PerfectApps ® Help Guide

To add an app instance Data List or Grid to a report:

1.With a report loaded in the Report Designer Layout view, drag a Data List/Grid object onto the report canvas.

2.Select the Data List/Grid object.

3.On the Properties panel, select from the following appearance properties:

•Row Height (in pixels)

•Max Rows - The number of rows to display

•Variable Height - Check this box to enable auto-sizing of rows. This option ensures that all data is shown in each row, regardless of how much data the row contains.

•Header Height (in pixels) - Adjust this setting to change the height of the header row. Increase this property if the header text is long enough to wrap to another line.

•Buttons - Select the buttons to be displayed to the report user. These include Navigation, Export, and Paging Number buttons. Check Show Export Option to allow users to download the contents of the Data List in a CSV or XML file.

4.Choose the State for the reporting object. Select from Default, Normal, Disabled, or Hidden for Data List objects. Using the State property you control access to individual objects on the report. You can prevent individual users from changing or even viewing specific data or sections of the report.

5.In the Data section of the Data List/Grid Properties, select the app you are reporting on from the Data Source list.

If you need to report on data from an app that is not listed, you must first add it as another data source under the Report Properties.

6.In the Columns section below the Data Source list, click the Add Column button to add columns to the data list.

7.Select a row in the Columns list.

8.Click in the Caption field for the selected row and enter the column title.

9.For Data Grid Only: Choose an aggregation option. You may select either the Group option or a function that aggregates the data for the field selected below.

For example, to report on the number of sales per country, your first column would be Country with the Group option selected, and your second column would be Sales with the Sum function selected.   If you don't want to aggregate data, then choose the Group option for all fields.

10.Choose the associated field to report on from the list in the Field drop-down below the Columns grid.

11.Choose to Sort the data list in ascending or descending order.

12.Enter a width in pixels for that data in the report.

13.Choose the alignment of the column value - left, center, or right.

14.Choose to hide or show the column by clicking the Hidden check box.

15.Choose to include this column in dynamic filtering. (See also 18 below)

16.Choose the Format of the field. Options include:

•None

•Number - Use this for currency and other number formats. Optionally show decimal places and a currency symbol.

•Date - Use this format for date fields and choose the month, day, year order.

•Time - Use this format for time inputs and optionally show a 24-hour clock and seconds.

•Boolean (Yes / No) - Use this format for checkbox inputs. Optionally assign values to the Yes/No options. Note that if the Boolean format is selected but nothing is entered into the Yes or No boxes, then nothing will be listed in the report.

•Percentage - Use this format for numeric inputs that contain percentages.

17.Repeat steps 7-16 for any additional columns.

18.Choose any filtering or other miscellaneous options as needed.

•Can set dynamic filter - This option tells PerfectApps that any click within the selected reporting object should be broadcast to all other objects on the report. Unchecking this option means no drill-down will occur when the object is clicked.

•Override previous filter - By default, each object that you click on for a drill-down remains in effect when subsequent objects are selected. In other words, the drill-downs you select are cumulative. However, you may want a drill-down selection to clear all other existing drill-down filters before performing its own drill-down. In this case, you would select the Override Previous check box.

•Respect dynamic filter - This option tells PerfectApps that any drill-down event broadcast from another reporting object should be respected, and so it should filter its data. Unchecking this option means the object will not respond to a drill-down event from another object.

•Show all possible values - If this check box is selected, the object includes values whose result is 0.

•Open links in new window - Selected by default; linked instances open in a new browser tab. Clear this checkbox to open them in the existing browser tab.

Data List

(5 min)

The Data List is a table reporting object which can be used to display data from many different fields on the linked app. In this tutorial you will also see how that can be adapted to become an access portal by including a link to the individual app instances.

Data Grid

(3 min)

The Data Grid offers similar features to the Data List but with the added option of being able to aggregate data for a field, or fields, on the app. Typically this would be used to see the total value of orders by department.