The Report Editor

You can edit model reports, multi-model reports, and report templates in the Report Editor. To open a report in the editor, double-click its entry in the Browser or select Report > Reports, select your report in the list, and click the Edit Report tool.

Reports are composed of report items (see Adding Items to a Report, which provide various ways of documenting model objects (books, cards, lists) and other report ornamentation (table of contents, page breaks, free text).

The Report Editor provides four views:

Outline (left) - Provides an overview of the tree structure of your report, and supports reordering by drag and drop and various other operations by right-clicking items.

Design (center) - Provides a detailed graphical view of the report, and supports wysiwyg editing of item layout and formatting. The following tools are available on the command bar, which appears when you select a report item in the Design view or right-click it in the Design or Outline views):

Tool	Description
	Quick View - Previews the item (see Previewing a Report or Report Item).
No Tool	Up / Down - Moves the item up or down one place in the report.
No Tool	Promote / Demote - Moves the item up or down one level in the report.
	Properties - Selects properties to display in cards or lists, and reorder them (see List and Card Report Items).
	Collection - [books, cards, lists] Changes the type of object that will be published to the item.
	Selection - [books, cards, lists] Specifies the individual objects that will be published to the item (see Selecting Objects to Display for a Report Item).
	Format/Styles - Modifies the specific format for the item or the default styles for all items of this type (see Specifying Global Styles and Local Formats for Report Items).
No Tool	Show Title - Toggles the display of the item's title in the body of the report.
No Tool	Hierarchical Display - [composite object books] Toggles the organization of composite object book items, such as those representing packages, OOM activities, or BPM processes between List (where they are all displayed on one level as siblings) and Hierarchical (where child objects are displayed inside their parent).
No Tool	Show Title in HTML TOC/Show Contents in HTML TOC - Toggles the display of the book item title and the the book's sub-item titles in HTML report table of contents.
	Delete - Deletes the item.

Toolbox (right) - Lists the report items available to add to your report by double-clicking or dragging and dropping them onto the Design or Outline views. By default, only items associated with objects present in your model are displayed. To show all items, deselect the Hide unavailable components check box at the top of the Toolbox.
Properties (right, hidden) - Lists the properties of the report item selected in the Design or Outline views.

The following tools are available from the Report toolbar:

Tool	Description
	Print Preview/Print - (see Previewing a Report or Report Item).
	Generate HTML/RTF/XPS - Generates the report in the specified format.
	Styles - Opens the Default Styles dialog (see Specifying Global Styles and Local Formats for Report Items).
	Show/Hide Header/Footer - Toggles the display of the report header and footer (see Modifying Report Section Headers and Footers).
	Up / Down - Moves the selected item up or down one place in the report.
	Promote / Demote - Moves the item up or down one level in the report.

Adding Items to a Report
Generic report items are available under the General Components section of the report Toolbox, while items instantiated for the objects present in your model are available under the Model section. To add an item to a report below the selected item, double-click the appropriate tool in the Toolbox. To place it elsewhere, drag and drop the tool to the desired position in the Design or Outline views. You can insert the same item multiple times in a report.
Book Report Items
Book report items regroup cards, lists, text, sub-object books, and other report items to give detailed information about your model objects.
List and Card Report Items
List and card report items are generated as tables. A list displays all objects, with one column per property and one row per object. A card displays a single object, with one row per property. You can specify which attributes will be displayed, in which order, and the width of the columns.
Text Property and Free Text Report Items
Multi-line text properties, such as the Comment or Code Preview are provided by default as text items. You can also add free text items wherever necessary.
Diagram Report Items
Diagram report items are generated as images. If a report is generated as HTML, diagram symbols are clickable targets, with links to the corresponding object card.
Dependency Matrix Report Items
Dependency matrix report items are generated as tables with one row per object and one column per dependent object with an X or other value in matrix cells to indicate a dependency.
Specifying Global Styles and Local Formats for Report Items
The formatting of your report is highly customizable. You can set global default styles and override them for individual report items by specifying local formats.
Selecting Objects to Display for a Report Item
You can refine the selection of objects for individual report items and control their order by criteria or by selecting individual objects from the list of objects included in the report. For example you can have a list of all the tables in your PDM, but you need detailed information about only some of them, and so specify a selection for the Table Book.
Modifying or Suppressing the Titles of Report Items
Most report items are preceded by a title item. To modify the title, select the item and then click the title text to enter edit mode. To suppress an item title from the body of the report, right-click the item and deselect the Show Title option.
Modifying Report Section Headers and Footers
You can review and modify the report header and footer in the Report Editor Design view. In multi-model reports, you can specify a different header and footer for each section (model).
Referencing Object and Model Properties
You can reference object and model properties in your reports using their public names as defined in the PowerDesigner Public Metamodel.
Previewing a Report or Report Item
You can preview your report by selecting Report > Print Preview or by clicking the Preview tool in the End page of the Report Creation Wizard. You can preview a report item by selecting it in the Design or Outline view and clicking the Quick View tool.

Parent topic: Reports