Formatting in Business Objects

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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3
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
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
Inserting the Last Refresh date.........................................................................................................22
Add a Label ......................................................................................................................................23
Align Elements using Alignment .......................................................................................................23
Page background..............................................................................................................................24
Exercise 2: Report Formatting............................................................................................................25
Chapter 3.................................................................................................................................... 27
Templates ...........................................................................................................................................27
Standard Report Style ......................................................................................................................27
Saving the default settings................................................................................................................27
Changing the Standard Report Style ................................................................................................27
Viewing the new style .......................................................................................................................29
Resetting to the default settings........................................................................................................29
Templates .........................................................................................................................................29
Saving a Report as a Template. .......................................................................................................29
Choosing a template for a new document ........................................................................................30
Appling a template to an existing report............................................................................................31
Exercise 3: Templates........................................................................................................................32
Chapter 4.................................................................................................................................... 33
Alerters................................................................................................................................................33
Adding an Alerter ..............................................................................................................................33
Using Alerters to Format Reports........................................................................................................36
Variable ............................................................................................................................................36
Adding a Second Alerter ...................................................................................................................37
Changing the Order of the Alerters ...................................................................................................40
Exercise 4 – Alerters ...........................................................................................................................41
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
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
5
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
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 e-Fashion
universe.
2. Select the following objects:
Year
State
City
Store name
Name of manager
Sales revenue
3. Create a condition for the Year object.
4. Select Equal to as the operator.
5. Enter a constant of 2001 for the operand.
6. Run the query.
The report should look like this:
7. Double-click the right border of the City column to resize it.

8. Double-click the right border of the Store name column to resize it.
; Note: Don’t resize the Name of manager column. We will handle it differently later.
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 column’s width, and you don’t 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. 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 FormatCell
3. Select the Border tab.
4. Select the thinner 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.
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.
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 ViewPage 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 FilePage 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 EditCopy or press Ctrl+C to copy the contents of the cell.
4. Drag across the remaining cells of the header row to select them.
5. Click the Paste Format Only button or press Ctrl+Shift+V to copy the
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.

3. Click on the Number tab if it isn’t 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. Times New Roman

Size 28
Finished Report No Bold
Centered on the page
Change headers Double line bottom border
Wrap text
Margins: .5”
Chapter 2: 17
Chapter 2
Report Formatting
In this chapter we will examine formatting options affecting the whole report. 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 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 e-Fashion
universe.
Store name Lines Sales revenue
3. Create the following condition:
Year Equal to 2001
4. Run the query.
5. Resize the Store name column to be wide enough for the values.
6. Click FilePrint Preview or click the Print Preview button in the Standard
toolbar.
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 FormatTable

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 FilePrint 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 be even with the right edge of the table.
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, InsertPicture,
creates a link to the image file. The other way, InsertObject…, 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, it’s
better to embed the image in the document.
1. Select ViewPage 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 InsertObject….
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.
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….
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.
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 InsertSpecial FieldPage NumbersPage # 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 ToolsOptions.
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.
Inserting the Last Refresh date

We will now create a cell with the last refresh date.
1. Click on the background of the report to make sure nothing is selected.
2. Click InsertSpecial FieldDate and TimeLast Refresh.
The cursor changes to the Insert Cell cursor.

3. Click just under the report title to establish the location of the cell.
4. Right-click the cell with the refresh date.
5. Select Format Cell….
6. Select the Number tab.
7. Select the Date/Time category.
8. Click in the Date/Time input field under Properties.
9. Select mm/dd/yy for the format.
10. 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 cell’s 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.
Chapter 2: 23
Add a Label
1. Click the background to remove any selection.
2. Select InsertCell….
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.
6. Align the text cell with the refresh date cell.
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. Click the title to select it.
2. Hold the Ctrl key down and click the label cell.
3. Click FormatPlacementAlignment….
The Align Elements dialog box is displayed.
; Note: There is an Alignment toolbar that allows you to align elements with one click.
4. Select Left to move the label cell to the left edge of the title cell.
5. Click OK.
Page background
1. Click FormatPageBackground….
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 as Formatted Report.rep.

