9.20 Running Reports

Report Writer report programs are usually run with the grace command:

grace reportfile

Before grace executes reportfile it displays the following screen:

gifs/00000001.gif

These parameters tell the system if the report should be sent to the system printer and, if so, how many copies to print.

Values are entered on the parameter screen the same way data is entered on a data entry form. The TAB key, RETURN key, and arrow keys are used to move the cursor between fields. If you change your mind about running the report, press the CANCEL keys <F1><x>.

When you are satisfied with what you have entered, press the STORE key <F5> to run the report.

If no is entered in the Output on Printer? field, the How many copies? parameter is ignored and the report is displayed on the screen. Grace displays as much of the report as will fit on the screen and then displays the message

--MORE -- [Press ? for help]

at the bottom of the screen. If the report is wider than your screen, press the Right Arrow key to display the right half of the screen. The left half of the screen may be redisplayed by pressing the Left Arrow key. The Down Arrow key displays the next screenful, and the Up Arrow key displays the previous screenful. Press q or Q when you have seen enough of the report. You may access the help screen at any time by pressing ?.

When the last part of the report is on the screen, the message

-- No More -- [Press ? for help]

is displayed at the bottom of the screen. If you press the SPACE BAR at this time, grace clears the screen and exits. If desired, you can press the Up Arrow key to review previous portions of the report.

If the attributes PAGELENGTH, PAGEWIDTH, FIRSTLINE, and LASTLINE have not been set in the report program, grace sets them when displaying output on the screen. It does this to make the output fit the screen. If your report depends on any of these attributes being set to a particular number, be sure to SET them in the report program.

Refer to grace(C-1) in Chapter 12, C/Base Commands for more information on grace.

After you have created a report you should check it for errors by running:

crw -c reportfile

Report programs get errors when they do not follow the proper rules for forming programs as described in Chapter 10, Report Writer Programming Reference. For more information on compiling reports, refer to crw (C-1). For further information on running reports, see wtr (C-1). Both of these references can be found in Chapter 12, C/Base Commands.