. Click the Drill

button on the Standard Toolbar to start drill mode.

You can also activate drill mode by choosing Analysis Drill, or right-clicking the Report1 tab and then choosing Drill. Notice that: A new report tab called Report1 (1) was created with a duplicate of our original report. The original remains untouched. The new tab has a drill icon, which indicates that you are now in drill mode. A Sum calculation for the measure object, Sales revenue, was added to the table. 8. Position the mouse over any row in State column.

containing a plus (+) sign Mouse pointer changes to a magnifying glass indicating you can drill down on this value. A tool tip appears with the name of the object you will drill down to. Drilling down 1. Double-click on the state of Texas to drill to the next lower level.

Chapter 7: 63

We have now drilled down to City level.

Notice: A new drop down list is displayed and shows that the data we are viewing is for the state of Texas. The data in the report is filtered based on the value displayed in the drill toolbar. The sum total of the measure object Sales revenue has been recalculated for the three Texas cities only.

2. Move your cursor to the row for Houston and double click. We are now at the lowest level, since Store name is the last level in our hierarchy.

Notice that at the lowest level: The magnifying glass cursor has changed to the normal arrow cursor, since we are now at the bottom of the drill hierarchy. The tooltip message Right-click to explore displays when the cursor rests on a store value and indicates that this is the lowest level that can be drilled. Drilling up In drilling up, you ascend the hierarchy and display data on a less detailed level at each step. There are two ways of drilling up: By using the Pop-up menu By double-clicking on the sum value at the bottom of the report. 3. Right-click on a Store name value.

64 Formatting in BusinessObjects

City is the next level up. The Texas cities (Austin, Dallas and Houston) are displayed, and the quantity sold sum total is recalculated. Another way to drill up is by double-clicking on the sum value at the bottom of the report. This will take you up the exact same path that you drilled down. 4. Rest your cursor over the cell with the value for the sum.

The cursor changes to a magnifying glass with a minus (-) sign , to indicate that you can drill up. A label appears with the name of the higher hierarchy level. 5. Double-click to drill up to the top level of the class hierarchy, State. Drilling across We can also display different data by choosing other values from the drop down menu. This is called drilling across. Drilling across shows totals for another value on the same level in the current hierarchy. 1. Drill down one level on California. The two California cities are displayed.

2. Click the down arrow on the drop down list.

Several additional features are available: All States will display all Cities for all States in the report.

Chapter 7: 65

(Move to block) will insert that column into the report block. For instance, in our report, it will move the State object from the drop down list and make it the first column in the report block. (Remove) will remove that dimension as part of the drilling hierarchy.

3. Click DC to drill across to the DC store. 4. Close and do not save the report. Drilling through If you drilled down to the lowest level of data that was originally set up in the Scope of Analysis, but realized that you need an even lower level of detail for your report, you can retrieve it from the database without editing the query or resetting the Scope of Analysis. You can extend the data provider to include one and only one additional object. This is called Drilling Through. We will work with a new report with Product class objects. 1. Create a new report based on the eFashion universe. 2. Include the following objects: Year Sales revenue button and include additional objects:

3. Click the Scope of Analysis Quarter Month

4. Run the query. Your report should look like this:

5. Click the Drill Mode 6. Drill down on 2000. 7. Drill down on Q2.

button to start drill mode.

66 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Your lowest level report should look like the example below:

At this point we need to know the revenue for the individual weeks. Week is the next dimension object in the Product class, but we did not include it in our scope of analysis. We will now drill through to retrieve the Week object. 8. Right-click on the 6 Month value to display the pop-up menu.

9. Choose Drill Through from the pop-up menu. 10. The Drill Through dialog box is displayed.

Chapter 7: 67

Dimensions currently selected (Year, Quarter, Month) are grayed out. 11. Click Week to select it. 12. Click OK. The query to get the new Week object is sent to the database to retrieve the data. Week values are displayed in the block you are analyzing as if you had drilled down.

User Defined Hierarchies You may find that you would like to drill down in a different order than the order of objects in the class, or objects from several different classes need to be pulled together into one drill path. In such a case, you can create a user defined hierarchy. You can create these custom hierarchies from user objects, variables, or any dimensions that are in a document. The hierarchies are document specific and are saved in the document where they are created. They have no effect on the original universe from which the objects are drawn.

68 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Note: You cannot combine dimensions from different data providers into a single hierarchy.

