Creating reports

The Create Report command allows you to select a group of objects from a drawing and then create a worksheet based on data that is associated with the objects (such as a price, or the object’s class). You can either create a new report or append database rows to an existing report. For more information about how to attach data to objects, see Attaching record formats to symbols and objects.

This method of Creating worksheets may be preferable to creating a worksheet from scratch, if you are not comfortable directly editing criteria and worksheet functions.

Alternatively, from an existing worksheet, right-click a spreadsheet row number and select Create Report, or right-click a database row number and select Edit Report. The Create Report (or Edit Report) dialog box opens.

Parameter	Description
Type	● Select Custom Report to specify which objects, fields, and functions to display in the report. ● Select Preformatted Report to select from a list of several standard reports for Vectorworks Architect, Landmark, and Spotlight, as described in Using preformatted reports (Vectorworks Design Series required).
Title	Enter a report title. If you append the report data to an existing worksheet, this title is added to a spreadsheet cell above the database rows that are appended.
Criteria	Criteria settings determine which drawing objects will be listed as sub-rows in the report—for example, all objects with a base cabinet record attached to them.
Basic Criteria	Creates a report based on one specific criterion. From the pull-down list, select the criterion—for example, a certain type of object, such as a symbol. If you select Objects with a record, also select the record from the list that displays.
Including components of	If desired, check the options to include objects that are part of symbols, plug-in objects, viewport annotations, and design layer viewports.
Advanced Criteria	Creates a report based on multiple criteria. Click Edit Criteria to open The Criteria dialog box.
Columns	Column settings determine which information displays in each column of the report—for example, the description, price, and layer location for each base cabinet in the drawing. Select record fields, functions, and create custom fields to create as many columns as needed.
Select from	● If the report is based on a specific record, you can select Records, select a record, and then select fields from the record to display as columns. ● Select Functions to display other information about objects in the report, such as height or the layer where each object is located. ● If the file has data sheets defined, select Data Sheets, select a sheet, and then select fields from the sheet to display as columns. See Using the Data Manager (Vectorworks Design Series required).
Possible Columns	Options depend on the selection in the Select from field: ● Records lists the fields from the selected record ● Functions lists the Worksheet functions available ● Data Sheets lists the fields from the selected sheet
Report Columns	Lists the columns that are currently selected for inclusion in the report, in the order in which they will appear. To change the order, click on the # column and drag the item to the desired position in the list.
Add >> / Add All >>	To add a column to the report, select it in the Possible Columns list and click Add. Click Add All to move all the columns to the Report Columns list.
<< Remove / << Remove All	To remove an item from the report, select it in the Report Columns list and click Remove. Click Remove All to move all the columns to the Possible Columns list.
Add Custom Field	Opens the Custom Field dialog box, to add a custom field to the report. Enter a Name/Label for the field. Click Insert Record Field/Function to open the Insert Field dialog box, and select from the functions or record fields available. Alternatively, make entries in the Formula field directly.
Format Field	Opens the Format Field Column dialog box, to apply appropriate formatting to the column. See Formatting worksheet cells for Number Format descriptions. Select Sum values to display Sum Values for this column.
Edit	● For a custom field, opens the Custom Field dialog box to allow editing. ● For one of the parameter-based Worksheet functions, opens the Edit Parameter dialog box to enter a parameter.
Summarize items with the same	Select the checkbox to summarize objects that contain the same value for a specified field, rather than creating a new database sub-row for each. Select the field to summarize from the drop-down list.
Place report on drawing	Places the report on the drawing when it is created (not available when accessed from an existing worksheet)
Append to existing report	Select to append the information to a report in this file, and then select the target report (not available when accessed from an existing worksheet)

3. If you opted to place the report on the drawing, click in the drawing to place it. Otherwise, the worksheet opens automatically. The top row of the worksheet contains a title for each column selected. Next is a database header row (indicated by a diamond next to the row number) that contains sub-row totals for each column. Beneath the header row are sub-rows for each object or symbol in the drawing that matches the report criteria.

4. To append additional reports to the worksheet, repeat step 1 and select the Append to existing report option before you click OK to create the report.

5. To edit the report data, right-click a database row number and select Edit Report.

6. Once all the data is added, edit the worksheet. For example, add rows or columns, change the text format, or add color.