Documentation for Report class



    Created by Jon Credit
    All rights reserved

    I created this class in search of a way to pay more attention to
    the data that I am reporting on, vs how the data will be outputted on
    paper.  This report class is the result of many long hours of design,
    coding and testing to get it to its current state.

    This class is distributed as is with no expressed or implied
    warranties.  If you find the Report Class to be useful, a donation of
    $30.00 U.S. Dollars would be appreciated.  Any registered users will
    automatically be sent any bug fixes or upgrades to the class(es).

    I am also currently working on a front end to the Report Class to allow
    creation of reports from a txt file using a format similar to a windows
    ini file.  This utility will support most if not all of the methods and
    ivars in the class including goTop(), bWhile, bFind, cInitString,
    cResetString, and will also allow data to be from multiple database files
    with a bFind block evaled before printing the data.
    This utility will be sent to the first 30 people who register the report
    class at no charge, with complete source code.

    I hope you find this class to be as useful as I have.

    If you find any of the concepts dealt with in this report class to
    be of benifit please contribute $30.00 to the author so that he can
    justify all the long hours he puts in to his wife!!

    Thanks and Enjoy....

    Jon Credit
    50 B. Paisley Lane
    Columbia, S.C. 29210
    CIS 71371.1675



   var bInitPrinter  - Code block to be EVALed before report starts to
                       initialize the printer.
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   var bResetPrinter - Code block to be EVALed after report is completed
                       to reset the printer.
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   var bTitleFont    - Code block to be EVALed before printing titles
                       to change the font for your titles.  Note: This
                       does not work all that well with the grid option.
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   var bNormalFont   - Code block to be EVALed before printing the
                       report to change the font for your report.
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   var bRepHeader    - Code block to be EVALed before the report starts.  This
                       would be a header for the report that you would put
                       only on the first page.
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   var bRepFooter    - Code block to be EVALed at the very end of the
                       report.  This would be a footer for the report that you
                       would put only on the last page.
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   VAR bHeader       - Code block to be EVALed at the top of every page
                       before titles are displayed ( if lShowTitles is
                       true).
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   VAR bFooter       - Code block to be EVALed at the bottom of every page,
                       make sure that you set nLastRow to a value that will
                       allow your footer to print on the page.
                       Default: {|| Nothing() }

   VAR bPageBreak    - Code block that gets EVALed to determine if a page
                       break is necessary.
                       Default: {|| nRow > nLastRow }

   VAR bSkipBlock    - Code block that gets EVALed after all the columns
                       get printed, to move to the next record in the data
                       file.  This is equivalent to the skipBlock in
                       tBrowse().
                       Default: {|nToSkip|  Skip( nToSkip ) }
                                Note: nToSkip is passed to Skip and the actual
                                records skipped is returned.  Skip() skips
                                nToSkip records in the report cWorkarea verify
                                the while and for conditions that have been
                                defined.

   VAR bGoTopBlock   - Code block to tell the report object how to get to
                       gotop.  This block is EVALed before the reporting
                       process.
                       Default: {|| DBGOTOP() }

   VAR bGoBottomBlock- CODE block to tell the report object how to get to
                       gobottom.  This is equivalent to the tBrowse goBottom()
                       method.
                       Default: {|| DBGOBOTTOM() }
                                Note: This is supplied for future potential
                                functionality.  Currently this is not used but
                                the author felt it may prove to be useful at
                                some time in the future.

   VAR bFor          - Code block that establishes which records will be
                       included in the report ( the FOR condition the that is
                       used to 'filter' <ugh> records out (or in) )
                       Default: {|| .T. }

   VAR bWhile        - Code block that establishes a WHILE condition for the
                       report to skip through the data.  This is the preferred
                       method over the FOR condition.
                       Default: {|| .T. }

   var lGrid         - Logical to output the report in a grid format.
                       Default: .F.

   var lChild        - Logical to notify the report object that it is in child
                       mode (displaying child columns).  This should really  be
                       a protected ivar but the column object will
                       automatically set this to true when a column object is
                       put into child mode.
                       Default: .F.

   var lUndTitles    - Logical variable to underline column titles.
                       Default: .F.

   var lForm         - Logical variable to output a grid format report as a
                       form.  A form report will print out a blank grid to the
                       bottom of the page.
                       Default: .F.

   var lCenterReport - Logical variable to center the report on the page.
                       lCenterReport uses nWidth to determine how to center
                       the report.
                       Default: .F.

   var lChildOnBreak - Internal variable to track a child process when a page
                       break occurs. DO NOT assign this variable.
                       Default: .F.

   var lWrapping     - Logical variable that tells the report object if ANY of
                       the column objects are word wrapping.
                       Default: .F.

   VAR lShowTitles   - Logical to tell the report object to display the column
                       titles.
                       Default: .T.

