Reports and report templates
Reports are used to document results in standardized form. They usually consist of many pages which are similarly structured. In order to make report creation easier, a report is based on a report template. The report template defines all page layouts and object templates that can be used in this kind of report.
Report window You can never load and edit more than one report (or report template) at a time. The report will be loaded into its own separate window. Only one report page can be shown and edited in the report window at a time. The report window has its own sep- arate button bar and a status bar. There are ruled borders and a grid for use as po- sitioning aids.
Related Topics
Exporting reports 172 Report templates 197 Ruler 175
Report Generator Creating reports - Background information
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Reports are opened within a separate win- dow. The functionality of the report generator is in the button bars. The Re- port and Report Objects button bars are the two most important button bars.
Report button bar The report button bar is a part of the report window. Please keep in mind that these buttons’ functions are not available as menu functions. This is why this button bar should remain visible. If you like, you can use the Special > Edit Button Bars... com- mand to show or hide the button bar or to add other frequently-used buttons.
Turning button bars ‘on’ and ‘off’
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Use the Special > Edit Button Bars... command.•
Rightclick in a report window. All button bars linked to report generator are listed beneath the Button Bars command.Report Generator
Creating reports - Background information
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Paging through a report
You can only display one page in the report window. Use the first buttons of the Re- port button bar to page back and forth through a report. When paging, the current re- port page will automatically be saved.
Go to If you want to get to a particular page fast, enter the page number into this field and confirm via [Enter].
Add Page Click the Add Page button to add a page to the active report (at any place). After click- ing the button, select where the new page should be inserted. You can add a new page either in front of the active report page or at the end of the report.
You have to indicate a page template for each page. This determines the pages’ ap- pearance(s).
The newly-added page will become the active page, no matter what page was being shown before the new page was inserted.
Delete Page Click the Delete Page button, to delete the report's page which is currently displayed in the report window. You have to confirm the deletion of a page. Any and all image files and thumbnails in connection with the page will also be deleted. Images inserted into a report as links will, of course, not be deleted.
Report properties Define the page format for the current report in the Report Properties dialog box (Bor- der and Format groups). In addition, determine some of the properties of the Graph- ical User Interface (GUI) (Grid and Ruler groups):
You can open this dialog box by rightclicking on any part of a report on which no ob- ject has been placed and selecting the Properties... command from the context menu.
File Format The file formats SRD and SRC are available for saving reports. Both formats are ex- clusive file formats of your image analysis program and cannot be opened with other application programs.
Select the SRC file type to place all files which belong to the report in a single con- tainer file. If you insert a report in an image database, the report is automatically in- serted in SRC format.
When using the SRD file type, the report is not saved in a single file. Similarly to the saving of a database, there are several files and directories involved. Any files that are part of a report will be automatically placed in a subdirectory named after the re- port. When making backup copies, the easiest thing to do is to copy the whole report directory.
Report Generator Creating reports - Step-by-step
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Step-by-step
Set report properties
1) Leftclick anywhere within the report on the background.
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Now none of the report objects is selected.2) Rightclick and select the Properties... command.
3) Select the desired properties for the report, e.g., page format. For example, clear the Snap to grid check box to be able to position all objects as desired via mouse.
4) Close the Report Properties dialog box via OK.
Generating a new report
1) Select the File > Report > New... command.
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The New Report dialog box offers you report templates that you can base your new report on.2) Select the report template named "Normal" in the General tab in order to create an empty report.
3) The Report option is default in the Create new group.
4) Confirm via OK to have the report generated.
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The first page of the new report will appear within a separate window. The first page’s appearance is determined in the report template."
Your image analysis program will display a number of button bars to be used in making and editing reports. These button bars are context-sensi- tive, i. e., as soon as you activate another document the report button bars will disappear.Adding pages to a report
5) Click the Add Page button in the Report button bar to add a page to the report.
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The Add Page dialog box will be opened. This is where you determine where you want to add a page within the report.6) Select the Insert page option within the Add Page dialog box to insert the new page directly before the current report page. This is the option you choose if you have to add a page to a report that is finished otherwise.
Select the Append page option to add a last page to a report no matter which report page is the active one or not.
7) Confirm by clicking OK.
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The Add Page Template dialog box is opened if the used report template contains more than one page template. You’ll find all template pages that are defined in the current report template listed within the dialog box. De- pending on the report template, you’ll have very different page layouts available.8) Select the desired page template and confirm via OK.
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You’ll now see the newly-added page within the report window. The select- ed report template page influences the appearance of the page."
The status bar shows the current page and the total number of pages the report has.Report Generator
Saving / Exporting report - Background information
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Saving a report
1) Press [F8] to open the Preferences dialog box and select the Report tab.
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You’ll find the standard path for saving reports and templates in the Direc- tories group."
Your image analysis program will propose a standard directory for saving reports: the "Report" directory is a subdirectory of the root directory.2) Enter the path name where you want to save your future reports into the Reports
field, e. g. "C:\Reports\ProjectXYZ".
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If the report directory does not yet exist, click the ... button next to the Re- ports field. Click the Create New Folder button in the Select Directory dia- log box to set up the directory.3) Confirm the new report path via OK.
4) Click the Save button in the Standard or Report button bars.
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If you are saving the report for the first time, the Save Report Documentdialog box will be opened.
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Your image analysis program will propose the report directory called "C:\Reports\ProjectXYZ" in the Save in list.5) Enter a content-relevant name for your report into the File name field.
6) Select the "report container (*.src)" from the Save as type list to save the report in a single file.
7) Click Save to save the report.