The Select Tab
Some reports need to only show a sub-set of all the data that is in a recordset. For example, a financial report may only show the corporate data for a single quarter or a range of quarters. To filter out certain data so that you limit how much information is shown on a report, use the Select tab shown in Figure 2-9.
Figure 2-9. The Select tab from the Report Expert.
The Style Tab
After specifying the report details, use the Style tab to format everything so that the report has a professional look to it. This tab, shown in Figure 2-10, lists 10 different pre-determined formats that can be applied to your report. These styles make it easy for you to take some raw data and spice it up enough to make everyone think you worked really hard on this report!
Figure 2-10. The Style tab from the Report Expert..
The Form Letter Tab
This tab is only available when using the Form Letter Expert. It lets you write the entire form letter within this tab. See Figure 2-11. At the top is a drop-down box that lists the different sections of the report. For example, it lists the Report Header, Page Header, any group header sections and the Detail section. Select the section you want to write and type the text in the scrollable textbox below it. You can also insert formulas or fields from the data sources in this textbox and the expert keeps track of it all. When you are finished and you close the expert, it adds a large text box to your report for each section and fills in the information you entered.
Figure 2-11. The Form Letter tab from the Report Expert.
The Form Tab
The Form tab, shown in Figure 2-12, is only available when using the Form Expert. It gives you a way to easily add a picture or logo to the sections of a report. Often when you add a picture using the expert, it might not be sized properly and could look distorted. Don’t worry about that because it will look fine on the report and if you need to, you can always change its properties in design mode.
The Form tab also makes it easy to write reports that print onto standardized forms. Scan in the form that you want to print onto. Then use an image editor to crop it into the appropriate sections: Header, Detail, Footer, etc. Insert each section into the proper section of your report. Add the fields so that they line up exactly with the scanned image. When you are finished adding all the fields, delete the images. This leaves you with only the fields to print and they are lined up perfectly.
Figure 2-12. The Form tab from the Report Expert..
