Invoicing problems

[sal88]

Hi,

I have an invoice, which contains a portal, which brings in the orders that have the same 'invoice number' as the current record in the invoice layout. It has multiple pages, which are basically duplicates of the first but the portals are set to display the next records, so 1-3 for the first page and 4-6 for the second etc.

I have read that it isn't proper database practice to print portals though, but I can't think of any other way to do it.

I also need another way to do it because the portal method seems to be playing up.

The best way to describe it is that its like the portal is showing one more row than it is supposed to, but this extra row does not show on the same page as the portal, although it would be able to fit. Instead it just shows the remainder of the record, on the next page. This problem only comes up when the layout is printed out.

Any help with my problem much appreciated.

[Keith LaMarre]

go to the (related line items - make a report and print that if you are having trouble with the portals - the line items would be summarized at the invoice level and the summary can include the invoice totals.

[sal88]

thanks for the reply, I think I follow that. However, I can't seem to make it group correctly, which is what I'm aiming to do right?

So that at the top it has invoice number, which is what every order has, and then it will have all the orders with that invoice number below in the 'body' section. At the moment it just displays one record at a time.

many thanks

[Keith LaMarre]

let me say - this does get a little complex with multi-page invoices - but...

its a list view - from line items - sorted by invoice number and then optionally by whatever field in the line item that you want.

the report should have several parts - probably a header

a summary by invoice - this is where you would put your invoice information - i.e, bill to, ship to - invoice date, amount

a body - which is the list itself with each of the fields from the line item going across - i.e.: qty, description, part number, unit price - extended price -

then there probably is another subsummary by invoice again - with a break so that multiple invoices dont show up on the same page.

i am enclosing a pdf of our invoice - maybe this will make it a little clearer...

invoice_layout.pdf

[sal88]

thanks for the detailed explanation, it has made it much more clear for me now. Although I think i am still doing something fundamentally wrong as i still can't get it to work at a basic level:

i use the wizard to create a new columnar list/report, from the orders table. select "report with grouped data". Presently i am just selecting the order number and invoice number. I then group it by the invoice number field.

But this just displays the records practically as a table of the orders. there doesn't seem to be any grouping, with what i assume means that it would have an invoice number at the top, and then all orderS that have that same number beneath.

thanks

[Keith LaMarre]

the wizards not going to help you here - you'll have to do some manual layout making.

[sal88]

I still can't get it to work, here is a screenshot of what i am currently trying to do

thx

[sal88]

finally sussed it! Sometimes I could only get it to work with the wizard and grouping option within that. Only seems to work in print view and when i print it it has to be set as 'records being browsed'. It is fine though as I will have the 'rougher' layouts for viewing and these proper ones for printing. is this a common practice?

thanks a lot for all your help!!

[Keith LaMarre]

its true that this will only display correctly in preview mode - its also true that you have to set the script to print records being browsed - because you're now looking at the line items instead of the invoice itself.

i don't know how common this is - but it does allow an invoice to be as many pages as necessary.

[sal88]

what are the subsummary parts for? because i have just taken them out and it still seems to the job ok

[Keith LaMarre]

Commonly the subsummary will be used to summarize the data - in my case, I sort and subsumarize by "work Type" - or "Employee" - you could conceviably also summarize by invoice number - with a page break after th invoice which may allow you to print multiple invoices with one script.

Edited September 12, 2006 by Guest