Reporting 101

[awayand]

Hello guys,

I'm trying to figure out this whole reporting stuff and I'm ready to cut a hole into these big glass windows and leap into 53 story freedom.

But before that, let me make one last attempt out here to see if there's someone that can explain this thing to me.

My problem:

How do reports work in Filemaker?

What makes those sub-summary and grand total parts tick?

I think if someone can explain to me what these things do and what their basic building blocks are (summary fields? Why?) I could make more sense out of this.

My setup:

I have two fields:

Hours - [Number]

Date - [Date]

WeekOfYear - [Calculation, Number]

TotalHours - [summary, Total of Hours]

Function - [Text]

Here's how I want my report structured:

WeekOfYear 14:

Wash Car 22 hrs

Run Errands 12 hrs

Drink Beer 11 hrs

WeekOfYear 15:

Movies 2 hrs

Wash Car 4 hrs

...

And so forth.

So I created a new layout, with a trailing sub-summary. I put the field "Function" on there, as well as the WeekOfYear field. However, when I switch to preview mode, nothing shows up. What am I doing wrong? Is this a calculation issue? I just don't get it.

Can *anyone* help me?

Thanks so much in advance!

Andre

[RussBaker]

I'm assuming that your major tasks (like wash car - 22 hours) are actually made up of lots of daily car washing tasks etc. So, what you need in your report is a layout with 2 subsummary parts and no body part. Starting from the top down, your layout should look like:

header (if you want one)

Sub Summary (Leading, sorted by week of year)

Sub Summary (Leading, sorted by Function)

Body part - no need for this to get the effect you desire - delete it

footer (if you want one - stil the Page ## in here)

The first subsummary would contain the "Week of Year" text and the week of year field. The second subsummary would contain the Function field and the Total Hours field.

You could also place this Total Hours field in the first subsummary as well. It will then give you a total of all tasks for the week of year. This effect is one of the neat things about subsummary parts and summary fields. Those fields (the same field) can be used to display different data depending on where they are placed.

Now, sort your records by: Week of Year,then Function. Go to preview mode and that should do it.

If you're having trouble with it, some change to the 11 hours drinking beer each week may be necessary.

[awayand]

Hello Russ,

thanks so much for your help. I have another stupid question: How do you sort? Would you just change to the List View and do it that way before you jump into Preview mode, or do you just use a script?

I have an example file that illustrates how reports are done ("Using Filemaker Pro 5" by Rich Coulombre and Jonathan Price), but inside the file I cannot find *anything* relating to a sort, even though the report still works... That's really just beside the point, my real question would be how do I make those sorts more elegant?

Thanks in advance!

PS: The password for the file is "master".

Sales-k01.zip

[danjacoby]

You sort by sorting.

Command-S on Mac, Control-S on Windows.

[Lee Smith]

Hi Andre,

[color:"blue"] > my real question would be how do I make those sorts more elegant?

Dan has told you how to manually access the sort box, but if you meant by elegant, a script and a button, then you will need create them.

First perform a Sort the way you want it. (i.e. Week of Year - Ascending)

Next go into ScriptMaker and create a new script. I would Label it "Sort by Week of Year - Ascending" and then click "Create" button. You will then be presented with a dialog box, and you will see a long list of Script Steps on the Left Side, and depending on the version of FileMaker you are using, you will either see a blank box on the Right Side, or a small list such as this:

Enter Browse Mode []

Go to Layout [

[RussBaker]

You need to create your sort in the order that your sub-summary parts will appear. So, sort by week of year, then sort by funtion.

You can cascade these sub summaries. In the attached example, I have included an additional calc for Year, so your report will be by:

Year

. Week of Year

.. Function

There are 2 reporting options in the file. One which answers your original post (short report) and the other which includes each item (long report)

SubSummary Test.fp5.zip

[jasonwood]

There's an easier way to learn about reports, just use the "New Report" assistant and answer the questions... FileMaker does all the work... you can go through it to understand it later.

[awayand]

Thank you very much, guys! You've been a big help!