Tips: Style Columns
contact supportcareers log in
●
company
●
resources
●
products
●
services
●
solutions
HomeResourcesTips & TricksStyle Columns
Style Columns
WHEN ARE STYLE COLUMNS USEFUL?
When manipulating data with ProDiver, Style
This will give us 3 different formats we would like to
We can then take it one step further and add this to
Columns are often used to transform the appearance
see:
the title of our report. To do this:
of the report by assigning a custom format for each
column. The styles being applied to the data in the
●
decimal places
report can be controlled using external Lookup
Tables to house the information, or by creating a
the formatting changes.
Style Columns are useful whenever multiple data
types are being used in a report. Style Columns
allow you to have a different formatting for
place the cursor where the metric should belong in
●
Percentages with percent sign and 1 decimal
the title, and type $QVVAL(Metric) .
place
done. See Figure 12.
Column to accomplish this.
data type in that row or column. In our example, we
Window as seen in Figure 8.
Notice the Report Style Column contains the same
value in each row. This is because the value is
We have a report that has multiple Summary
controlled by the QuickView which is common to
columns as shown in Figure 1. In some cases, it is
every row, and creates the same formatting for the
not useful to have all columns visible within the
entire column. If the value was controlled by a
same report, which causes us to create multiple
Lookup Table from within Integrator, the value could
reports (Markers) to display the Summary values we
be different based on Dimension values instead of
are interested in. We will create a QuickView to
the QuickView, making each row format differently.
control which Summary fields are displayed in the
report, and then use Style Columns to control the
http://www.dimins.com/tips/tt2011-09.html (1 av 4) [2012-02-27 15:50:53]
3. Click OK to validate the change to the title when
The calculation shown in Figure 7 will set the Style
The Report Style Column will show up in the Dive
on the type of value being viewed in the report.
2. From the Edit Itemdialog, click the Datatab and
Cases with no formatting and 0 decimal places
individual rows or columns of data depending on the
are modifying the format of an entire column based
1. Double-click on the report title.
●
parameterized calc from within ProDiver. Our
example will use a calc within ProDiver to accomplish
Dollar Values formatted with dollar sign and 2
At this point, we can lock our report and see the
functionality of the Style Columns being applied to
the data, as well as the value of the QuickView being
fed into both the title and the column header. See
Figures 13 and 14.
Notice the differences in data formatting, header
value, and title verbiage as shown in Figure 15. Style
Columns are useful in many instances including:
●
specific customers
●
Changing the color of data based on the values
of that data
Now that we have created the Dive Window with our
required columns and QuickViews, we can take the
Customizing the look and feel of a report for
●
Modify the attributes of rows or columns of data
Tips: Style Columns
formatting of the values dependent on our selection
click
images to enlarge
of Summary
values from the QuickView.
information into a Report View and utilize the Style
Columns technology. The first step would be to
Attributes that can be set using Style Columns are:
display the data as a report as shown in Figure 9.
●
Font Face
Integrator script is created that contains a List input
Once the data is into the Report View, we can unlock
●
Font Size
object and a Builder output object. The List input
the report and remove the Report Style Column from
●
Font Style
contains the header of "Metric" and the Summary
view by clicking the column heading letter (Column
values, one
per row. This list is then sent to a
Figure 1
●
C) to highlight it, and then clicking the Delete
Vertical and Horizontal Spacing
●
Number Formatting
●
Justification
●
Borders, Foreground and Background colors
●
Preceding and Trailing Text
To create the Model for the QuickView, a Visual
Builder object, which creates a single Dimension
Column icon.
Model containing the values that line up with the
Figure 4
Figure
2
Summary values found in ProDiver. See
Figures
2
Figure 3
Then, double-click
the data in the Metric column to
and 3.
open the Edit Itemdialog. From the dialog:
1. Select the Styletab at the top of the screen.
Figure 5
Figure 6
Once this model has been created, we create a
QuickView using Edit>Add QuickView from the
menu and use this model to populate it as shown in
Figure 4.
2. Under Style Column, click the dropdown and
then select Report Style Column.
WE OFFER OUR USERS
3. Click OK.
Notice that we're using an external Model to
Repeat these steps after double-clicking the Metric
populate the QuickView. Simply browse to the newly
Totals Value,
will set the Totals to the same
Figure which
9
created Model and select it to use those
values
Figure
8 in the
format as the data. See Figure 10. We can now see
Figure 7
QuickView. We also need to Skip "All Values" in this
the format of the Metric column values change as we
QuickView since we cannot look at all Summary
select different values from the Metric
QuickView.
Figure
10
values at once.
To further customize the report, we will put the
Once the External Model QuickView is created, we
value from the Metric QuickView into the column
can then use these values in parameterized calcs
header (instead of Metric), and also add it to the title
within ProDiver to control the view of our data. So,
of our report. To have the column header reflect the
we eliminate all the available columns from view by
Metric value instead of the word "Metric":
using Edit>Select Columns from within ProDiver.
Figure 13
Figure
We then create
a new column, which we
will14call
"Metric" as shown in Figure 5.
The creation of the Metric column gives us a single
column of data which will display the metric selected
Figure
1. Unlock
the 15
report and double-click on the column
header labeled "Metric".
2. Click the Datatab at the top left of the Edit
Itemdialog.
in the QuickView. See Figure 6.
3. Under Item Type, select Text.
Now we can create the Report Style Column, which
4. In the blank window on the left side of the dialog,
will change the formatting of the data, when viewed
type $QVVAL(Metric)which will return the value
in a report format, based on the value selected in
from the Metric QuickView.
the QuickView. As we remember from our text file,
we have:
●
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TRAINING
3 columns of dollar values (Revenue, Cost,
Margin)
http://www.dimins.com/tips/tt2011-09.html (2 av 4) [2012-02-27 15:50:53]
5. Click OK. See Figure 11.
Figure 11
Figure 12
Tips: Style Columns
●
1 column of numbers (Cases)
●
1 column of percentages (Margin Pct)
http://www.dimins.com/tips/tt2011-09.html (3 av 4) [2012-02-27 15:50:53]
Tips: Style Columns
© 2012 Copyright
Dimensional Insight
●
COMPANY
●
PRODUCTS
●
SERVICES
●
BY INDUSTRY
●
RESOURCES
●
News
●
The Diver Solution
●
Customer Support
●
Beverage Alcohol
●
User Conference
●
Leadership
●
InterReport
●
Training Overview
●
Healthcare
●
Press Releases
●
Contact Us
●
Diver
●
Consulting
●
Manufacturing
●
Brochures
●
Worldwide Offices
●
DivePort
●
Newsletter
●
Produce Industry
●
Data Sheets
●
Site Map
●
Proof of Concept
●
Customer Login
●
View Products
●
User Stories
http://www.dimins.com/tips/tt2011-09.html (4 av 4) [2012-02-27 15:50:53]