Report Writer - Report Overlay

Overview

Report overlay works in conjunction with the Mondial report writer by providing spreadsheet like "cell by cell" controls over the way data in a report is formatted and presented. Whilst existing data values and descriptions returned by the report writer cannot be overwritten, the format of each piece (or cell) of information can be amended - "overlayed" - beyond what has been initially specified during the report row and column creation steps.

In addition, any 'blank'  rows or columns that have been introduced during the report building stage can have values added, on a cell be cell basis, using either absolute values or formulas which reference data points in the report. For example, within a report with two data columns (A and B) and a blank row (row 3), report overlay provides the ability to create a "new" value in cell A3 by using a formula (such as "=A1/A2").  In turn, cell B3 could either remain blank, include an absolute value, a similar formula to A3, or a completely different formula.

Note also that report overlay is associated with a report, not with either a specific row format or column layout. This means that even if two reports share the same row or column definitions, report overlay can be used to modify the formatting of both reports independently.

Working with Report Overlay

Report Overlay is accessed from the Edit Reports page of specific report. 

From the reports page select edit a report 

Select Report Overlay

The user is presented with the following page  - a "template" of the report as it would appear if it were generated.

Report Overlay can be applied in two ways:

• for cells that already include information returned by the report writer  - both data values and descriptions  - only formatting changes are permitted.
• for  'blank' cells - those that have been introduced by including blank rows or columns in the report specification stage - both formatting changes and new values can be added.

Each scenario is described in turn below:

Overlaying an existing data cell.

Selecting cell B1 above invokes formatting selection options in the top third of the page as follows:

The user can choose:

• a format code from the drop down. These are format codes previously been created during format codes specification  (Format Codes)
• to override the decimal places defined during column layout specification (Column Layouts)
• to add a "%" sign to the value presented in the cell
• to add a currency symbol ($) to the value presented in the cell

Any changes made will be automatically presented to the user for review. In the example below, the format code for cell  B1 has been changed and a currency symbol added, and the effect is immediately displayed.

Re-select the cell to highlight the changes. Notice also:

• Cells that have been affected by the report overlay are highlighted with a magenta border. This allows a user to keep track of what has been changed thus far for this report.
• Double clicking the cell has no impact. This means the data in the cell itself is not editable. This is because this is a data point that has been returned by virtue of the row format and column specifications and cannot be altered. Only the formatting can be affected.

At this point the user could continue to edit the formatting, or decide to revert the format back to its original state. This is achieved by selecting the clear cell button in the formatting section of the page.

If a user needs to apply the same format to multiple cell, the following options are available:

• (Mouse) click and hold and drag down/across to select a contiguous range of cells to be formatted. Then select the format options to be applied as described above
• Use CTRL and CLICK to select a non-contiguous range of cells. Then format as above.
• Formatting can be cleared on multiple cells by deploying the same cell select actions and then selecting the clear cell button.

After several formatting iterations, if the user decides to clear ALL formatting for the report, they can do so by selecting the "Clear All" button. Note this will clear all formatting for the entire report, not just currently selected cells and is non-reversible!

Overlaying a blank cell.

In addition to all the formatting options described above for a data value, a cell that is blank can have data added. This can be extremely useful for adding "cell specific" calculations to a report, where for example a calculation may be relevant in one column of data but not another. 

In order for a cell to be suitable for this type of overlay action, either a blank row or a blank column needs to have been included during the definition of a row format or a column layout. Please see Row Formats or Column Layouts for further information.

In the example below the user has added a  blank row, row 7, to the report.

Data can be added to a blank cell either by entering and absolute value, or by entering a formula which refers, in whole or in part, to other cells in the report.

In row 7 above, a user could, for example, enter the following in cell B7:

• an absolute value - e.g. 1234
• a formula which refers to other cells in the report -  eg. =B3/B1
• a formula which also includes an absolute value = e.g. =B3/B1(*100). (Note: this formula might also be further overlayed with formatting to include the % sign)

To enter a formula , double click in cell A7. This will open the cell for editing. Type in the formula. In the case of  the screenshot below, =B3/B1(*100) is used

On enter the overlay page will refresh to return the following:

Once the overlay exercise is complete, the user can exit form the overlay page. The overlay is automatically saved and associated with the report that has been edited.