Adding Report Templates

When you create a new report in AcuBench, you have the option to choose

between two default templates (Blank Graphical and Blank Character). You can also create your own report templates and add them to the New Report dialog.

Using custom templates can simplify the process of report design and help you maintain consistency in your application output. You can, for example, create a template that includes a header or watermark containing your company logo, or that prints address or confidentiality information across the top or bottom of each page.

The process of creating a report template is described in Creating Report Template Files. Once you have the template file (.wtf), you can use the Tools > Options interface to add the template to the New Report dialog.

To add a template to the New Report dialog:

  1. Open the Tools > Options interface, expand the Environment tree, and select Template.

    More information about the Tools > Options > Environment > Template dialog box can be found in Template Options.

  2. In the Customize template section of the interface, select Report from the Template for drop-down box.
  3. Click Add to open the Add New Template File dialog.
  4. Enter a short, descriptive title in the Template title entry field, then click the browse (...) button next to the Template file entry field.
  5. Navigate to the directory containing your .wtf, select the file, and click Open.
  6. Add a more verbose description of the template file in the Description field.
  7. Click OK to save your changes, then click OK again to close the Tools > Options interface.

    The next time you create a new report, your template appears in the New Report dialog, along with your description.

Tip: When you add templates to the New Report interface, a pointer is placed in the INI file, used to locate the .wtf file on disk. If you move the template file, AcuBench will no longer be able to locate the template and you will receive an error message. This means that if you are sharing a template among a team of developers, the template file should reside in a shared folder or be made part of your version control project.