Simple Static Report

Getting Started with OpenOffice 4

Chapter 7: Getting Started with Base

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• What is Base?
• Planning a database
• Creating a new database
• Creating database tables
  • Using the wizard to create a table
  • Creating a table by copying an existing table
  • Creating tables in design view
  • Creating auxiliary tables for data entry
• Defining relationships
• Creating a database form
  • Using the wizard to create a simple form
  • Using the wizard to make a form with a subform
  • Laying out a form with multiple controls
  • Creating forms and subforms in design view
• Accessing other data sources
• Using data sources in Apache OpenOffice
• Creating queries
  • Using the wizard to create a query
  • Using the design view to create a query
  • Make a query with a calculated field
  • Query with two related tables
  • Query that summarizes data
  • Query summarizing over a calculated field
• Creating reports
  • Simple static report
  • Grouped dynamic report

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Simple Static Report

Step 1: Start the Report Wizard

On the main Base window, click the Reports icon and then click Use Wizard to Create Report.

Step 2: Choose the fields from the View

Choose the View you want to use from the Tables or queries dropdown list. The available fields will be listed. Use the  >>  button to move all of them to the Fields in report list. You can just move a subset of the fields by selecting them individually and using the > button. The fields can also be reordered with the up and down arrow buttons. Click  Next .

Figure 199: Dialog for choose the fields in a report.

Step 3: Labeling the fields

Here you can modify the field labels from their default values. We will remove the underscores from the field names and add spaces so that Sale_Year becomes Sale Year and LastName becomes Last Name. Click  Next .

Step 4: Grouping levels

In this first report we will not add grouping levels. In the next iteration of the report, we will do that. Click  Next .

Step 5: Sort options

It is better to sort in the View rather than using the Report Wizard's sort. Click  Next .

Step 6: Choose layout

There are many layout options. We will leave the defaults in place, but you can explore alternatives. A mock version of the report is visible behind the Report Wizard dialog and if you drag the dialog low in the screen, you can see the effect of different layouts. Click  Next .

Step 7: Create report

In this step, you give the report file a name, rather misleadingly called Title of report and choose whether the report is static or dynamic. We will select static for this version. Click  Finish .

We now have a Writer file that looks like Figure 200.

Figure 200: Static report

The Author field is taken from Tools → Options → OpenOffice → User Data → First/Last name. All the information is locked and not easily edited. It can be copied to a new document and edited there. If you do that, the Title field can be filled out in the new document by selecting the menu File → Properties and filling out the Title on the Description tab.