The options in the Display page of this dialog are:

• Heading: displays the description used for the field's heading; the default heading is the field's caption, unless you select a non-numeric field for a data field, in which case the default heading is "Count." This option isn't available for column fields, since the column field values are shown rather than the heading, and is ignored for data fields unless you have selected more than one data field. You can specify mutliple lines for the heading by pressing Enter where a new line should start.

• Width: if the Auto-fit column option (described next) is turned off, this is used as the width for the field in the report. The default is the larger of the field width and the width of the column heading. This option isn't available for column fields, since the setting for data fields determines the width.

• Auto-fit column: if this option is turned on, which it is by default, the column is automatically sized to accommodate the widest value in the column, including the column heading. This option isn't available for column fields.

• Total type: this option, which is only available for data fields, allows you to specify whether a total ("sum"), count, average, highest, or lowest value appears for this field. Choose the desired function from the drop-down list.

• Subtotal on this field: this option is only available for row fields and only if there is more than one row field and the selected field isn't the last row field. If this option is turned on, Stonefield Query subtotals this field, showing the totals of the lower level row field records. The Place subtotals above details setting in the Formatting Options step allows you to specify where the subtotals appear.

• Display date as: this option, which is only available for date fields that appear in columns, allows you to specify whether the actual date is displayed ("Date") or whether the results are summarized by month, quarter, or year. Choose the desired function from the drop-down list.
  

The options in the Format page of this dialog are:

• Alignment: text alignment options for field headings and field contents. By default, numeric fields are right-aligned and all others are left-aligned. This option is only available for row fields; column and data fields are automatically right-aligned.

• Use default format: if this option is turned on, which it is by default, Stonefield Query uses the defined format for the field. If the format for the field changes in the future, the report uses the new format automatically. If you wish to change any of the formatting options, turn this setting off.

• Show commas: this option is only available for numeric data fields or if the Total type option is set to Count. If this option is turned on, the values in the field are formatted with the thousands separator defined in the Regional Settings applet of the Windows Control Panel.

• Display zero as blank: if this option is turned on, a blank is displayed rather than a zero value. This option is only available for data fields that are numeric or if the Total type option is set to Count.

• Display $ (the appropriate currency symbol for your system is displayed in place of "$"): turning this option on displays the currency symbol defined in the Regional Settings applet of the Windows Control Panel in front of the field's value. This option is only available for numeric fields.

• Display empty date as blank: if this option is turned on, a blank is displayed rather than " / / " for blank dates. This option is only available for date/time fields.

• Display date only: turning this option on displays only the date portion of the field's value. This option is only available for date/time fields.

• Decimal places: the number of decimals to display for numeric data fields.
  

The options in the Style page of this dialog are:

• Use default font: if this option is turned on, which it is by default, this field uses the default font for the report, even if the default font is changed after the field is added to the report. To change the font, turn this option off.

• Font: the font name, size, and style to use for this field. To change any of these, click the font selection button (which appears as "...") and select the desired font name, size, and style from the Font dialog that appears.

• Use dynamic expression for font style: if you want the font name, size, or style of the field to change depending on the contents of this or some other field, turn this setting on and click the Expression Builder button (the button with "..."). The following dialog appears:

  

  In this dialog, enter the expression you wish to look for (you can click the Expression Builder button to launch the Expression Builder, which makes it easier to enter the expression) and the font style to use when that expression is true. You can use "{VALUE}" as a placeholder for the value of the current field being output rather than specifying the field name. You can enter up to three expressions to change the font style. If none of the expressions is true, the font style specified for the field is used.

  Note that using this option significantly increases report generation time, so use it only when required.

• Color: the color for the contents of the field. The default color is black; to change it, click this button and select the color from the Color dialog that appears.

• Use dynamic expression for color: if you want the color of the field to change depending on the contents of this or some other field, turn this setting on and click the Expression Builder button. The following dialog appears:

  

  In this dialog, enter the expression you wish to look for (you can click the Expression Builder button to launch the Expression Builder, which makes it easier to enter the expression) and the color to use when that expression is true. You can use "{VALUE}" as a placeholder for the value of the current field being output rather than specifying the field name. You can enter up to three expressions to change the color. If none of the expressions is true, the color specified for the field is used.

  Note that using this option significantly increases report generation time, so use it only when required.
  

