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Sage 200 Report Designer - Using Active Complete

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Summary

Using the Active Complete option within Sage Report Designer, you can automatically create titles and totals for any variables you add to a report, layout, letter or label. This article explains how to use Active Complete.

Description

NOTE:

This article has been prepared and issued to you as a goodwill gesture only and Sage accepts no liability or responsibility for its use. For further support please refer to your Business Partner.

Resolution

Quick Steps

These are the basic steps that explain how to use Active Complete when adding variables to your document. They include:

  • To enable Active Complete
  • To add titles for variables with Active Complete
  • To add totals for variables with Active Complete
  • The Remember settings for this session check box
  • The Layout options
  • To save the changes to your document

NOTE:

Quick steps provide the minimum amount of information you need. For further information, please refer to the Detailed steps tab.

This article assumes that you have located the report or layout that you want to amend and opened it in Sage Report Designer. If you need further help with this, please click here.

To enable Active Complete
  • Report Designer > Tools > Options > select the Use Active Complete check box > OK.
    The Active Complete function now runs automatically whenever you add a variable to a document within Sage Report Designer.

NOTE:

In Sage 200 2013 and above, if you add a variable using Dynamic Help and want to use Active Complete, within the Dynamic Help pane you must also select the Use Active Complete check box.

To add titles for variables with Active Complete
  1. Active Complete window > Where do you want the title to appear? section > select one of the following options:
    • Do not add a title
    • Add a title in the section above where the variable was placed
    • Add a title to the left of variable
      For further information about these options, please refer to the Detailed steps tab.
  2. What text do you want in the title? box > enter a title for the variable.
  3. If you need to add a total using active complete, please refer to the following section. If you have added a numeric variable and do not need to add a total > Totals section > select Do not add a total > OK.
To add totals for variables with Active Complete
  1. Active Complete window > Where do you want the totals to appear? section > select from the following options:
    • Do not add a total
    • Add a total in the next footer section only
    • Add a total for all of the following footer sections
      For further information about these options, please refer to the Detailed steps tab.
  2. Click OK.
The Remember settings for this session check box

This option sets the default Active Complete settings for the addition of future variables or expressions. To use this option, from the Active Complete window, select the Remember settings for this session check box.

This default remains until either you:

  • Clear the Remember settings for this session check box
  • Exit Sage Report Designer.

If the check box is clear, Active Complete uses the following default settings:

  • Text variables - Adds a title in the section above where the variable is placed.
  • Numeric variables - Adds a title in the section above where the variable is placed and adds a total for all following footer sections.
The Layout options
  • Active Complete window > Layout section > define the output length, width and grouping as required > OK.

    For further information about the options available, please refer to the Detailed steps tab.
To save the changes to your document
  1. Report menu > Report Properties > enter a new name and description for the document > OK.
    Report Designer v1.3 and below - Report Explorer pane > select the document name > Properties pane > Name > enter a new name for the document > Enter.

    TIP:

    You can check your Report Designer version in Help > About > Application > File Version.

  2. File > Save As > File name > enter a new name for the document > Save in > browse to the required location for your document > Save.
  3. File > Exit.
Detailed steps

The following detailed steps contain everything you need to help you to use Active Complete when adding variables to your document.

This article assumes that you have located the report or layout that you want to amend and opened it in Sage Report Designer. If you need further help with this, please click here.

To enable Active Complete

  1. From the Sage Report Designer menu bar, open the Tools menu and choose Options then to switch on the Active Complete function, select the Use Active Complete check box.
    The Active Complete function now runs automatically whenever you add a variable to any document within Sage Report Designer.
  2. To save the Active Complete setting click OK.

You have now enabled Active Complete and are ready to amend your document.

NOTE:

In Sage 200 2013 and above, if you add a variable using Dynamic Help and want to use Active Complete, within the Dynamic Help pane you must also select the Use Active Complete check box.

To add titles for variables with Active Complete
  1. From the Active Complete window, in the Where do you want the title to appear? section, select one of the following three options:

    Do not add a title If you select this option, no title is added.
    Add a title in the section above where the variable was placed This option adds a title in the section directly above the section in which the variable was placed on the report. If, however, the variable is added in the top section of the document this option is unavailable.
    Add a title to the left of variable This option adds a title for the variable directly to the left of where the variable has been placed on the report.
  2. In the What text do you want in the title? box, enter a title for the variable.

    NOTE:

    If the Do not add a title option is selected, this box is greyed out.

  3. If you need to add a total using active complete please refer to the following section. If you have added a numeric variable and do not need to add a total, within the Totals section select the option Do not add a total. To confirm the settings, click OK.
    The variable selected appears on the report. The title appears in the chosen position and is set to the same width as the variable.

    NOTE:

    All objects added using Active Complete are automatically grouped so that if one of the objects is moved, all of the objects added with it also move.

You have now added a title for your variable.

To add totals for variables with Active Complete
    1. From the Active Complete window, in the Where do you want the totals to appear? section, select from the following three options:

      NOTE:

      If the variable is not numeric or you are adding it into the last section on the report the option for adding totals is greyed out.


      Do not add a total If this option is selected no totals are added.
      Add a total in the next footer section only This option adds a total in the next footer section, for example, if you have three groups on your report and the variable is inserted in the Details section of the report, a total only appears in the footer section immediately after the Details section.
      Add a total for all of the following footer sections This option adds totals in all the footer sections on the report, even if the section is not set to be printed.

  1. To confirm the settings click OK, or to exit without confirming click Cancel.
    The variable selected is added with the title and total or totals in the positions chosen.

    NOTE:

    All objects added using Active Complete are automatically grouped so that if one of the objects added using Active Complete moves, all of the others added with it move as well.

You have now added a total for your numeric variable.

The Remember settings for this session check box

This option sets the default Active Complete settings for the addition of future variables or expressions. To use this option, from the Active Complete window, select the Remember settings for this session check box.

This default remains until either you:

  • Clear the Remember settings for this session check box
  • Exit Sage Report Designer.

If the check box is clear, Active Complete uses the following default settings:

  • Text variables - Adds a title in the section above where the variable is placed.
  • Numeric variables - Adds a title in the section above where the variable is placed and adds a total for all following footer sections.
The Layout options

You can use this section of the Active Complete window to change the output length for the variable and title and specify whether the items are to be grouped:

Output Length The Output Length shows by default the maximum number of characters that may be entered in this variable or expression, for example, 8 characters for a Customer Account reference. This value may be increased or decreased by over typing the value or using the up and down buttons. Increasing the value increases the size of the object in Report Designer, but no more than the maximum number of characters may be displayed when running the report.

NOTE:

 The number entered here controls the actual number of characters which can be displayed or output to file. If the field size in the program is greater than the number of characters entered here the field will be truncated.
Width The Width shows by default the physical width of the object. The form of measurement is determined by the Measurement settings within Options from the Tools menu. As with the Output Length, the value may be increased or decreased by over typing the value or using the up and down buttons.

Note: The size entered here controls the display and print length of the field. It will not affect the field size when the report is sent to file.
Use variable width for title To make the title the same width as the variable select this check box.
Group variable with title and total Selecting this option means that all of the objects added using Active Complete are grouped together. This means that moving one object within the group removes all other objects that are also grouped. For further information about grouping please refer to article .
To save the changes to your document
  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.

    TIP:

    You can check your Report Designer version in Help > About > Application > File Version.

  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 article .
  3. To close Sage Report Designer, open the File menu and choose Exit.

NOTE:

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