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Report Format and Print Settings

You can apply common formatting such as fonts, margins, and columns across all report objects in a report in CDM.

How Does It Work

The Page Setup Word object must have the Page Setup property. When you generate the report output, CDM applies the settings.

CDM compiles the entire report in descending order. The location of the Page Setup Word object among the other report objects determines where you want to start to apply the print settings. The settings are applied only to the report objects that appear after the Page Setup Word object containing the setting information. For example, if you insert the Page Setup Word object containing the setting information after the third report object in the report, CDM applies the settings to all subsequent report objects, but not to the first three report objects.

It is possible to have more than one Word object containing print settings. For example, if you want to apply different formatting after the ninth report object, insert a new Page Setup Word object after the ninth report object. CDM applies the new settings to all subsequent report objects.

The first Page Setup Word object that contains font settings is used to apply a common font style and size across the entire report. If a subsequent Page Setup Word object contains different font styles or sizes, all subsequent report objects after the second Page Setup Word object inherit the font size and type from the Page Setup Word object. The first Page Setup Word object continues to apply the formatting to all report objects until the second Page Setup Word object is found.

Important: Word objects in CDM have the same functionality as Microsoft™ Word. The advanced functionality for Microsoft products is beyond the scope of this guide. However, some topics are included for your convenience. For more information, see Microsoft documentation or Microsoft online help.

Apply Page Setup Formatting in a Report

You can specify your settings in a special Word object called a Page Setup Word object to apply common formatting such as fonts, margins, and columns across all report objects in a report.

The first step in formatting your report is creating a Page Setup Word object, and then placing it in the report tree. When you generate your report, all report objects that follow the Page Setup Word object will have the formatting in the Page Setup Word object. If you need different formatting in one or more report objects, you can change settings in those report objects.

To create a Page Setup Word object for applying page setup formatting in a report:

  1. Open the report that you want to work with.
  2. To insert a Word object that will contain your common formatting information, complete these steps:
    1. Determine the location where you want common formatting to start.
    2. Right-click the report object that immediately precedes that location, and click Add Sibling > Word Object.

      Tip: If you insert the Word object in the wrong location, you can drag and drop it in the correct location.

  3. Click Show Properties.
  4. Select these property settings:
    • Name - Specify the name as Page Setup.
    • Document type - Set the property to Page Setup.
  5. Click the Section View Mode icon in the status bar.
  6. To indent the table that will contain the content in Word objects, insert a table in the Page Setup Word object, select the table, and click Indent from Left. You can use this option to indent tables from the left margin by a certain measurement.

    Note: This property is available only for tables in Word objects that are indented from the left margin. If the table is centered or indented from the right using table enforcement settings, then the measurement in the Indent from Left area is ignored.

  7. In the Page Setup Word object, specify other formatting in the same way that you would set up any Microsoft™ Word file. You can insert text into the Page Setup Word object. Insert dummy text and format it as required. For example, to identify your formatting choices, you can type Font - Times Roman 10 point. The text that you type in the Page Setup Word object does not appear in the generated report.
    1. Specify font type and size, and text alignment in the Home tab.
    2. Specify margins, orientation, and columns in the Page Layout tab.
    3. To specify how paragraphs should flow in your report, select a paragraph in the Page Setup Word object, right-click, click Paragraph, and select Keep lines together.
    4. To prevent a long table from splitting into the next page, the Keep with Next option must be enabled in paragraph settings, where the dummy text is inserted. At that point, the long table will be pushed to the next page, keeping the table together. If this option is disabled, then the table will break into the following page.
  8. Click the Default View Mode icon in the status bar.

When the report is generated, all report objects following this Page Setup Word object contain the formatting that you specified in the Page Setup Word object.

Exclude a Report Object from the Common Format in a Report

You can add a Page Setup Word object to specify page setup formatting such as fonts, orientation, and margins for a report. By default, your page setup formatting applies to all report objects that follow it in the report, but you can specify that a single report object or a range of report objects should not have the same settings, meaning, you can exclude some report objects from common formatting.