   VAR lShowingTitle - Logical variable to track whether the report object is
                       in the process of showing titles for grid purposes.
                       Default: .F.

   var nStartCol     - Numeric variable that represents the starting column
                       position for the report.  This is automatically
                       configured if lCenterReport is TRUE.
                       Default: .F.

   var nMaxTitleLen  - Numeric variable to track the maximum number of rows
                       that will be needed for the column titles to be
                       displayed.  This is an internal variable, DO NOT assign
                       this variable.
                       Default: DOES NOT MATTER

   var nLastRow      - Numeric variable to determine the last row the report
                       should print on.  This variable is used for the default
                       bPageBreak block.
                       Default: 57

   VAR nPageNo       - Numeric variable to keep track of the current page
                       number.  Since the report object is passed to bHeader
                       and bFooter the page number can easily be displayed any
                       where in the report.

   VAR nRow          - Numeric variable to track the current row the report
                       object is on.  The header block can set this variable
                       and it can be used by the footer to track the current
                       row of the object.
                       Default:  0

   VAR nColSpace     - Numeric variable to determine the number of spaces to
                       be place between columns.
                       Default: 1

   VAR nSpace        - Numeric for future use.  This variable will be used to
                       allow multiple spacing between printing rows.
                       Default: CURRENTLY NOT USED

   var nWidth        - Numeric to represent the width of the report.  This
                       variable is useful for centering data on the report.
                       Default: 80

   var cWorkArea     - Character variable representing the work area which
                       should be selected while the report object is
                       executing.  All database skips while the report
                       object is executing will be processed in this work area
                       Default: Current work area when report object is
                       executed.

   var cBoxString    - Character variable that contains the 8 line characters
                       that will be used for a grid type report.
                       Default: ÚÄ¿³ÙÁÀ

   var cTitleUnd     - Character variable to be used for underlineing titles
                       if lUndTitles is TRUE.
                       Default: =

   VAR cInitString   - Character string to be used for an initialization
                       string for the printer.
                       Default: EMPTY STRING

   VAR cResetString  - Character string to be used for a reset string to reset
                       the printer.
                       Default: EMPTY STRING

   var aToBlank      - Array of column numbers to be NOT displayed while
                       processing a child process.  This is automatically set
                       and reset by the column objects when they are set into
                       child mode.
                       Default: {}

   var aBlank        - Temporary array used to hold the aToBlank array while
                       processing column objects.  DO NOT ASSIGN this variable.
                       Default: {}

   VAR aColInfo      - Array that contains the column objects for the report.
                       Default: {}

   var oBar          - Object to be used for displaying progress of the report
                       while it is printing.  oBar:exec() is called after
                       every skip in the report object.

   method Init       - Initialize the report class.  Variables accepted are:
                       // method Init( bHeader, bFooter, bPageBreak )

   method Exec       - Execute method for the report object.

   method showTitles - Method to show the column object titles.

   method showCols   - Method to process the column objects.

   method printIt    - Method to print the column information

   method setTitles  - Method to configure the titles of the column objects
                       (with the delimitered lines)

   method incRow     - Method to increment the row of the report object.

   method gridTop    - Internal method to display the top grid line on a grid
                       option report.

   method gridBottom - Internal method to display the bottom grid on a grid
                       option report.

   method gridSide   - Internal method to display the side grid on a grid
                       option report.  parameter passed to the method is the
                       current column number.

   method showRepHeader Method to eval the bRepHeader code block (The report
                       header).

   method showRepFooter Method to eval the bRepFooter code block (The
                       report Footer).

   METHOD addColumn  - Method to add a report column object to the report
                       object.

   METHOD delColumn  - Method to delete a report column object from the report
                       object.  Parameter passed is the column number to
                       remove from the report.

   METHOD goTop      - Method to go to the top of the report object based on
                       the gotop block.

   METHOD goBottom   - Method to go to the bottom of the report object.  This
                       method is currently not utilized but is included for
                       future use.

   METHOD skip       - Method to process skipping in the report object.


PROTECTED:

   VAR nColumns      - Numeric variable containing the number of column objects
                       in the report.

   VAR bGoNext       - Code block when EVALed will skip to the next record in
                       the report object based on the active FOR and WHILE
                       condition.

   VAR bGoPrev       - Code block when EVALed will skip to the previous record
                       in the report object based on the active FOR and WHILE
                       condition.

   METHOD showHeader - Method to EVAL the page header code block (bHeader) at
                       the top of every page.

   METHOD showFooter - Method to EVAL the page footer code block (bFooter) at
                       the bottom of every page.

   METHOD tbPrev     - Method to go to the next record based on the active FOR
                       and WHILE condition.

   METHOD tbNext     - Method to go to the previous record based on the active
                       FOR and WHILE condition.

   METHOD setCols    - Method to set the column widths and starting
                       positions and also performs any configurations
                       necessary for the report if it is a grid.