You referenced Report Designer 200.2.0000, which is the layout tool for IFS operational reports.  Are you wanted to know if it’s possible to use code from an operational report to create a custom report in the IFS Business Reporter tool or the IFS Report Designer tool?

Assuming, it’s the latter, you can absolutely do that by starting with the standard report layout, making your modifications, and then saving the new layout to the Report Definition.

Thanks Tracy.  I have been able to make changes within a standard report layout.  What I had hoped to be able to do is start with a custom report(blank) and copy and paste from a standard report layout so I don’t have to start from scratch?

Oh, I don’t think we’re able to have more than one report open in a single instance of the tool, and I don’t think copy and paste from one instance to another is possible.  

If I’m creating an alternate layout to a standard report, ie: using the same report model, I usually decide if it makes the most sense to start with a blank layout or to remove or suppress elements in the existing layout.  If it’s a radical change on a complex report with nothing in the usual places, then I’ll start with a blank layout.  If some of the existing elements are to remain, I remove what is not needed.  If there’s a chance that elements will later be needed, I just set the elements as not visible.

Thanks Tracy, not what I wanted to hear, but will work through the issue.

Tracy how do you set an element as not visible?

Depends on which type of element it is.  For cells, you can right click and select “Hide Field”.  This will place a check mark next to the right click menu.  You can also right click and select Conditions.  This brings up a popup with a box on the bottom labeled as “Visible condition:”  In that box, you can simply type in “false()” or anything that is false like “1=2”.  For tables, rows, columns, and anything else, use the right click/Visible conditions method.

This is just my preference…

If something that I’m making not visible already has logic in the Visible condition box, then I leave that logic in there and add the false condition at the end.  That way, I don’t need to retrieve the original conditions from the standard layout.  

I also mark the invisible fields with an alternate font or outline color.  This allows them to stand out in a complex report when you’re looking at the layout in the tool.  If you’ve properly made them not visible, you won’t see the alternate color when the report is rendered.

Thanks Tracy.