Ms Office Tune Up

Just like tables and queries, you can use several different views to change a report. When you create a report using the quick creation technique described earlier, you begin in Layout view, which is an ideal starting place for report builders. But depending on the task at hand, you may choose to switch to another view. You have four viewing options:

Figure 8-5. The top portion of the Field List window lists the fields from the table (or query) on which the report is based. The middle portion lists the fields in any related tables, and the bottom portion lists unrelated tables (which you probably won’t use). To add a field, drag it from the Field List pane and drop it on your report.

• Layout View. Shows what the report will look like when printed, complete with the real data from the underlying table. You can use this view to format and rear-range the basic building blocks of the report.

• Report View. Looks almost the same as Layout view but doesn’t allow you to make changes. If you double-click a report in the navigation pane, Access opens it in Report view so you can see the data it contains without accidentally changing its design. One common reason to use Report view is to copy portions of your report to the clipboard, so you can paste them into other programs (like Microsoft Word). Figure 8-7 shows how that works.

  
  Figure 8-6. You can see this in the sample Bobblehead database examples for this chapter. (They’re available on the “Missing CD” page at www.missingmanuals.com.) The report is named DollsWith-Pictures.

  ---

  Note: If you want to transfer the entire content of a report, you should consider the export features described in Section 8.2.2.
  

  ---

• Print Preview. Shows a live preview of your report, just like Layout view and Report view. The difference is that the preview is paginated (divided into print pages), so you can figure out how many pages your printout needs and where the page breaks fall. You can also change print settings (like page orientation) and export the complete report, as described in Section 8.2.2.
  Figure 8-7. To select a bunch of rows, click in the margin on the left next to the first row you want to select, and then drag down to highlight the rows you want. Then, right-click the highlighted portion, and choose Copy to transfer it to the clipboard, so it’s ready for pasting into other Windows applications.

• Design View. Shows a template view where you can define the different sections of your report. It’s not nearly as intuitive as Layout view, but it does give you complete, unrestrained flexibility to customize your report. Access experts often begin creating a report in Layout view and then add more exotic effects in Design view. Learn more about Design view in Access 2007: The Missing Manual.

You can switch from one view to another by right-clicking the report tab title, and then choosing the appropriate view from the pop-up menu. (Or, you can use the Home Views View menu or the view buttons in the bottom-right corner of the Access window. It’s just a matter of personal preference.)

After you’ve closed your report, you can reopen it in the view of your choice. Just right-click the report in the navigation pane, and then choose the appropriate view. Or double-click the report in the navigation pane to open it in Report view.

Popularity: 2% [?]