Use the Paper Layout View to Add White Space

Building a MasterMaster Report 8-5 2. Click the Paper Layout button in the toolbar of the Report Editor window to display the Paper Layout view.

3. In the Object Navigator, expand the Paper Layout node, then the Main Section

node, then the Body node. 4. Click the frame named M_G_LAST_NAME_GRPFR. Note that it is also now selected in the Paper Layout view. 5. Click the title bar of the Report Editor to make it the active window. 6. Press the down arrow key a few times to move the frame and all of its objects down the page about 0.25 inches 0.5 centimeters. Notice that you have moved not only M_G_LAST_NAME_GRPFR but also all the layout objects within it. Here you take advantage of Confine mode, the default mode for the Paper Layout view. With Confine mode on, an object cannot be moved outside of or placed behind its parent. Such a situation renders the layout invalid and no output is produced. Sometimes moving an object outside of its parent is a valid action. If you need to do so, you can turn off Confine mode by clicking the Confine Off button in the toolbar. Figure 8–5 Paper Layout view with two layouts and white space added 7. Save the report as masterb_your_initials.rdf. 8. Click the Paper Design button in the toolbar to preview your output again. Notice the additional space between the two layouts now.

8.6 Format a Field

In the Paper Design view, notice the Salary field. The values are neither aligned nor displayed as monetary amounts. You can quickly rectify this in the Paper Design view. 8-6 Oracle Reports Users Guide to Building Reports To assign a format mask to monetary values: 1. In the Paper Design view, select the first number value underneath the Salary label in the second layout. Notice that all of the values are immediately selected, indicating that you can change their properties simultaneously. 2. Click the Currency button in the toolbar. A currency symbol immediately appears next to all of the values. 3. Click the Add Decimal Place button twice. Two decimal places are added to the right of the decimal point. 4. Click the Align Right button. All of the values are immediately right aligned. 5. Save your report. Figure 8–6 Paper Design view with monetary values formatted

8.7 Summary

Congratulations You have successfully created a mastermaster report. You now know how to: ■ create queries with the Data Wizard. ■ layout the data with the Report Wizard. ■ create white space in the Paper Layout view. ■ format fields in the Paper Design view. For more information on any of the wizards, views, or properties used in this example, refer to the Oracle Reports online Help, which is available in Oracle Reports Builder or hosted on the Oracle Technology Network OTN, as described in Section 4.1.1, Using the Oracle Reports online Help . Tip: If you are familiar with format mask syntax, you could now right-click the field values, choose Property Inspector, and choose or manually type a value for the Format Mask property.