Cannot work out how to extend the layout to a new section (1 Viewer)

Auntiejack56

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Hi,
I am creating reports automagically by selecting an existing query and clicking Create Report. Very cool and the layouts are easy to modify.
In fact, the same Layout extends from the Header section across the detail section, which makes it easy to resize columns without manually re-aligning them.
However, when I add a new section (a subheader or footer), I can't get the new section to be included in the existing layout. Is it possible?

Thanks,

Jack
 

llkhoutx

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Subreports are quite common. If they are not properly linked to the main report, no data will be displayed.
 

Auntiejack56

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Thanks mate, but you've posted your reply to the wrong questioner. Don't know who asked the question about subreports. Jack
 

isladogs

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Hi,
I am creating reports automagically by selecting an existing query and clicking Create Report. Very cool and the layouts are easy to modify.
In fact, the same Layout extends from the Header section across the detail section, which makes it easy to resize columns without manually re-aligning them.
However, when I add a new section (a subheader or footer), I can't get the new section to be included in the existing layout. Is it possible?

Thanks,

Jack

Anything is possible if you design the report yourself rather than using the wizard. That may not be what you want to hear though ...

However I think you mean that there is no room for the new controls.
That's easy to fix - increase the height of the header / footer section in design view e.g. by dragging the border between the sections down
 

Auntiejack56

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Hi, thanks ridders.
Nope, what I mean is that the new report creates it's own layout, so that in Design view I can see the Layout grid in the Detail section, and I can drop controls into it.
The same Layout extends across the Report Header and Detail footer and Report Footer too. So if I widen a control in the header, the matching column in the detail and footer sections all resize simultaneously. I am finding that very handy when building a heap of reports for this client.
However, if I decide to include another section (another grouping say), then I can find no way to drop controls into this section such that they are included in the same grid. I can make a new grid in the new section, but I can't extend the existing grid into the new section, even though it exists already across other sections.
Am I making myself clear? It's a bit difficult to explain.
Jack
 

isladogs

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Am I making myself clear? It's a bit difficult to explain.

Sorry not really but that may be because its late here & I'm about to log off.

Suggest you post a screenshot or two in design view and explain with reference to the pictures
 

Auntiejack56

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Sure.



The orange shows the existing layout. I want to include the new field Provider Short Name into the existing layout in the new section. That is, I want to somehow extend the layout into the new section called ProviderShortName Header. No idea how.

Thanks,

Jack
 

Auntiejack56

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Sorry, that didn't work - try attaching ...
 

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isladogs

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Didn't logoff as I was reading something else
Anyway final reply for tonight.

So you are grouping by ProviderName & also by PriorityLocation

What I suggest is you put the labels for each group in the page header to the left of the other labels.
Make space by dragging them to the right and if necessary reduce the width of each label by dragging the orange border to make them narrower.
Reduce the font size slightly if necessary - it does look large to me

Do exactly the same with the controls in the detail section
Next move the Provider Name control to the left of the new header section
Shrink each section vertically to remove unnecessary wasted space

You have 2 rows of controls in the Detail section which is wrong
The blank row shouldn't be there

I'm also not sure what all the empty controls are in the footer.
If they were added automatically & you have no need for them, delete them..

Hope that makes some sort of sense.
If you look at the Access help file you should get more assistance
 

Auntiejack56

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thanks, but not there yet - still can't extend the layout into the ProviderShortName Header section. Agreed that the rest of the formatting is dodgy, but that is more a result of me trying every which way to convince Access that I need the layout over my new section!!
 

JHB

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Maybe I misunderstand what you want, but I'll give it a change.
Select the layout you've + the control you want to include in the layout, then click one of the two:
 

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Auntiejack56

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Hi, Your replies much appreciated, thanks. JHB, a good idea but it just creates a new layout grid, doesn't extend the existing layout grid to the new section.

In fact, it seems that you can't explicitly extend an existing Layout to a new section.

However, there seems to be a workaround. If you have created a section header manually (ie no layout), you can ask Access to put something into the section for you. Access will then extend the existing layout into the new section.

So for example if you click on the new Section (that has no Layout) and then click 'With title' in the Grouping options at the bottom, you'll be prompted for a title, and then, and this is the magic bit, Access will extend the existing layout into the Section and put the new Title into the layout.

Once you've got the grid, of course, you can delete the title and drop in the fields that you want.

You may be able to do the same by requesting totals (instead of a Title) in the new header or footer - I saw someone do it on a video, but I couldn't make that method work.

So if anyone knows how to do this explicitly, that would be great. In the meantime, my workaround is effective, but not ideal.

Thanks again all,

Jack
 

isladogs

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As I said In my first reply you can do anything if you create the report yourself from scratch in design view rather than use the wizard.

I'm still not totally clear what you want to happen when you create a new section. If you mean you want to have the control in one section with its label in another, that's easy enough

Have you managed it to achieve what you want yet?
If so, can you show the end result in both design view and pint preview.
 

Auntiejack56

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Hi, so sorry I haven't replied - flat out here! I've tried to work out a way to explain the problem.

Basically, I'm creating all my reports using a Layout.
I'm not explicitly using the Wizard - I just select a query and click Report. That opens the new report in Layout view.
When switching to Design, all the controls are in a layout grid.

It's very handy to use the layout grid - you can drop fields in, widen or narrow columns and everything stays neatly lined up, so there is very little manual reformatting. Making an identical change to 20 odd reports is very quick, and in a RAD team, that's a huge bonus.

So if I change one of these reports to have a new Grouping with its own Header, I would like the new header to have the grid as well, but it doesn't do so, or not predictably.
That's what I was trying to resolve.

My workaround is the steps in my previous post, which seem to work. That is, request Access to add a new field into the header (eg title). When it does so, it extends the existing grid into the new section, and adds the Title field into it.

Thanks for your replies Ridders, sorry I couldn't explain myself better!

Jack
 

isladogs

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Ah well, you tried ... as did I.

Still not clear to me but that may be because I never design reports using the layout grid & only rarely using the wizard.

I much prefer to have full control so I do everything in design view
Similarly for forms.

I expect many of the programmers who have used Access for many years do the same as me .. possibly because we always have!
 

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