We will create a user defined hierarchy to analyze product sales by year, because the analysis requires objects from two separate classes - Product and Time period. 1. Create a new document using the eFashion universe. 2. Include the following objects: Lines Quantity sold 3. Bring up the Scope of Analysis screen. 4. Check Year from Time period class and Category and SKU desc from Product class.

5. Run the query. The report should look like this:

Chapter 7: 69

We will now set up our new custom hierarchy. 6. Choose Analysis Hierarchies. The Hierarchies Editor will be displayed with two available hierarchies: Time period and Products.

We will now remove these existing hierarchies and create our own. 7. Remove both the Time period and Products hierarchies from the Available Hierarchies panel on the right by selecting them and then clicking the Remove button.
Note: Removing a hierarchy through the Hierarchies Editor panel removes it only from the current document, and not from the universe.

8. Click the New button. A new hierarchy called Hierarchy 3 is added to the Available Hierarchies panel.

9. Highlight Hierarchy 3 and rename it to Year/Product. 10. Open the Query 1 with eFashion folder in the Available Dimensions pane on the left. 11. Double-click the following fields to move them to the Year/Product folder. Lines Year Category SKU description 12. Move objects up or down to get them in the following order:

70 Formatting in BusinessObjects

13. Click OK. 14. Start drill mode. 15. Drill the document and see how it follows the path within the custom hierarchy that we have just set up. Saving a Snapshot As your drilling progresses, you can keep copies of the different stages of drill output under separate report tabs. To make a copy of a report showing the current drill level, click the Snapshot button on the Report toolbar while viewing a report in drill mode. Setting Options for Working in Drill Mode Some of the options for drill mode can be customized on the Tools/Options Drill Tab. 1. Click Tools Options. 2. Click the Drill tab.

Chapter 7: 71

Note: We recommend that you do not reset the Drill Options before you have used the drill mode and understand the process.

72 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Exercise 7 Drill Mode

Review 1. Drilling can be done only on __________ objects. 2. What are the two methods for creating a Scope of Analysis? 3. Only the Universe designer can create a Hierarchy. True or False? 4. Before a report can be drilled, the Scope of Analysis must be established. True or False? Exercise Create a drillable report using the EDW R&A Training universe. Objects: Campus Desc, Last Name, First Name, Campus Pgpa. Use the Scope of Analysis to allow drilling of the entire U of I Hierarchy. Drill down on the Urbana-Champaign campus, Engineering college, and the Civil and Environmental Eng department. Finished Report

Appendix A: 73

Appendix A Review Answers

Exercise 1: Cell Formatting 1. What effect does setting Wrap text and Row by Row Auto Fit have? The text within the cell will wrap to the next line if its too wide for the cell and the height of the cell will adjust to the height of the text. 2. Is the Center across the page option on the Alignment or Appearance tab? Appearance 3. What view layout shows the page margins? Page Layout Exercise 2: Report Formatting 1. Embedding the image file in the document means the image will become a part of the document and will always be available. True 2. What are two ways you can make sure the left edges of two elements are aligned? Snap to Grid, Format Placement Alignment Exercise 3: Templates 1. The standard report style cannot be changed. False 2. Once set, the report template cannot be changed without deleting the report. False Exercise 4 Alerters 1. The only thing you can change with an alerter is the color of the text or the background of the cell. False 2. What determines the order in which alerters are applied? The order in which they are applied to the cell. Exercise 5: Block Types 1. What tab is used in the Format Table dialog box to convert a table to a crosstab? Pivot 2. Which is the correct order from largest to smallest? Document Report Block 3. Relative postioning can be used to maintain a constant distance between elements even if the elements change size.

74 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Exercise 6: Formatting Charts 1. How do you resize a chart? Click near the chart. Drag the boxs handles to resize the chart. 2. The data in a chart can be sorted after the chart has been created. True Exercise 7 Drill Mode 1. Drilling can be done only on dimension objects. 2. What are the two methods for creating a Scope of Analysis? Setting the number of levels and selecting the objects in the Custom Scope of Analysis 3. Only the Universe designer can create a Hierarchy: False, a user can create a custom hierarchy. 4. Before a report can be drilled, the Scope of Analysis must be established: True