Chapter 2: 25
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 24
Arial
Size 24
Margins: .5”
Chapter 3: 27
Chapter 3
Templates
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. It’s 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.
5. Leave the Explore window open, but switch to the BusinessObjects window.
Changing the Standard Report Style

The Standard Report Style can be customized using the Standard Report Styles dialog
box.
1. Click ToolsStandard Report Styles.

The Standard Report Styles dialog box opens:
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. Click + to the left of Tables in the Report Components list.

3. Click Header.
4. Click the Shading tab.
5. Click the dark blue box in the Foreground Color section.
6. Click the Define Custom Colors >> button.
The custom color options are displayed.
Chapter 3: 29
7. Enter 128 for Red, 128 for Green, and 255 for Blue.
8. Click OK to close the Color dialog box.
9. Click OK to close the Standard Report Styles dialog box.
Viewing the new style

1. Use the New Report Wizard to create a standard report using the e-Fashion
universe.
Year Sales revenue
3. Run the query.
The header in the table should have a light red background.
Resetting to the default settings

1. Switch to the Explore window.
2. Delete file $default$.ret.
3. Copy file Copy of $default$.ret to $default$.ret in the same folder.
Templates
A template is a report that is saved with an extension of .ret. 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. Open the document named Formatted Report.rep.
2. Click FileSave As.
The Save As dialog box displays. By default you are taken to the folder:
\My Documents\My Business Objects Documents\userDocs
3. Change the Save in: folder to \My Documents\My Business Objects
Documents\templates\en\.
4. From the Save as type: drop-down list, select BusinesObjects Templates (*.ret).
5. Click Save.
You return to your report.
6. Select FileClose to close the report.

You return to a blank BusinessObjects screen.
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.
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 Formatted Report and click Next.
5. Complete the query 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.
Chapter 3: 31
6. Run the report.

Your report should look like this:
; 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 FormatReport.
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.

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
Create a template from the Formatting Exercise 2.rep document saved in the previous
exercise.
Create a new document using the EDW R&A Training universe and this template.
Objects: UIN, Last Name, First Name, Middle Name, Birth Date
Conditions: (Predefined) Chicago
Save the document as Formatting Exercise 3.rep.
Finished Report
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. Let’s 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 button on the Report toolbar (or select it from the Format
menu).
The Alerters window will open.
4. Click the Add button to add an alerter.

The Edit Alerters window will appear.
5. Enter the name Low Sales.

6. Click the Conditions tab.
7. Click the Operator 1 drop down list.
8. Select < from the list of Operators.
9. Enter 1000000 for Value 1.
; Note: You can add additional operators and values to create a more complex condition for
the alerter.
10. Click the down arrow for Result and select Format.
Chapter 4: 35
The standard Cell Format window will appear, permitting you to further format the
specific cell.
11. On the Font tab, click Bold to also have the text bolded if the value is less the one
million.
12. Click OK to exit the Cell Format dialog box.
13. Click OK on the Alerters dialog box.
Now when the value for Sales revenue is less than one million, that value will
appear in bold red text.
14. Save the report.

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 DataVariables.
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.
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.
8. Click OK.
Chapter 4: 37
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 button on the Report toolbar.

3. Click the Add button.
The Edit Alerters dialogue box will appear.
4. Select the Definition tab.
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.
This means that the color will include 100% of the foreground color and 0% of the
background color.
Chapter 4: 39
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.
; 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 button in the Report toolbar.

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.
6. Save the changes and close the document.

Chapter 4: 41
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 three Alerters for the Count of Applications column.
Low Apps: < 5 Red background
Medium Apps: >= 5 <= 10 Yellow background
High Apps: > 10 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.

Table Block Type

First we will create a table.
1. Create a new document using the e-Fashion 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.
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.
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.
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 don’t overlap.
1. Right-click the crosstab.
2. Select Format Crosstab….
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.
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 don’t 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
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.
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 button found
on the Slice and Dice panel. A second way is to use the Sum button on the Report
toolbar.
1. Drag the border of the crosstab to move it closer to the left edge of the report.
2. Click on a value for Sales revenue.
3. Click on the Insert Sum button in the Report toolbar.
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
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 e-Fashion universe.
Year State Sales revenue
3. Run the query.
4. Hide the Report Manager to show more of the report.
5. Click anywhere on the table.
6. Click the down arrow of the Chart Type button.

