The Report Occurs

The report occurs control lets you take advantage of the OCCURS clause to display report information in a table or array. It is available only for graphical reports. The report occurs Property window contains the following control-specific properties in addition to the properties described in Common Report Control Properties.

Auto Resize

A drop-down box allows the selection of TRUE or FALSE. A setting of TRUE (the default) automatically expands a report occurs to fit the data content size. The FALSE setting should be used with caution. When this property is set to FALSE, the report occurs uses the Lines property to determine its size, which may be inadequate to contain all your data.

Column Headings

A drop-down box allows the selection of TRUE or FALSE.

A setting of TRUE (the default) provides the user a place to enter a heading row for occurs column titles.

A setting of FALSE removes the heading row. When Column Headings is set to FALSE, you can use the Page Header section of the report to provide the titles for the occurs columns.

Columns' Setting

The Value cell for this property has an ellipsis push button that opens the Columns' Setting dialog box.

In this interface, when you select the dominant occurs data item, the drop-down box at the top of the screen lists all the possible candidates in your graphical Working-Storage and data sets. To be a candidate, the data item must contain an OCCURS clause. The occurs displays in the top portion of the dialog box.

Level Field Name Picture Usage Occurs
03 Notes     8
05 Note-Date X(10)    
05 Note-Initials   X(3)    
05 Note-Text X(60)    

To transfer Note-Date, Note-Initials, and Note-Text from this table into the Occurs Columns table below, double-click them.

Name Picture Head Width Alignment More
Note-Date X(10) Note-Date 1.00 Unaligned  
Note-Initials   X(3) Note-Initials   1.00 Unaligned  
Note-Text X(60) Note-Text 1.00 Unaligned  

In the Head column, you can replace the listed name with a column title of your choosing. Width uses the unit of measure set in the Tools > Options > Report Writer > General interface. Use the Alignment column to set justification. Double-click in the More column to open a More dialog box in which you can set Color, Font, and Hyperlink properties.

Repeat this procedure as needed for all of the fields you wish to have in your report occurs.

Note that the Occurs Columns interface is similar to the Grid Columns interface and also allows you to add and remove fields.

Row Color Pattern

The Value cell for this property has an ellipsis push button that opens the Row Color Pattern dialog box. The Add push button in this interface opens the Color Setting dialog box, in which you can select background and foreground colors. You can observe your chosen pattern in the Preview area on the right of the Row Color Pattern interface.

The Up and Down arrows permit you to rearrange color patterns you have defined, and a Remove button lets you delete color patterns.

Repeat this procedure to edit existing colors or to extend the Row Color Pattern.

Show Grid Line

A drop-down box allows the selection of TRUE or FALSE. A setting of TRUE (the default) causes subsequent lines in a report occurs to be separated by a grid line. A setting of FALSE removes all grid lines in the report occurs.