Formatting reports
Learn about the different formatting options you can use to configure the design of your report.
How it works
Once you have defined the data you want to include in your report, you can configure report formatting. The Reports app provides a variety of different formatting options to enable you to create presentation quality reports.
Formatting toolbar
The full range of formatting options are available from the Design tab in Report Builder. The following formatting options are only available when you are working with a draft report:
Formatting options
Formatting option | Description | Detailed information |
---|---|---|
Export | Shows the options available to download / print the report | To download the report in various formats. |
Table Off Table On |
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To see one of these options, your report must contain a table and at least one visualization. |
Report Formatting | applies formatting changes that affect the report as a whole | Apply general formatting to reports |
Column Formatting |
applies formatting changes that affect a single column |
Formatting columns in reports |
Conditional Formatting | applies formatting changes to a field based on defined conditions | Conditionally formatting columns in reports |
Section Formatting |
applies formatting changes that affect the way sections are displayed in the report This option is only displayed if you have defined at least one section in the report. |
Formatting sections in reports |
Co-Display Formatting |
applies formatting changes that affect the way Co-Display reports are displayed This option is only displayed if you have set up related reports. For more information, see Relating reports or data. |
Formatting Co-Display reports |
Filter Formatting |
applies formatting changes that affect the way filters are displayed in the report This option is only available if you have defined at least one filter in the report. For more information, see Configuring filters in reports. |
Formatting filters in reports |
Details | Shows the details of the report | To view the report details, columns, and SQL statement. |
Permissions
Only Report Admins and Report Writers can format reports.
Apply general formatting to reports
- Open the Reports app.
The Browse page opens.
- Open a report and navigate to the Design tab in Report Builder.
- In the formatting toolbar, click Report Formatting.
The Report Formatting dialog box opens.
- Configure any of the report formatting options and click to close the dialog box.
Data
Formatting option | Description |
---|---|
Style | formats the data values contained in your report and applies custom styles to font |
Row Shading | changes the shading for every second row of data in the table |
Alternate Row Color | specifies the color to be used for alternate row shading |
Row Highlight | applies a row highlight |
Row Highlight Color | specifies the row color |
Header Lock | keeps the headers of the table in place when Report Readers scroll through the report on the dashboard |
Column Lock | keeps the first column of the table displayed when horizontal scrolling is used on the dashboard |
Cell Height | defines the height of the table rows in pixels |
Cell Padding | defines the space between the text in each cell and the cell border in pixels |
Cell Spacing | defines the space between each cell in pixels |
Records Per Page |
defines the number of rows displayed on each page of the report Tip
This option is useful if your report is long. For example, if your report contains 200 records and you set the records per page to 50, you will have 4 pages in your report and a scroll option to navigate through the pages. This option is also available for reports with sections. However, for reports with sections, you edit the section and apply the break on a specific section. |
Column & Row Headings
Formatting option | Description |
---|---|
Style | defines styling options for the table headers in the report, including font face, font size, font color, font style, and alignment |
Wrap Text | wraps long header text across multiple rows |
Background Color | defines the header background color |
Header Height | defines the height of the table headers in pixels |
Header Padding | defines the space between the text in each header cell and the cell border in pixels |
Border
Formatting option | Description |
---|---|
Position | defines where borders should be displayed around the outside edges of the table |
Color | defines the border color for the outside of the table |
Width | defines the width of the border to be displayed around the outside of the table |
Title & Description
Formatting option | Description |
---|---|
Style | defines styling options for the title and description in this report, including font face, font size, font color, font style, and alignment |
Display Title | defines styling options for the title of the report, including font face, font size, font color, font style, and alignment |
Display Description | defines styling options for the description of the report |
Border Style | defines the style of border to be displayed around the report title and description |
Border Width | defines the width of the border to be displayed around the report title and description |
Border Color | defines the color of the border to be displayed around the report title and description |
Background Color | defines the background color of the report title and description |
Header & Footer
Formatting option | Description |
---|---|
Style |
defines styling options for the header and footer in the report Note
The header and footer display when you export, email or broadcast a report. |
Header Options | specifies the components placed in the header of the report |
Footer Options |
specifies the components placed in the footer of the report Note
Common components to add in the header or footer include an organization logo, and the date and time when the report was generated. |
When you export a report, the header and footer display only in the PDF and DOCX format. Images in the header and footer are supported only in the PDF format.
Table Sort
Applying sorting to any column viaColumn Formatting or within the table preview area removes the sorting defined here.
Formatting option | Description |
---|---|
Column (1, 2, 3, etc.) |
defines a field to sort by |
Sort Order | sorts columns in descending or ascending order |
User Sort | allows or prevents Report Readers from defining their own sorting order when viewing the active report |