The Link page allows you to link the selected field to an email dialog, a Web site, a report, or Google Maps. A linked field appears underlined in the report Preview window, similar to a hyperlink in a Web browser, in either blue (for email and Web site links) or green (for report links). When you click a linked field in the Preview window, one of four things happens:

• For email links, the New Message dialog for your email program is brought up with the email address already filled in.

• For Web site links, your Web browser opens and navigates to the Web site.

• For report links, the specified report is run and displayed in another page in the Preview window.

• For Google Maps, your Web browser opens, navigates to the Google Maps Web site, and displays a map with the location of the selected company shown as a pushpin.

Most of the options on this page are disabled unless you set Link Type to something either than None.

The options in this page are:

• Link Type: choose the desired link type.

• Field containing email address: this option, which only appears if Link Type is set to Email, specifies which field contains the email address to link to. By default, it's the same as the field the properties dialog is working on, but if, for example, you wish to click on the company name to bring up the New Message dialog with the proper email address filled in, select the field that contains the email address to link to. Only fields selected for the report appear in the list of fields, so be sure to include the desired field in the report. If you don't want that field to actually appear in the report, turn off the Display this field in the report setting for that field.

• Field containing URL: this option, which only appears if Link Type is set to Web site, specifies which field contains the URL, or Web site address, to link to. By default, it's the same as the field the properties dialog is working on, but if, for example, you wish to click on the company name to bring up the Web site for that company, select the field that contains the URL to link to. Only fields selected for the report appear in the list of fields, so be sure to include the desired field in the report. If you don't want that field to actually appear in the report, turn off the Display this field in the report setting for that field.

• Action to take: Google Maps is the only action currently supported, so selecting Action for the link type automatically selects Google Maps. Note that selecting this adds several fields necessary for mapping (address, city, state/province, and zip/postal code) to the report. Any fields that weren't already in the report have Display this field in the report turned off so they are retrieved from the database but don't appear in the report. You can, of course, turn Display this field in the report on if you wish to display them.

• Report to run: this option, which only appears if Link Type is set to Report, specifies which report to run when you click the field in the Preview window. Click the down arrow and select the report from the list; you have to expand the folder the desired report is in to select the report. When you've found the desired report, double-click it or select it and click the down arrow to close the report selector.

• Values to pass: this option, which is only available if Link Type is set to Report, allows you to pass values to the ask-at-runtime filter conditions of the linked report. Without this option, when you click a field linked to another report, that report will prompt you for any of its ask-at-runtime filter conditions, which may not make sense. For example, suppose you have a customer report and you've linked the company name field to a report showing sales by customer. The linked report has an ask-at-runtime filter condition on the customer number, so when you click a particular company name, the linked report runs and asks you for the customer number. That seems odd, because you just clicked a particular customer and now it wants you to specify which customer. To make this more seamless, you want to tell the linked report which customer you just clicked. You do that by specifying what value to pass to the ask-at-runtime filter condition of the linked report. In this case, you'd specify that the customer number should be passed to the linked report. Since that value is passed, the report doesn't need to ask you for the customer number, and simply displays the sales for the customer you clicked.

  The list shows each of the ask-at-runtime conditions for the linked report. The first column shows the field used in the ask-at-runtime condition, the second column allows you to specify the type of value to pass to the report, and the third column specifies the value to pass. The choices for the Type of Value column are:

  • None, which means a value won't be passed to this condition, so you'll still be prompted for its value.

  • Filter Condition, which means this report contains the same ask-at-runtime filter condition as the linked report, and you want the value you specify when you run this report passed to the linked report. For example, if both reports have an ask-at-runtime filter condition on the order date, you'd want to use the same order date range you specify when you run this report used for the linked report. So, choose Filter Condition and select the field used for the condition in the Value to Pass column.

  • Field, which means you want to pass the value of the field specified in the Value to Pass column for the current record. For example, when you click the company name, you want to pass the customer number to the ask-at-runtime filter condition on customer number to the linked report, so choose Field and select the Customer Number field in the Value to Pass column.

  • Ignore this condition, which means you want to ignore this condition (that is, act like you clicked the Ignore this condition option in the filter value dialog) and not display the dialog asking you for the value for this condition.
    

  Note that only fields selected for the report appear in the list of fields in the Value to Pass column, so be sure to include the desired field in the report. If you don't want that field to actually appear in the report, turn off the Display this field in the report setting for that field.
  

The Comments page shows any comments about the field, which is often used to provide a description of the field's contents.