Program:  Superbase
Version:  2.0
Topic:    Creating a Report with different output choices
          than a Report Designer Report
Date:     January 15, 1993

Summary:  This technote shows you how you can create a
report quickly and be able to modify the corresponding SBL
program so that the report can be sent to a different
destination than those available from a Report Designer
Report.

Although the Superbase 2.0 Report Designer creates an SBL
report program file, this program file cannot be modified to
the extent similar to the SBP report program file created
under the Superbase 4 1.3x Report Generator. This is because
a report created in the new Superbase 2.0 Report Designer is
now in a graphic based format rather than the text based
format used by the Superbase 4 1.3x Report Generator and the
new report format requires the opening of the graphic part
of the report. Simply put, you cannot simply redirect the
output of a report to any other destinations than those
given from a report created in the Report Designer. This
technote shows a good method to get around this by using the
Quick Report function to create the modifiable code.

Creating a modifiable report program

1.  Before opening your database, select Record from the
    Program menu. When prompted, type a name for the macro
    that you would normally give your report i.e. Jan93Rep.
    Click OK and you are now ready to record your report.

2.   Select Open File from the File menu to open up your
     database. Select your desired database and click OK. If
     you already have the desired Quick Report created, you
     can skip this step and move onto step 3.

3.   Select Quick Report from the Data menu.

4.   Once you are in the Quick Report dialog, either create
     a report in the manner you wish to or select Open to
     open a report which you have already created. Don't
     forget to select a destination if you wish to send it
     to a  destination other than the default destination of
     Window.  Click OK once you have completed your report.

5.   If you wish to check out the report you have just
     completed, wait until the report has finished.
     Otherwise, you can cancel the report by selecting the
     Stop button on the control panel or double clicking on
     the close gadget of the report's window. Either way,
     the macro is not effected.

6.   After the report has finished or you have canceled it,
     select Stop Recorder from the Program menu to stop
     recording the macro.

7.   To view the new macro, select Edit from the Program
     menu. You should see something like the following:
     SUB main()
           CALL Jan93rep()
     END SUB

     SUBJan93rep() :         REM        Jan/20/1993
                      DIRECTORY "C:\SB4W20"
           OPEN FILE  "C:\SB4W20\TESTBED.SBF":VIEW
           SET QUERY HEADING "",0,0
           SELECT
lastname.TESTBED,firstname.TESTBED,state.TESTBED,payamt.TEST
BED
                      REPORT GROUP state.TESTBED COUNT
                      ORDER REPORT lastname.TESTBED
                      TO WINDOW
           END SELECT
     END SUB

8.   To change the destination of your report, simply
     replace WINDOW in the line that says "TO WINDOW" with
     one of the following:
         ASK                   Presents a dialog with all
                               available destinations
         FILE "filename"       Superbase database file
         "filename"            ASCII text file
         PRINTER               Printer
         WINDOW "window name"  Window with optional window
                               name
         Line Omitted          Screen like SB4 1.3x reports

To send the report to the Clipboard, delete the TO... line
and add the keyword COPY to the front of the SELECT
fieldname.filename,... line. For further information on
modifying this SELECT block, please refer to the SELECT
keyword in the SBL Reference Guide.

9.   Whenever you wish to run this report, select Run from
     the Program menu. Make sure that you Save from the File
     menu when you have completed the report to your liking.

10.  If you would like to further modify the Report program,
     here are some guidelines:

       a. When adding group blocks such as BEFORE GROUP and
          AFTER GROUP, make sure that you add the statement
          GROUP fieldname.filename before the block. Also,
          make sure that you put the fieldname.filename
          after the word GROUP.

       b. Make sure that you put all your additions between
          the SET QUERY HEADING and SELECT lines. I find it
          helpful to put the keyword REPORT on a line after
          the SET QUERY HEADING line.

       c. If you do make additions to your report, make sure
          that there are no redundancies in the REPORT line
          of the SELECT block. An example of this would be a
          COUNT in both the GROUP groupname.file of the
          SELECT block and the AFTER GROUP groupname.file
          block.  No error occurs but might make maintenance
          of this report confusing.  The output of these
          additional blocks suppresses any output of this
          REPORT line.

       d. Reading the section on the SELECT keyword in the
          SBL Reference Guide before making any
          modifications to the SELECT block is highly
          recommended.

       e. For further reading on this subject, refer to
          Chapter 11, "Using Reports With SBL", in the
          Developing Applications Guide. This section goes
          into much detail on this subject.