Create a Quick Report (AV 2019 and later)
The built-in 4D Quick Report Editor has been updated to a 64-bit application for 4D v17. The interface has been completely redesigned, existing functionality was retained and new features have been added. Quick Reports created with prior versions of the QR Editor are compatible with this new version.
CLICK THIS LINK to see 4D's own documentation on the QR Editor.
One of the most important tasks in data management is report generation. The Quick Report Editor is one of the tools used to design reports. You use the Quick Report Editor to create reports based on a selection of records. These can be ad-hoc reports intended only for one-time use or they can be save to be used perpetually.
With Quick Reports you can:
- Produce a list of records.
- Create breaks and subtotal lines.
- Compute calculations such as sums and averages.
- Apply formatting such as fonts, font styles and borders.
- Export the report as a file that can be imported into spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel®.
The Quick Report Editor will produce a report from a current selection of records. Before you print a Quick Report, set the current selection to the list of records to be included in the report using one of the query methods described here. The following is an example of a Quick Report.
An Example of a Quick Report
1. Select a list of records to report on.
Enter your search criteria, click Find and then click the Printer icon to begin building your Quick Report.
2. Add a new Quick Report.
- To create/save a new report: Click the + symbol.
- To edit an existing report: Highlight an existing Quick Report and the pencil icon.
- If you would rather just run the report on a one-off basis and you don't need to save the report for later use, you can click the Quick Report button. This will take you directly to the QR Editor (skip to step #4).
3. Enter the Report Info.
-
Report: Enter the name of the Report as it will appear in the list of reports. (REQUIRED)
- Report Name is not the same as the report title that will print on the report. We'll cover that later.
- Filename: Enter a name for the report file. This does not need to be descriptive. It just needs to be unique. (REQUIRED)
- Access: Choose if you want to limit access to the report. You can choose All Users or an individual User or Group.
- Long Description: Enter a long description for the report. This could be instructions for running the report or a note about its intended use.
A. If this is a brand new report, then click the Report Editor button in the New Reports section. This will open the QR Editor.
B. If this is an existing report that you are editing, then click the Create File button in the Edit a Saved Report section which will save a 4QR file with the File Name you entered. Once you save the file, then click Report Editor and open the file you saved.
4. Add Fields to appear on the report.
This example report is being generated from the Sales Orders & Quotes window. The Master Table for this window is the [Sales_Document] table.
The fields in this report are:
- [Sales_Document]Client_Name
- [Sales_Document]ShipTo_State
- [Sales_Document]Invoice_Date
- [Sales_Document]Invoice_Number
- [Sales_Document]Sale_NonTaxed
- [Sales_Document]Sale_Taxed
- [Sales_Document]Total_Tax
- [Sales_Document]Total_TaxFreightIncluded
*The Master table of your Quick Report must coincide with the table where you are selecting records to report on!
Click the Fields button to begin adding columns to the report.
Find the fields you want to add to the report in the Available Fields section on the left and move them to the Report Columns section on the right. This seems to work better if you select all the fields first BEFORE clicking OK.
When you have all of the Report Columns you need, click OK to continue.
Tip #1: If you click the gear menu at the top of the window below, you can sort the Available Fields alphabetically.
Tip #2: If you already know the name of the field you are looking for you can type it into the search box.
These are great improvements over the old QR Editor! This makes AV Support really happy!
5. Determine the Sort Order.
The report can be designed to sort on any column (or multiple columns). For example, you could sort by Client Name and then sort by Invoice Number within each Client.
Click the down arrow next to the column you want to sort by. This will bring up a popup window for that column. Click the Sort Order drop-down to select either Ascending or Descending.
If there are multiple columns to sort on, this will create a break row for each sort level. You can rearrange the break rows which will rearrange the sort order.
In the example below, the report is being sorted first by Client Name and then by Invoice Number.
6. Edit column headings.
By default the column headings will be labeled as the field name that is selected. The wording can be changed to reflect something more meaningful or descriptive.
To change the column heading, simply double-click it and type a new heading.
7. Edit column and row formatting
Formatting options for rows and columns include:
- Font type
- Font size
- Font color
- Fill color
- Emphasis (e.g. Bold, italicize or underline)
- Justification (e.g. left, center, right)
To format the column heading, click the down arrow next to the heading. This will open a popup window where you can change formatting.
To format a row, click the down arrow next to the row to open the popup window (this works for both detail rows and break rows, as seen below).
8. Add a number format.
The Quick Report Editor has a list of out-of-the-box number and date formats. You are free to use any of these or build your own formats based on the same logic as these.
8.1. Number formats
Click the drop-down next to the column you want to reformat to open the popup window. Then click the Format drop-down to select the format. If you know the format you want to use, you can also type this into the cell instead of selecting it from the Format drop-down.
9. Add calculations
The following calculations can be used as row calculations (total or subtotal):
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
Σ |
Sum |
| n̄ |
Average |
| < | Minimum value |
| > | Maximum value |
| N | Count |
| σ |
Standard deviation |
9.1. Add Totals calculations
In this screenshot below you can see I've added some new labels, formats and calculations:
- Number formats added to the Format row (see previous step 8.1)
-
Total for # label and Σ Sum calculations added to the Client Name break row.
- The # symbol is a wildcard that will repeat the value in a break row based on the same value in the detail rows above it.
- Grand Total label and Σ Sum calculations added to the Grand Total row.
10. Remove Repeated Values.
Quick Reports can be formatted so that any Repeated Values are hidden. For example, if a selection of records includes the same Client Name repeatedly, it can be displayed only one time so as to not clutter the report. Any field where you don't want to show a Repeated Value must also be included in the Sort Order section
Click the down arrow next to the column where you want to hide the Repeated Values and then uncheck the box.
11. Add a Header and/or a Footer.
Each Header and Footer is broken up into three sections; Left, Center, Right. Each one of these sections can have text (e.g. report title), page number, date and/or time.
Click on the down arrow next to the Header or Footer in the QR Editor to begin editing. Each Header or Footer has two tabs; CONTENT and SETTINGS.
11.1. CONTENT tab (Header)
The Content tab is where the info of each section of the Header/Footer can be defined in 3 sections; Left, Center, Right
Clicking the gear menu on a section will bring up a menu that will let you add Current Page Number, Date of Execution and/or Time of Execution. These can be added to any of the three sections of the Header or Footer.
In the example below I've added a report title to the Center section plus Date and Time of Execution to the Right section.
11.2. SETTINGS tab (Header)
The Settings tab is where the formatting of the Header/Footer takes place.
- Height: The overall height of the section. This can be defined in various units of measure (e.g. points, inches, etc.)
- Text style: This is where you can define the font type and font size of the Header/Footer
-
Picture: Here you can add your company logo ... as you can see I have added the AcctVantage logo. Click the gear menu next to the Picture for additional settings:
- You can choose how the Picture should be justified; Left, Center, Right
- The Height of the section can also be set based on the Height of the Picture.
12. Save the completed Quick Report.
Here is what this Quick Report looks like in the Quick Report Editor when completed.
To Save the report, close the window. You will be prompted to save your changes. Check Save in a new document to save a new file or leave it unchecked to overwrite the existing file.
13. Link the Quick Report.
Once the Quick Report has been created and saved in the Quick Report Editor, you'll still need to make the report part of the AcctVantage database.
Click the Link Report button to proceed. Select the 4QR file you saved previously and then click OK.
14. The report has been linked...
15. The Quick Report can now be run from the Reports window.
See the beginning of this lesson for an example of what this Quick Report will look like when it's printed.