7. Select the 3-D Column chart type.
The table will be changed to a bar chart.

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:
Set the Z-Axis

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

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:
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:

1. In the Query Panel, set the Scope of Analysis.
2. Run the report.
3. Start the Drill Mode.
4. 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.
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
3. Click on the Scope of Analysis button on the Query Panel tool bar.
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.
The report appears.
7. Click the Drill button on the Standard Toolbar to start drill mode.
You can also activate drill mode by choosing AnalysisDrill, 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.
Mouse pointer changes to a magnifying glass containing a plus (+) sign

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.

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 e-Fashion universe.
2. Include the following objects:
Year Sales revenue
3. Click the Scope of Analysis button and include additional objects:

Quarter Month
4. Run the query.

Your report should look like this:
5. Click the Drill Mode button to start drill mode.

6. Drill down on 2000.
7. Drill down on Q2.
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.
; 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 e-Fashion 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.

Chapter 7: 69
We will now set up our new custom hierarchy.

6. Choose AnalysisHierarchies.
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:
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 ToolsOptions.
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.
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 it’s 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, FormatPlacementAlignment
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.
Exercise 6: Formatting Charts

1. How do you resize a chart? Click near the chart. Drag the box’s “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.
, (comma) Thousands separator.
0 (zero) 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.
. (decimal symbol) Specifies which symbol separates digits.
E+ E- 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.
[color] 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
m 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.
mm 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.
Mmm Displays the month as an abbreviation (Jan-Dec).
Mmmm Displays the month as a full name (January-December).
d Displays the day as a number without leading zeros (1 to 13).
dd Displays the day as a number with leading zeros (01 to 13).
Dddd Displays the day as a full name (Sunday-Saturday). If the first two
letters are capital letters the whole month is capitalized.
yy or yyyy Displays the year as a two-digit number (00 to 99) or as a four-digit
number (1900 to 2078).
h or H 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
m or mm 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.
s or ss 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
Examples
To display Use this format code

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

Formatting in Business Objects

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Convert a Table to a Crosstab..........................................................................................................44

About this Course

Instructor Led Course

Create the report

7. Double-click the right border of the City column to resize it.

Changing Column Headings

3. Change the heading for the Sales revenue column to Sales.

3. Right-click anywhere on the header row to display the pop-up menu.

5. Select the Alignment tab.

6. Select Wrap Text in the Settings portion of the dialog box.

Using the Formatting toolbar

1. Double-click Report Title in the cell above the table.

3. Use the Formatting toolbar to make the following changes:

The title should look like this:

Centering on the page

6. Click OK to close the Cell Format dialog box.

Copying Cell Formatting

2. Select Format Cell… from the pop-up menu.

5. Select the top format option $#,##0.00.

; Note: See Appendix B - Number Formatting for an explanation of the formatting

6. Click OK to close the dialog box.

7. Save the document as Sales by Store.rep

Exercise 1: Cell Formatting

Save the document as Formatting Exercise 1. Times New Roman

Change headers Double line bottom border

Inserting a column header on each page

10. Select FormatTable

The Table Format dialog box is displayed.

11. Select the Page Layout tab.

Multiple Line Titles

The top of the report should look like this:

1. Select ViewPage Layout.

Inserting Page Numbers

Aligning elements with the Grid

Inserting the Last Refresh date

The cursor changes to the Insert Cell cursor.

10. Click OK.

; Note: See Appendix B - Number Formatting for an explanation of the formatting

Align Elements using Alignment

The top of the report should look like this:

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

7. Save the document as Formatted Report.rep.

Exercise 2: Report Formatting

Objects: Campus desc, Decision desc, Term Desc, Count of Applications

Logo image file:

Save the document as Formatting Exercise 2.

Finished Report Times New Roman

Standard Report Style

A standard report has the following elements:

Saving the default settings

1. Right-click on the Window Start button.

Changing the Standard Report Style

1. Click ToolsStandard Report Styles.

2. Click + to the left of Tables in the Report Components list.

Viewing the new style

Resetting to the default settings

Saving a Report as a Template.

6. Select FileClose to close the report.

Choosing a template for a new document

10. Select FormatTable

1. Select ViewPage Layout.

1. Click ToolsStandard Report Styles.

6. Select FileClose to close the report.