To exclude a report object from the common format in a report:

  1. Open the report that you want to work with.
  2. In the report tree on the left, select the report object for which you want to specify different formatting, and check it out. When the report is generated, the report object that you select will be formatted according to the settings that you change in the Enforcement settings area of the selected report object. For any settings that you do not change, the report object will be formatted according to the settings in the Page Setup Word object that precedes it in the report.
  3. Click Show Properties.
  4. In the report object that you just opened, change the settings in the Enforcement settings area as required (do not select these options in the Page Setup Word object itself). Some settings are applicable to certain types of report objects only.

    Setting

    Report Object Type

    Description

    Margins

    Excel, Word

    To specify different margins for this report object when the report is generated, clear this setting and specify different margins.

    Columns

    Excel, Word

    To specify different column settings for this report object when the report is generated, clear this setting and specify different column settings. This is useful for pages with two or three columns.

    Page Orientation

    Excel, Word

    To specify different orientation for this report object when the report is generated, clear this setting and specify different orientation.

    Text Alignment

    Excel, Word

    To specify different alignment for text in this report object when the report is generated, clear this setting and specify a different alignment.

    Font Size

    Excel, Word, PowerPoint

    To specify different font size for this report object when the report is generated, clear this setting and specify a different font size.

    Font Type

    Excel, Word, PowerPoint

    To specify different font type for this report object when the report is generated, clear this setting and specify a different font type.

    Paragraph: Keep with Next

    Word

    Sometimes paragraphs start on one page and then continue on the next page when the report is generated. You can specify whether paragraphs should start on the original page and then split where necessary, or if they should move to the next page so that the entire paragraph can appear together. To move paragraphs to the next page if they might be split, select this setting.

    Table Alignment

    Excel, Word

    To specify different alignment for tables in this report object when the report is generated, clear this setting and specify a different alignment.

    Table Indent from Left

    Word

    To force all tables in a Word object to be indented from the left side for this report object when the report is generated, select this setting and specify the indentation.

    Keep with Next Paragraph/Table

    Excel, Word

    Sometimes tables start on one page and then continue on the next page when the report is generated. You can specify whether tables should start on the original page and then split where necessary, or if they should move to the next page so that the entire table can appear together. To move tables to the next page if they might be split, select this setting.

When the report is generated, the report object is formatted according to the settings that you changed in the Enforcement settings area of the selected report object. If you do not use the enforcement settings from the Page Setup Word object, the settings from the report object are used.

Note:
  • If no Page Setup Word object exists, no common formatting is applied even if enforcement settings are selected.
  • You can apply enforcement settings to all Word objects except the Page Setup Word object itself. You cannot apply enforcement settings to PDF objects and Web Page objects.

Start and Reset Page Numbering in a Report

You can start page numbering at the beginning of a report, and you can reset the numbering to restart in other locations if necessary.

  1. Open the report that you want to work with.
  2. To insert a Word object that will contain your page numbering information, complete these steps:
    1. Determine the location where you want page numbering to start.
    2. Right-click the report object that immediately precedes that location, and click Add Sibling > Word Object.

      Tip: If you insert the Word object in the wrong location, you can drag and drop it in the correct location.

  3. Select the new Word object in the report tree, and check it out.
  4. Click Show Properties.
  5. Select these property settings:
    • Name - Specify a name such as Page Numbering.
    • Document type - Set the property to Footer.
    • Header Footer Placement - You can select Standard, Odd, or Even. Typically, select Standard.
    • Footer Reset Style - Use this field if the report contains a previous numbering scheme, and you want to change the numbering style later in the report. For example, you might want to change the numbering from roman numerals in an introductory section of the report to regular numbers in the main section of the report. Select a numbering style that is different from the original numbering style.
    • Page Reset Number - Use this field if the report contains a previous numbering scheme, and you want to reset the numbering to page 1 later in the report. You can define the number of pages that you need to reset the overall page number. This is useful if you need the page numbers to reset after creating a certain number of report objects. For example, if you have a five-page report, and you specify 3 in this field, when the report is generated, the first page number would be 2.
  6. Click OK twice.
  7. Click the Section View Mode icon in the status bar.
  8. In the Word object, click Insert > Page Number > Current Position. Then select a page number style.
  9. Select the page number and apply the formatting that you want to use:
    • Set justification for the page number, for example, left, right, or center.
    • Apply other styles as required, for example, bold, underline, or italics.
  10. Click the Default View Mode icon in the status bar.
  11. Save your changes to the report, and check in the Word object if you want.

