# Report Designer

Menu Options |

The Report Designer menu bar provides an alternative method to access Report Designer functions that are also available on the Tool Bar. A list of menu bar options is provided below in their order of appearance: File, Edit, Data, Format, Options, Projects and Help.

File | Drop-down menu of options for defining a report.
New | Define a new report or define elements in a new Report Writer Library.
Report Wizard | Launches the Report Wizard for creating a new report.
Open | Open an existing report or library file.
Save | Save the report definition. See Saving the Report Definition.
Save As | Name and save the report definition. See Saving the Report Definition.
Restrict Access | Set up NOMADS Security system for restricting or allowing access to reports. If the NOMADS security classification file does not exist, a message will display.
Delete | Delete a selected report definition. See Deleting Report Definitions.
Associate a Library Disassociate a Library | See Associating Other Report Writer Libraries.
Output Destination | Select an alternate default destination: Clipboard, Custom Output, HTML document, PDF document, Printer, Tab delimited file, Viewer. See Setting the Report Destination.
Specify Custom Destination | If Custom Output is selected as the report Output Destination, a specific custom output object may be specified for the report. See Custom Output Object Interface.
Generate Report | Send the generated report to the designated Output Destination. See Generating a Report.
Page Setup | Set up page settings for printer output. See Page Setup.
Print Preview | Preview the report output. See Testing the Report.
Print | Send the report to a printer.
Exit | Close the Report Designer.
(Files list) | Displays a list (up to 10) of the most recently selected or saved reports.

Edit | Drop-down menu of options for editing the report layout.
Cut | See Editing the Layout.
Copy | See Editing the Layout.
Paste | See Editing the Layout.
Clear area | Clear all data from the highlighted cells. This function also resets the cell formatting to default settings. This differs from selecting cells and pressing Delete, which only clears the data.
Insert Line | Insert a line below the current line.
Delete Line | Delete the current line.
Insert Column | Insert a column to the right of the current column. If the Inherit attributes from column on left when inserting a column designer option has been turned On, then when a column is inserted, the cell attributes (i.e. font, colors, alignment, word-wrap and borders) from the previous column (on the left) are inherited on a cell-by-cell basis. If column 1 is inserted or the option is not selected, then the column cells will be assigned default attributes. #### Note: If the cell to the left is a joined cell (see Join), the inherited attributes would be those of the cell if it were not joined and therefore may not match the attributes displayed when joined. The Inherit attributes from column on left when inserting a column option is at the bottom of the main Report Designer panel and in the Designer Options window, which is accessed through the Options menu. (The Inherit attributes from column on left when inserting a column option was added in PxPlus 2023.)
Delete Column | Delete the current column.
Find Text | Find the specified text value in the layout. Find will search data items, formulas and fixed text within the cells.
Groups | Create, update or delete a group. See Grouping the Data.

Data | Drop-down menu of options for defining the input source, sort sequence and fields to display.
Input Source | Determine the source of the data to be displayed in the report. See Input Source.
Related Sources | Select additional related data sources, if applicable. See Related Data Sources.
File Link Maintenance | Launches the File Link Maintenance utility. (File Link Maintenance was added to the Data menu in PxPlus 2021 Update 1.)
Sort Sequence | Define Sort Sequence.
Calculated Fields | Define Calculated Fields.
Parameters | Set up report Parameters.
Filters | Define Data Filters.

Format | Drop-down menu of options for formatting cells in the report layout.
Formula | Define Formulas.
Image | Add or update Images.
Hyperlink | Add Hyperlinks.
Display Format | Define a format mask, either a Fixed value or an Expression. See Display Format.
Bulk Edit Cell Format | Set formatting attributes in a range of cells simultaneously. See Bulk Edit Cell Format.
Word Wrap | Set Word Wrap to On/Off.
Text Alignment | Set text alignment horizontally (Left, Center or Right) and vertically (Top, Middle or Bottom). Click the drop-down arrow for a list of selections: Left Top, Left Middle, Left Bottom, Center Top, Center Middle, Center Bottom, Right Top, Right Middle, Right Bottom. (Compound text alignment options were added in PxPlus 2019.)
Text Font | Set the Font and font attributes (i.e. style, point size, orientation).
Text Colour | Select the Text Colour.
Background Colour | Select the Background Colour.
Border Size | Adjust the border width to Thin, Medium or Wide. The width must be set prior to adding the border. The currently selected width is displayed on the Border width button on the Report Designer tool bar.
Borders | Set preference for displaying Borders. Available selections are Full grid; Edges Only, Inside only, Left Edge, Right Edge, Top Edge, Bottom Edge, No Borders. All borders are black.
Alternate Cell Condition | Launches the Define Filters dialogue for specifying the conditions under which an alternate cell definition will be used. See Alternate Cell Condition.
Switch Cell Definition | Switch between two cell definitions if an alternate cell definition has been created. See Switch Cell Definition.
Add/Modify Line Condition | Launches the Define Filters dialogue for adding a condition to a line. See Conditional Lines.
Join | Join highlighted cells.
Unjoin | Reset joined cells to individual cells.

Options | Additional Report and Report Designer options.
Report Options | Launches Report Options.
Designer Options | Launches Designer Options.

Projects | Drop-down menu for projects.
Create New Project | Launches the Create Project dialogue for entering a new project for the current working directory. Click the Query button to select a different working directory.
Add to Project | Launches the Add to Project dialogue for adding the current task to an existing project that is selected from the Project drop box. To manage all the tasks within a project, see Project Maintenance. For information on adding tasks to a project from other locations, see Adding Tasks to Projects from Other Locations.

Help | Miscellaneous information.
About | Report Writer version information.