Appendix B: 75

Appendix B - Number Formatting

This list explains the symbols used in default formats:
# Digit placeholder. If the number has more digits to the right of the decimal point than there are #s in the format, BusinessObjects rounds it off to the number of #s. Thousands separator. Digit placeholder. Space reserved for a numeral. Follows the same rules as the # placeholder, except that 0 (zero) allows you to display extra zeros. For example, if you want to display 4.6 as 4.60, you can use the #.00 format. Specifies which symbol separates digits. Scientific notation. The number of 0s to the right of the E symbol indicates the number of decimals to the left (E-) or right (E+) of the decimal point. Displays the characters in the cell in the designated color. White, Green, Red, Blue, Black, Yellow, Cyan, Gray, Purple, Magenta, Dark Green, Dark Red, Dark Blue, Dark Cyan Displays the month as a number without leading zeros (1 to 12). If you use m directly after the h or the hh symbol, BusinessObjects displays minutes instead of months. Displays the month as a number with leading zeros (01 to 12). If you use mm directly after the h or the hh symbol, BusinessObjects displays minutes instead of months. Displays the month as an abbreviation (Jan-Dec). Displays the month as a full name (January-December). Displays the day as a number without leading zeros (1 to 13). Displays the day as a number with leading zeros (01 to 13). Displays the day as a full name (Sunday-Saturday). If the first two letters are capital letters the whole month is capitalized. Displays the year as a two-digit number (00 to 99) or as a four-digit number (1900 to 2078). Displays the hour as a number without leading zeros (0 to 23) or as a number with leading zeros (00 to 23). If the format contains an AM or PM, the hour is based on the 12-hour clock. hh is the 12 hour cycle and HH a 24 hour cycle Displays the minute as a number without leading zeros (0 to 59) or as a number with leading zeros (00 to 59). The m or mm must be used directly after h or hh, otherwise BusinessObjects displays it as the month. Displays the second as a number without leading zeros (0 to 59) or as a number with leading zeros (00 to 59). The back slash is used to undo the effects of reserved characters such as m, s or d

, (comma) 0 (zero)

. (decimal symbol) E+ E-

[color]

mm

Mmm Mmmm d dd Dddd yy or yyyy h or H

m or mm

s or ss /

76 Formatting in BusinessObjects

Examples To display 1234.5 as 1234 6789 as 6 789.00 6.3579 as 6.36 1235 and 1235.68 as 1 235 5789.9 as 5789.90% and 23.566 as 23.57% 3.289 as 3.29e+000 34565.9 as $34,565.00 and -2345 as $2,345.00 1 as Mr, -1 as Mrs, and 0 as Miss 1 as True and -1 as False Use this format code 0 # ##0.00 0.00 # ##0 0.00% 0.00e+000 $#,##0.00;$-#,##0.00[Red] Mr;Mrs;Miss True;False

Appendix C: 77

Appendix C Standard Report Style

Standard Report Style When a new report is created with a Standard Report Style, the data is displayed with certain pre-defined features. This default formatting is applied to new tables, crosstabs, breaks, sections, pages, or freestanding cells. A standard report has the following elements: A title A table whose header has a dark blue background and whose body has a white background Default font settings of Arial, size 10 for body text and numbers. Page numbers in the footer Saving the default settings The settings that define the Standard Report Style are saved in a file in the My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\Templates\En\$default$.ret folder. Its a good idea to make a copy of this file prior to making any changes so that you can reset the options back to the defaults. This file could be copied to other users machines to ensure the users have the same settings. 1. Right-click on the Window Start button. 2. Select Explore from the pop-up menu. 3. Go to the My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\templates\En\ folder. 4. Copy file $default$.ret to Copy of $default$.ret in the same folder. Changing the Standard Report Style The Standard Report Style can be customized using the Standard Report Styles dialog box. 1. Click Tools Standard Report Styles. The Standard Report Styles dialog box opens:

78 Formatting in BusinessObjects

The left side of the dialog box displays a list of report components. The right side of the dialog box displays tabs with available formatting options. When you click an icon in the Report Components list, the tabs on the right hand side display the formatting choices that can be set for the selected item. 2. Make the desired changes to the format of the report components. 3. Click OK to close the Standard Report Styles dialog box. Resetting to the default settings If you want to revert back to the default standard styles that came with BusinessObjects, copy the saved file back to the original name. 1. Right-click on the Window Start button. 2. Select Explore from the pop-up menu. 3. Go to the My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\templates\En\ folder. 4. Delete or rename file $default$.ret. This file contains your settings for the standard styles. 5. Copy file Copy of $default$.ret to $default$.ret in the same folder.