Report Details

The Report Details window allows you to name the report, and to indicate where the report is to be run. The options under the Action heading follow:

View Design

The report design will be displayed on screen without any data in your selected fields. View Design is used to make adjustments in the layout and look of the report before it is actually run.

Report to Screen

The report will be run, meaning that data will be retrieved from the database and displayed in the report, but just to the screen. This option is useful if you want to look at the report itself without printing a hard copy.

Report to Printer

The report is printed. When Report to Printer is selected, the report will not be displayed on the screen prior to printing.

Warning: If you select Run Report to Screen or Run Report to Printer without first viewing the design, the report will be transient and will not be able to be saved. These "transient" reports can be useful to view information quickly. Care should be taken, however, that if the report is to be saved, the design should be viewed before running the report to either the screen or to a printer.

The printer button allows you to enter a standard printer setup window where you can select and format the printer on which the report is to be printed.

If you decide you want to run the report to the screen and you do not need to save the report (for example, if the report is comprised of a set of names and addresses that you simply want to examine but do not want to print and will not be returning to later) select Run to Screen.

If you are confident of the format of the report and you want to print a hard copy, select Run to Printer.

If you want to view the general layout of the report AND have the opportunity to make changes in its format before running the report either to the screen or to the printer, select View Design. (Since it is common for report writers to want to make final adjustments to reports before running them, this option, View Design, is the default setting for the Details window.)

Once you have made your selections, click the "Finish" button. If you have chosen to run the report (either to the screen or to the printer) the report will run at this time. If, however, you have accepted the default setting of View Design, the Design window will be displayed.

The Design window allows you to make many layout and content decisions about your report.