The options in this step are:

• Header: text that appears at the top of every page. If you want to use an expression rather than fixed text, such as a user-defined function, add "{" and "}" (without the quotes) around field or function names in the text. (Previous versions allowed you to enter an equals sign followed by an expression; this is still supported but braces are easier to use.) Here's an example of an expression that displays "Sales for <spelled out month> <year>" (such as "Sales for December 2001") in the report header:

  Sales for {cmonth(date())} {year(date())}

  Here's an expression that uses the built-in GetConditionValue function, which returns the value of a filter condition for the specified field, to display a header showing "Sales for " a particular country the report is filtered on:

  Sales for {GetConditionValue('customers.country')}

  Expressions can even include fields from the result set for the report.

• Footer: text that appears at the bottom of every page. As with the header, you can use an expression for the report footer.

• Include filter in report header: if this option is turned on, any filter you've set for the report is displayed in the header of the report.

• Include database in header: turn this option on to include the database name in the header of the report.

• Run report with no records: turn this option on to run the report even when there are no records that match your filter condition. This results in a blank report. If this option is turned off, rather than displaying a blank report, Stonefield Query displays a message that there are no records.

• Summary report: if this item is turned on, the report does not print detail information but only those fields that appear in group headers and totaled fields. This option is disabled unless there's at least one group in the report. Note that sorting on totaled fields is given higher priority than grouped fields. This allows you to show, for example, sales by product with the biggest selling items first by using a descending sort on the sales amount field.

• Template: this specifies the overall layout of the report. The default template for a new report is determined by the Default template setting in the Options dialog, but if other templates are available, you may select the desired one from the drop-down list. Templates are created and edited using the Template Editor.

• Chart: if this option is turned on, you can add a chart to the report by clicking the Edit button beside this option and using the Chart Wizard.

• Edit: click this button, which is only enabled if the "Chart" option is turned on, to display the Chart Wizard. The only two steps available in the Chart Wizard are Chart Layout and Formatting Options because the rest of the steps in the Chart Wizard are used for creating stand-alone charts.

• Orientation: the default choice, "Automatic," means that if the report is too wide to fit in portrait orientation, it automatically switches to landscape. However, you can override this by choosing either "Portrait" or "Landscape" to force the report to be printed in the desired orientation.

• Left margin: how many characters to indent the entire report; this is handy if, for example, you want to print a report and punch holes in it so it can be inserted into a binder.

• Allow report to be filtered: turn this option on if someone can specify a filter for the report in the Reports Explorer. This should normally be turned on, but if you specify a filter in Step 3, you may wish to turn this off.

• Allow report to be sorted: turn this option on if someone can specify a sort order for the report in the Reports Explorer. If you group on any field, or specify a sort order in Step 4, you may want to turn this option off.

• Show totals in group headers: if this option is turned on, group totals appear in the group header rather than the group footer. This option is disabled if there aren't any groups in the report or if any field has its Summary option set to "Count Distinct."
  

If you are defined as an advanced user in the Maintain Users and Groups dialog, two other options are available:

• Advanced layout: if this option is turned on, this report's layout can be edited in the Advanced Report Designer. When this is turned on, you can no longer add or remove fields using the items in Step 2; you must add or remove them using the Advanced Report Designer instead. If this option is turned off for a report that has an advanced layout, any advanced layout for the report is discarded (you are asked to verify that you want to do this).

• Edit: click this button, which is only enabled if the "Advanced layout" option is turned on, to display the Advanced Report Designer.