The options in the Display page of this dialog are:

• Display this field in the report: if this option is turned off (it's on by default), the field will be retrieved from the database but not displayed in the report. This is useful when you want to sort on the field or include it in the query so you can link on it, but not print it.

• Heading: displays the description used for the column heading. You can specify multiple lines for the heading by pressing Enter where a new line should start.

• 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.

• Width: if the Auto-fit column option 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 value can be reduced to fit more columns on the page; the field contents and column heading either automatically wraps within the reduced width as necessary or are cut off if the contents are too wide for the reduced width, depending on the setting of the If the width is too narrow option (discussed next).

• If the width is too narrow: this setting determines whether the contents of a field that are wider than the setting of the Width option automatically wrap within the column width (the default) or are cut off. There are two choices for the latter: you can specify that an ellipsis appears at the end of the text (for example, "Bob Jones Country Store" may appear as "Bob Jones...") or in the middle of the text (for example, "Bob Jones Country Store" may appear as "Bob...Store"), making it obvious that some data isn't displayed.

• Suppress repeating values: if this option is turned on and several records in a row have the same value in this field, only the first occurrence is printed; the field in subsequent records appears blank.
  

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.

• 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: if this option is turned on, the data in the field is formatted with the thousands separator defined in the Regional Settings applet of the Windows Control Panel. This option is only available for numeric fields.

• 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 numeric fields.

• 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 fields.

• Summary: this option allows you to specify whether a total ("sum"), average, highest, or lowest value appears for this field at the end of groups and at the end of the report. Choose the desired function from the drop-down list, or "None" for no summary value. Note: if you choose Sum and Auto-Fit column is not turned on, the field width is not automatically adjusted. As a result, you may find that the totals for a field are wider than can be displayed (the totals appear as a set of asterisks: *******). You should increase the width of the field to account for totals. This option is only available for numeric 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 one 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 Grouping page of this dialog allows you to group on the selected field and specify some options about how grouping works. All of these options are disabled unless you turn the first one, Group on this field, on.

The options in this page are:

• Group on this field: turn this option on to add this field to the Grouping order list, or turn it off to remove the field. If you group on a field, the report is automatically sorted on that field, and the Sort option allows you to determine how it is sorted.

• Show count in group footer: if this option is turned on, a count of the number of records in the group appears at the end of the group in the report.

• Start each group on a new page: if this option is turned on, Stonefield Query performs a page break when the group changes.

• Reset page number to 1: turn this option on to start the page numbering from 1 again when the group changes. Turn it off to continue page numbering from the previous page. This option is disabled if the Start each group on a new page is turned off.

• Create bookmarks on this field: if this option is turned on, the different values of this field are displayed in a table of contents when the report is previewed or output to PDF or HTML full format. You can jump to the appropriate place in the report by clicking an item in the table of contents.

• Include all fields in same table in group header: turn on this option to include all fields from the same table in the group header along with the field you're grouping on. This is handy to prevent duplicated values for the other fields from the same table from showing in the report.

• Place all fields in group header on the same line: with this option turned off, each field in the group header appears on its own line. This can make the group heading fairly high, so turn this option on to place all fields in the group header on the same line.

• Include this field in the group header for: this option allows you to include non-grouped fields in the group header for a grouped field. For example, suppose you group on City from the Customers table but want to show the Region in the group header as well. If you turn on the Include all fields in same table in group header option, all fields in the Customers table will appear in the group footer, which isn't what you want. Instead, turn this option on and select City from the drop-down list to place just City and Region in the group header. All fields that appear in group headers appear in a summary report.

• Sort: click the Ascending button to sort this field from lowest to highest, or the Descending button to sort from highest to lowest.

• Grouping order: fields in this list may be moved up and down to change the order in which the data is grouped. To do this, click the button in front of the desired field and drag the button up or down in the list. This is only available if there is more than one field in the list.
  

The Link page allows you to link the selected field to an email dialog, a Web site, or a report. 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 three 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.
  

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.

• 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.