There are two methods of conditional formatting that you can use.

• Basic conditional formatting - Using this option you can set a filter, then from a list of format settings you can choose the format to apply when the filter is met.
  
  
• Advanced conditional formatting - Using this option you can enter an expression to determine what format applies when certain conditions are met. With this method you can apply more than one set of formatting to the object. For example, if you want an object to appear in red if one condition is met and to appear in blue if a different condition is met.
  
  

To select the type of conditional formatting to use:

1. From the Sage Report Designer menu bar, open the Tools menu and choose Options.
   
   
2. In the Options tab, amend the Use Advanced Conditional Formatting option as follows:
   
   
   • To use the basic method - Clear the Use Advanced Conditional Formatting check box.
   • To use the advanced method - Select the Use Advanced Conditional Formatting check box.
3. To confirm the changes click OK.

NOTE: Before following the steps in this section you should check that Report Designer is set to use basic conditional formatting. For further information, please refer to the previous section Basic and advanced conditional formatting.

1. Locate and select the variable to which you want to apply the conditional formatting, for example, SLCustomerAccounts.AccountBalance.
   
   
2. From the Properties pane, select Conditional Formatting then click the finder button .
   
   

   NOTE: Using the Filter tab you can create the filter on which to base the condition. Using the Properties tab you can define the effects of this condition, for example, change the font colour.

3. From the Filter tab, click Edit, create the filter to apply to the variable then click OK.
   
   

   TIP: If you are using Report Designer v1.3 or above and your filter is too complex for the Modify Filter window, click Use Advanced Filter, enter the filter in the Expression Editor window then click OK. You can check your Report Designer version in Help > About > Application > File Version.

   For further information about building filters, please refer to the following article.
   
   

   NOTE: When using dates within conditional formatting, you must enter the date in the format #yyyy/mm/dd#, for example, #2010/05/13#.

4. Click the Properties tab and set the properties to apply when the condition is met. For example, to show any values in red, expand the Text Style option and from the Color drop-down list, choose Red.
   
   

   TIP: The preview pane indicates how the object appears when the condition is met.

5. To confirm the conditional formatting, click OK.
   
   
6. If required, to apply conditional formatting to further variables repeat the above steps.

You have now applied basic conditional formatting to objects on your report. You should make any further required changes and then save your report. For further information about saving your report, please refer to the section To save the changes to your document later in this article.

NOTE: Before following the steps in this section you should check that Report Designer is set to use advanced conditional formatting. For further information, please refer to the section Basic and advanced conditional formatting earlier in this article.

1. Locate and select the variable to which you want to apply the conditional formatting, for example, SLCustomerAccounts.AccountBalance.
   
   
2. From the Properties pane, select Conditional Formatting then click the finder button .
   
   
3. In the Expression Editor window, enter your conditional formatting expression, then click OK.
   
   For information about the syntax used in advanced conditional formatting, please refer to the following section.

When Advanced Conditional Formatting is selected, the Conditional Formatting window is replaced by the Expression Editor window which requires the condition to be entered as code. The code uses the following format:

if condition to be met, for example, SLCustomerAccounts.AccountBalance > SLCustomerAccounts.CreditLimit then

begin
the formatting to apply, for example, TextStyle->Color := NamedColor("Red");
end

You can create multiple conditions by using an else statement to separate each individual condition, for example:

if (SLCustomerAccounts.AccountBalance > 1000 and SLCustomerAccounts.AccountBalance <= 5000) then

begin
TextStyle->Color := NamedColor("DarkOrange");
end

else

if SLCustomerAccounts.AccountBalance > 5000 then

begin
TextStyle->Color := NamedColor("Red");
end

The table below shows some common formatting code examples.

1. To save your changes, you must change the name and description of your document. To do this, open the Report menu, choose Report Properties, enter a new name and description for the document then click OK.
   
   Report Designer v1.3 and below - To save your changes, you must change the name of your document. To do this, from the Report Explorer pane, select the document name. From the Properties pane, in the Name box, enter your preferred description for the document then press Enter.
   
   
2. To save the changes, open the File menu and choose Save As. From the Save As window, in the File name box, enter a file name for your amended document. If required, browse to the required location for your document then click Save. For further information about where to save your document, please refer to the following article.
   
   
3. To close Sage Report Designer, open the File menu and choose Exit.

You have now saved your amended document.