Forms are built-in report parts that allow WYSIWYG editing in HTML. Users can:

• Design the form interactively using toolbar icons with multi-level Undo and Redo.

• Add dynamic content using Smart Tags.

• Add recurring content using Repeater Tags.

• Embed existing report parts.

• Edit directly in HTML (for experienced users).

The Report Part properties available for Forms are listed in 8 sections.

• Form

• Edit

• Insert

• Format

• Table

• Tool

• View

• Printing

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Figure 2.1

Form border

• STEP 1: Click the gear icon (⚙) in Form Border Settings.

• STEP 2: Choose whether the border is visible.

• STEP 3: Select border color and thickness (pixels).

• STEP 4: Click OK.

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Figure 2.2

Form background color

• STEP 1: Click the color icon to open the color palette.

• STEP 2: Select a color.

• STEP 3: Click OK to apply.

Click inside the text area in Visual mode to see all the toolbar icons.

• Key Features:

  • Copy, Cut, Paste (Paste as Text removes formatting).

  • Find and Replace text while preserving formatting.

  • Multi-level Undo and Redo.

Many items can be quickly and interactively inserted using the icons in visual mode:

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Figure 4.1

The link is displayed as

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Figure 4.2

You can also add other elements like

• Image

• Anchor

• Special character

• Current date value

• Horizontal line

• Page break

• Data source

• Smart Tags

Example screen for insert image:

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Figure 4.3

Example screen for insert data source:

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Figure 4.4

Smart Tag. This is dynamic content that will be updated on display:

• Date Time - it will show the date value at the time of display (compared with Insert date/time value button that populates the fixed date value at the time of editing).

• Subtotal - it will show the sub total value for a field being used in the form.

• Grand Total - it will show the grand total value for a field being used in the form.

Formatting can also be quickly applied using the icons in visual mode:

• Heading styles.

• Grouping HTML tags <p>, <blockquote>, <div> and <pre>.

  • <p> is used for a paragraph;

  • <blockquote> is used to quote content from another source, usually with a <cite> tag containing the reference.

  • <pre> is used for preformatted content, which would be displayed differently without the tag.

  • <div> is used to group items together for easy organization and formatting.

• Font face and font size.

• Text effects bold, italic, underlined and strike through.

• Text effects superscript, subscript, and computer code style <code> (displayed in a monospaced font by default).

• Font colour and background colour.

• Text alignment.

• Bulleted and numbered list styles.

• Indent space.

• Clear Formatting.

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Figure 6.1

• STEP 1: Click Insert Table in Table section.

• STEP 2: Select number of columns and rows.

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Figure 6.2

• STEP 3: Click inside the table to access Table toolbar divided into Table, Cell, Row, Column groups.

• STEP 4: Configure:

• Table-wide settings in Table Properties pop-up

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Figure 6.3

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Figure 6.4

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Figure 6.5

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Figure 6.6

• Individual cell settings in Cell Properties pop-up

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Figure 6.7

• Row settings in Row Properties pop-up

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Figure 6.8

• Directionality supports formatting right-to-left languages with the Right to Left icon.

Editing preferences can be configured in View section:

• Show invisible characters.

• Show Visual Aids.

• Show the form in fullscreen mode.

• Edit Data Refresh Interval settings.

• Use Pagination.

Tick ‘Page Break After Each Entry’ checkbox to print each data object in a separate page.

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Figure 10.1

Most-commonly-used actions are incorporated into the right-click menu:

• Link.

• Image.

• Table, cell, row and column actions.

• Spell Checker for selected text - this is only available on a selected block of text.

• STEP 1: Switch to the HTML tab to edit raw code.

• STEP 2: Use HTML group in Properties box.

Options:

• Tick Wrap Text to span long lines.

• Tick Highlight Code for syntax highlighting.

• Click Reformat to beautify code.

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Figure 11.1

Repeater tags allow repeating form content dynamically for each unique set of data values.

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Figure 12.1

Use Case Example: Display Freight amount for each ShipCity in each ShipCountry.

• STEP 1: Select content, then click Repeater > Add in Insert group or wrap content in <repeater> and </repeater> tags in HTML view.

• STEP 2: Ensure fields outside repeater tags are unique or grouped

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Figure 12.2

Sample Steps:

1. Type 'In country ', add field ShipCountry, set Function to Group.

2. Type 'In city ', add field ShipCity, set Function to Group.

3. Select both lines, apply Bullet List in Format group.

4. Click second line, choose Increase Indent in Format group.

5. Switch to HTML view to wrap content with <repeater> tags and add <br /> for spacing.

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Figure 12.3

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