The articles in this section of the Knowledge Base involve Text Formatting for display in your reports. To learn more about Text Formatting and how to access this section within the Report Designer, see Understanding Text Formatting in the Report Designer. This article focuses on the Boolean Format tab of the Text Formatting window.
When no predefined formats are appropriate for your report, then you can create a custom format. For example, you have a report with a list of products, Order Date, Shipped Date, and the price of the product. Let’s apply to them predefined date formats and local settings for the price.
Products | Order Date | Shipped Date | Unit Price |
1 Door Base | 08/04/2020 | 15/08/2020 | $75.00 |
2 Door Base | 08/05/2020 | 16/08/2020 | $100.00 |
1 Door Upper | 08/06/2020 | 17/08/2020 | $75.00 |
To set the format mask for each text component, select the text component, open the Text Formatting window, select the Custom tab, and create a mask.
Fig. 01 – Text Formatting > Custom Tab
Mask – A string or an expression that sets the formatting mask. When a predefined value is selected, see below, it populates this box.
Predefined Values – A list of predefined values for formatting a string. When one is selected, it populates the Format Mask above.
The Order Date column, in the example table below, is formatted in the style yyyy-MM-dd. The Shipped Date column is formatted as MM-dd-yyyy. The Unit Price column is formatted as 0.00 dollars of USA . The data rendered in the report should look something like the following:
Products | Order Date | Shipped Date | Unit Price |
1 Door Base | 2020-08-04 | 08-15-2020 | 75.00 dollars of USA |
2 Door Base | 2020-08-05 | 08-16-2020 | 100.00 dollars of USA |
1 Door Upper | 2020-08-06 | 08-17-2020 | 75.00 dollars of USA |
The ability to add custom formatting to text components puts a lot of power into the hands of the user. This ability, combined with other aspects of Report Designer, allows users to add their personalities or company style standards to their reports.