Add Vertical Spacing Summary

Building a Mailing Label Report 6-5 To add vertical spacing:

1. In the Object Navigator, under your report name, expand the Paper Layout node.

2. Under Paper Layout, expand the Main Section node.

3. Under Body, find the repeating frame called R_G_FIRST_NAME.

4. Double-click the repeating frame icon next to the R_G_FIRST_NAME node to

display the Property Inspector. 5. Under Repeating Frame, next to Vert. Spacing Between Frames, type 0.25. 6. Press Enter to add your changes. 7. In the toolbar, click Run Paper Layout to display your report in the Paper Design view. Your report should look something like this: Figure 6–3 Final mailing label report with vertical spacing

6.4 Summary

Congratulations You have successfully created a mailing label paper report. You now know how to: ■ define a mailing label report using the Report Wizard. ■ adjust the vertical spacing between labels. 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 . 6-6 Oracle Reports Users Guide to Building Reports Building a Form Letter Report 7-1 7 Building a Form Letter Report In this chapter, you will learn about form letter reports, one of the standard report styles. By following the steps in this chapter, you can generate the report output shown in Figure 7–1 . Figure 7–1 Form letter report output Concepts ■ Form letter reports contain database values embedded in boilerplate text boilerplate text can be defined as any text that appears each time the report is run. It can be text generated by Oracle Reports, text you create, or text you import from a file. ■ A form letter report is useful for printing multiple copies of the same letter addressed to different people. ■ A form letter report is similar to a mailing label report, in that it is a simple report with a form letter layout style. Data Relationships There are no special restrictions on data relationships for a form letter report. Layout ■ A default form letter layout style is provided by Oracle Reports. It consists of the field names for the columns you have selected, prefixed by ampersands . The ampersands indicate that they are hidden fields, and are contained within boilerplate and repeating frame objects. You then add the text of the letter to the layout. Oracle Reports prints one record that is, one letter per page. ■ Hidden fields, which are the default for a form letter layout, appear in the layout but not the output until referenced. You can do this in the Paper Layout view by typing its name, prefixed by an ampersand . Oracle Reports treats the reference as a normal field. 7-2 Oracle Reports Users Guide to Building Reports ■ In general, if you are embedding a field within boilerplate text as in a form letter, it is best to hide the field and reference it where desired. The field values will then flow with the text. A field can appear in a report both where placed by default in the report layout and where referenced. Fields can also be referenced more than once in the same piece of boilerplate text. Example Scenario As you build this example report, you will: ■ Use the Report Wizard to Create a Form Letter Report with a paper layout that includes one query to select all of the columns displayed in this report. Oracle Reports will create all other necessary objects, for example, groups and columns, by default To see a sample form letter report, open the examples folder called formletter, then open the Oracle Reports example report called formletter.rdf. For details on how to open it, see Accessing the Example Reports in the Preface.

7.1 Prerequisites for This Example

To build the example in this chapter, you must have access to the Human Resources sample schema HR provided with the Oracle Database. If you do not know if you have access to this sample schema, contact your database administrator.

7.2 Use the Report Wizard to Create a Form Letter Report

When you create a report, you can either use the Report Wizard to assist you or create the report yourself. To build the form letter report in this example, you can use the Report Wizard. Using the wizard enables you to define the layout for the report, as well as set the data definition. In the Report Wizard, on the Text page, you will be able to set up your form letter report exactly the way you want it to appear. On this page of the wizard, you can set up your boilerplate text for example, the body of the letter, and use the fields from your data tables to fill in the variable data for example, the addressees name. To create a form letter report:

1. Launch Reports Builder or, if already open, choose File New Report

2. In the Welcome or New Report dialog box, select Use the Report Wizard, then

click OK. 3. If the Welcome page displays, click Next. 4. On the Report Type page, select Create Paper Layout Only, then click Next. 5. On the Style page, type a Title for your report, select Form Letter, then click Next. 6. On the Data Source page, click SQL Query, then click Next. 7. On the Data page, enter the following SELECT statement in the Data Source definition field: SELECT ALL EMPLOYEES.LAST_NAME, EMPLOYEES.FIRST_NAME, JOBS.JOB_ID, EMPLOYEES.EMPLOYEE_ID, JOBS.JOB_TITLE FROM EMPLOYEES, JOBS WHERE EMPLOYEES.JOB_ID = JOBS.JOB_ID ORDER BY EMPLOYEES.EMPLOYEE_ID Building a Form Letter Report 7-3

8. Click Next.

9. On the Text page, format the letter the way you want it to appear. The steps that follow will show you how to make your form letter report look like this: Employee: FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME Emp. : EMPLOYEE_ID Dear FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME: The Human Resources department is updating its records of the companys employees. Currently, our records show your employee number as EMPLOYEE_ID, and that you hold the position of JOB_TITLE. If any of this information is incorrect, please contact the Human Resources department. Thank you, Human Resources 10. In the Form Letter Text box, type Employee:.

11. Click Space four times to enter four spaces.

12. In the Available Fields list, click FIRST_NAME, then click the right arrow to

move this field to the Form Letter Text field. 13. In the Available Fields list, click LAST_NAME, then click the right arrow . 14. Click New Line. 15. In the Form Letter Text field, type Emp. :. 16. Click Space four times to enter four spaces. 17. In the Available Fields list, click EMPLOYEE_ID, then click the right arrow . 18. Click New Line twice. 19. In the Form Letter Text field, type Dear. Note: You can enter this query in any of the following ways: ■ Copy and paste the code from the provided text file called formletter_code.txt into the Data Source definition field. ■ Click Query Builder to build the query without entering any code manually. ■ Type the code in the Data Source definition field. Note: If you are not already connected to a database, you will be prompted to connect to the database when you click Query Builder or Next. Ensure that you connect to a database that has the appropriate schema for this example. Section 7.1, Prerequisites for This Example describes the sample schema requirements for this example.