Difference between revisions of "LibreOffice-Suite-Base/C2/Create-reports/English"

Spoken tutorial on LibreOffice Base: Reports Learning Objectives

• Create a report

• Select, Label and Sort the report fields

• Select report layout

• Choose report type: static or dynamic

In this tutorial, we will learn how to

Create a Report

Select, Label and Sort the report fields

Select report layout

And choose report type: static or dynamic

What is a Report?

• Retrieve information from database like a query

• Customize layout, look and feel

• Printer ready

• Generated from a table or a query, and can include all fields or only selected fields

• Static report: has same data anytime, just like a snapshot or a photograph

• Dynamic report: shows current data

Here, we have stored information about books and members in this Library database,

We also have a table to track the books issued to the members.

We learnt how to create forms and queries in the previous tutorials.

Before learning how to create a report, let us first learn what a report is?

A report is another way to retrieve information from a database, similar to a query.

We can customize its layout, look and feel, so that it is easy to read or print on paper.

Reports can be generated from the database’s tables or queries.

They can also contain all the fields in the table or in the query, or only a selected group of fields.

There are two categories of reports - static and dynamic.

Whenever a Static report is opened for viewing, it will always display the same data which was there at the time the report was created. This is also known as a snapshot.

But a Dynamic report will show current data from the database, whenever it is opened for viewing.

Okay, now, let us create a sample report.

Click on ‘Reports’ on the left panel,

And click on ‘Use Wizard to create report’

let us click on the Reports icon on the left panel.

On the right panel, let us click on ‘Use Wizard to create report’.

This is an easy and fast option to build reports.

and we also see a wizard with 6 steps listed on the left hand side.

We will go through the wizard to create a report based on a query we created in the last tutorial.

‘History of books issued to the Library members’

Click on >> button.

Click on the Next button

We will specify the source of the report data here: either a table or a query.

Let us choose our query: ‘History of Books Issued to Members’ from the drop down list at the top.

Now we see a list of available fields from the query on the left hand side.

We want all the fields in our report, so will simply click on the double arrow button toward the right.

Now let us click on the Next button to go to the next step.

Type in the text boxes, in order:

Book Title Member Name Issue Date Return Date Actual Return Date Book Checked In?

Click on the next button.

Let us type the following descriptive labels in the label text boxes as shown in the image. <pause>

Okay, let us click on the next button now.

Point mouse on book title field.

Click on the next button

This is used whenever we need to group the data by a set of selected fields.

For example, in our report, we can group the data by Book titles.

If we do that, then in the report we will see a book title and then all the members that it was issued to.

Then we will see the next book title, and so on.

For now, let us keep our report simple. So we will simply click on the Next button.

select Issue Date.

Click on second dropdown,

select Book Title

Click on the next button.

Let us sort the data in chronological order,

And then sort it by the Book title in ascending order.

For this, we will click the Sort by dropdown box,

and then click on Issue Date.

Then we will click on the second dropdown box

and then click on the Book Title.

Now let us click on the Next button.

Click on third item: ‘Columnar, two columns’, show mouse over background report builder window

Click on first item: tabular

Click on the next button.

We can customize the look and feel of the report here.

Let us click on the ‘Columnar, single-column’ layout list.

Notice that the background Report Builder has refreshed.

It shows all the labels on the left and corresponding fields on the right.

Let us now click on the ‘Columnar, two columns’. Again the window below has refreshed to show a two column layout.

In this way, we can choose any of the layouts that Base Wizard provides.

We can also modify it later as per our requirement.

For now, we will click on the first item, ‘Tabular’.

and click on the Next button.

Click on ‘Dynamic Report’

Click on ‘Create Report now’ option.

Click on Finish button.

Let us give a descriptive title to our report here: ‘Books Issued to Members: Report History’.

Now let us design our report so that the report will always return the latest data from the database.

For this, let us click on the ‘Dynamic Report’ option,

as we would always like to see the latest data, whenever we open the report for viewing.

Okay, so we are done with our Report. Let us click on the ‘Create Report now’ option

and finally click on the Finish button.

Notice that it has the field labels at the top, in bold font, and the actual data is listed in a tabular fashion.

Also notice that it has been sorted by the Issue Date field in ascending order that is, chronologically and then by Book Title in ascending order.

Thus we have created our chronological report of books issued to the Library members.

In the next tutorial, we will learn how to modify our report.

Assignment: Create a report of all books in the library grouped by their Publishers. Both Publishers and Book titles need to be in ascending order. Use the Columnar, Single-column layout.

Tip: In step 3 of the report wizard, move the publisher to the right.

Create a report of all books in the library grouped by their Publishers.

Both Publishers and Book titles need to be in ascending order.

Use the Columnar, Single-column layout.

Summary

• Create a report

• Select, Label and Sort the report fields

• Choose report layout

• Choose report type: static or dynamic

To summarize, we learned how to:

Create a Report

Select, Label and Sort the report fields

Select report layout

And choose report type: static or dynamic