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NOMAD
7.50 - Formatted Output with LIST |
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Traditionally, NOMAD has used fixed, non-proportional fonts to display LIST
report output (plain text output). With enhancements to NOMAD 7.50,
template-based report formatting is provided. Templates specify font style
settings to be used for each structural element of the report output. Formatted
output improves the appearance of reports displayed in Web browsers or sent as
e-mail attachments by allowing, through HTML, use of proportional fonts, font
sizes, bold and italic attributes, colors, and borders.
The initial step is creating formatted output is to generate an XML file
containing the report data though the use of the LIST command. To create this
XML report file, issue the command OPTION LISTXML ON or add the parameter XML to
the LIST request. This causes reports to be generated as XML tagged output
instead of a plain text report. The XML file contains tags that identify various
parts of the report, such as headings, detail, and BYFOOT.
The new TRANSFORM command is then used to convert the XML file that is produced
by a 4GL report request to formatted output, an HTML file. Report formatting is
done through assignment of style names to portions of the report output. A
reserved set of style names is used. Each style name corresponds to a type of
data in a report, such as title, headings, BYFOOT, etc. A template maps a
collection of style names to visual characteristics. Each style name is assigned
visual properties, such as font, size, color, bold, and italic. If no template
file is specified with the TRANSFORM command, the PROFILE template is used. If
no PROFILE template exists, then default HTML attributes are used. TRANSFORM
combines HTML style information from templates with the XML file produced by a
report request to generate an HTML output file.
Look at the difference between plain text output and formatted output. The
following is the LIST request:
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DA ED;
DEFINE CITY AS A3
= SLOC DECODE('BOSTON'='BOS','NEW YORK'='NY','CHICAGO'='CHI');
LIST
BY CNAME AS A23 HEADING 'Course'
BY SSTART HEADING 'Month' AS DATE'Mon'
ACROSS CITY DUP (COUNT(RENO)*MAX(SCOST)) AS 99,999 HEADING ''
ROWTOT ALL
BYFOOT CNAME ' Total across Location' DOSUBTOT
TITLE 'Course Revenue'
WHERE CITY AMONG ('BOS','NY','CHI') AND CNAME GT 'Q';
This procedure produces this plain text report: |
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This procedure produces this plain text report:
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| Page 1 |
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Course Revenue |
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| Course |
Month |
BOS |
CHI |
NY |
TOTAL |
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| QUALITY CIRCLES |
May |
1,200 |
0 |
0 |
1,200 |
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Jun |
0 |
0 |
400 |
400 |
| Total across Location |
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1,200 |
0 |
40 |
1,600 |
| SITUATIONAL MANAGEMENT |
Jan |
0 |
0 |
7,000 |
7,000 |
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Feb |
0 |
0 |
10,797 |
10,797 |
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Apr |
0 |
8,400 |
0 |
8,400 |
| Total across Location |
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0 |
8,400 |
17,797 |
26,197 |
| SKILLS FOR THE EIGHTIES |
Jan |
0 |
0 |
9,000 |
9,000 |
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Mar |
0 |
9,030 |
0 |
9,030 |
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Apr |
0 |
0 |
8,970 |
8,970 |
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May |
0 |
0 |
2,400 |
2,400 |
| Total across Location |
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0 |
9,030 |
20,370 |
29,400 |
| THEORY Z |
Jan |
0 |
0 |
10,000 |
10,000 |
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Apr |
0 |
5,000 |
0 |
5,000 |
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0 |
5,000 |
10,000 |
15,000 |
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A simple template, applied to the same request, produces a formatted report:
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Templates are used to control colors, fonts, font
sizes, and borders for each area of a report. Using a template with different
style attributes, this same report can look quite different, click
here to view. |
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Formatting is done through assignment of a
reserved set of style names to portions of the report output. |
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Each style name corresponds to a structural part
of a report, such as title, headings, byfoot, and detail columns. |
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Each style name is assigned visual properties,
such as font typeface, size, color, and bold/italic style. A template maps the
collection of style names to visual attributes. |
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