When you generate the report, page numbering starts at the specified location in the report.

Start and Reset Headers and Footers in a Report

Headers and footers appear in the upper or lower areas of a page, and they can contain content across multiple pages in a report. You can use Word objects to insert and reset headers and footers in a report.

  1. Open the report that you want to work with.
  2. To insert a Word object that will contain your header or footer information, complete these steps:
    1. Determine the location where you want the headers or footers to start.
    2. Right-click the report object that immediately precedes that location, and click Add Sibling > Word Object.

      Tip: If you insert the Word object in the wrong location, you can drag and drop it in the correct location.

  3. Select the new Word object in the report tree, and check it out.
  4. Click Show Properties.
  5. Specify a name such as Header.
  6. If you want to insert a header, select these property settings:
    • Document type - Set the property to Header.
    • Header Footer Placement - You can select Standard, Odd, or Even. Typically, select Standard.
  7. If you want to insert a footer, select these property settings:
    • Document type - Set the property to Footer.
    • Header Footer Placement - You can select Standard, Odd, or Even. Typically, select Standard.
  8. Click OK twice.
  9. Click the Section View Mode icon in the status bar.
  10. In the body of the Word object, add the content and formatting for the header or footer.
  11. Click the Default View Mode icon in the status bar.
  12. Save your changes to the report, and check in the Word object if you want.

When you generate the report, the header or footer starts at the specified location in the report.

Insert Row and Page Breaks Between Report Objects in a Report

When you generate a report, all report objects are compiled together to create one report. You can control the transition between report objects by inserting blank pages or blank rows between report objects in a report.

  1. Open the report that you want to work with.
  2. To insert a Word object that will contain your page break information, complete these steps:
    1. Determine the location where you want a page break to occur.
    2. Right-click the report object that immediately precedes that location, and click Add Sibling > Word Object.

      Tip: If you insert the Word object in the wrong location, you can drag and drop it in the correct location.

  3. Select the new Word object in the report tree, and check it out.
  4. Click Show Properties.
  5. Specify a name such as Page Breaks.
  6. Set the property to Normal.
  7. For Break Type, select one of these options:
    • Blank Row - The break type has the same font type, font size, and paragraph settings as the Normal style of the report object. For Excel objects, the break type has the same format as the first Word object's Normal style (except for the font type which is always Times New Roman). If no other Word objects exist before the Excel object, the break type has 12 point Times New Roman font with 0 spacing before and after, and single line spacing as paragraph properties. In the next field, specify the number of blank rows you want to add between report objects.
    • New Page - If you set the number of the New Page break to 0, the next report object is pushed to the next page, instead of appearing on the same page as the previous report object. If you set the number to 1 or more, CDM inserts one or more blank pages before the next report object.
    • Blank Row with Page Setup Properties
      • Font Size and Font Type are copied from the Page Setup dummy paragraph.
      • Spacing Before, Spacing After, and Line Spacing are copied from the Page Setup dummy paragraph.
      • For Paragraph Pagination, all options will be set to false except Widow/Orphan control. If the number of breaks is higher than 1, then the lines will be included in the same paragraph instead of adding separate paragraphs. If there is no Page Setup object, Paragraph Pagination will default to Blank Row functionality.
  8. Click OK twice.
  9. Save your changes to the report, and check in the Word object if you want.

When you generate the report, the new blank rows or blank pages are inserted between report objects.

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