Autodesk 00308-011408-9F30A User Guide - Page 352

Creating Reports

Page 352 highlights

Report generation is one of the primary features that sets AutoSketch apart from a traditional drawing program. Before you can generate a report, you must enter data. AutoSketch stores a great deal of data in the drawing as you create entities. Graphic properties such as color, style, and width are stored along with the geometric information for each entity. However, reports are only available if fields have been defined. For information on creating fields and storing information in them, see the chapter titled "Storing Data in a Drawing," which begins on page 333. Creating a good report is a process of choosing what information to include and to exclude from the report. You want to display the significant data and nothing more. Provide too little information and your report isn't a useful source of data. Provide too much information and it is difficult to find the pertinent facts. Creating Reports AutoSketch generates reports formatted in rows and columns like a spreadsheet. Reports display information you store in the drawing. There are two types of reports: detail and summary. Detail reports display information for every entity in the selection set. Summary reports display information for each symbol definition in the selection set along with a count of the number of instances of each symbol. Summary reports exclude non-symbol entities. You can display the sum of a column of numeric database fields in a detail report. You can export information contained in the report fields of a AutoSketch drawing to other applications using the Windows Clipboard. Open the report that you want to export and click Copy. This transfers all the data to the Clipboard in standard text format and comma-separated values. This information can then be pasted into most Windows applications. Reports operate on the current selection set. If no entities are selected, the report operates on the entire drawing. Additionally, you can include selection criteria in the report to further refine the selection set. The reports you create are available to all of the drawings you edit on your system. However, for the reports to operate correctly, the drawings you try to generate reports from must have all of the fields used by the report. 342 | Chapter 28 Retrieving Data From a Drawing

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148
  • 149
  • 150
  • 151
  • 152
  • 153
  • 154
  • 155
  • 156
  • 157
  • 158
  • 159
  • 160
  • 161
  • 162
  • 163
  • 164
  • 165
  • 166
  • 167
  • 168
  • 169
  • 170
  • 171
  • 172
  • 173
  • 174
  • 175
  • 176
  • 177
  • 178
  • 179
  • 180
  • 181
  • 182
  • 183
  • 184
  • 185
  • 186
  • 187
  • 188
  • 189
  • 190
  • 191
  • 192
  • 193
  • 194
  • 195
  • 196
  • 197
  • 198
  • 199
  • 200
  • 201
  • 202
  • 203
  • 204
  • 205
  • 206
  • 207
  • 208
  • 209
  • 210
  • 211
  • 212
  • 213
  • 214
  • 215
  • 216
  • 217
  • 218
  • 219
  • 220
  • 221
  • 222
  • 223
  • 224
  • 225
  • 226
  • 227
  • 228
  • 229
  • 230
  • 231
  • 232
  • 233
  • 234
  • 235
  • 236
  • 237
  • 238
  • 239
  • 240
  • 241
  • 242
  • 243
  • 244
  • 245
  • 246
  • 247
  • 248
  • 249
  • 250
  • 251
  • 252
  • 253
  • 254
  • 255
  • 256
  • 257
  • 258
  • 259
  • 260
  • 261
  • 262
  • 263
  • 264
  • 265
  • 266
  • 267
  • 268
  • 269
  • 270
  • 271
  • 272
  • 273
  • 274
  • 275
  • 276
  • 277
  • 278
  • 279
  • 280
  • 281
  • 282
  • 283
  • 284
  • 285
  • 286
  • 287
  • 288
  • 289
  • 290
  • 291
  • 292
  • 293
  • 294
  • 295
  • 296
  • 297
  • 298
  • 299
  • 300
  • 301
  • 302
  • 303
  • 304
  • 305
  • 306
  • 307
  • 308
  • 309
  • 310
  • 311
  • 312
  • 313
  • 314
  • 315
  • 316
  • 317
  • 318
  • 319
  • 320
  • 321
  • 322
  • 323
  • 324
  • 325
  • 326
  • 327
  • 328
  • 329
  • 330
  • 331
  • 332
  • 333
  • 334
  • 335
  • 336
  • 337
  • 338
  • 339
  • 340
  • 341
  • 342
  • 343
  • 344
  • 345
  • 346
  • 347
  • 348
  • 349
  • 350
  • 351
  • 352
  • 353
  • 354
  • 355
  • 356
  • 357
  • 358
  • 359
  • 360
  • 361
  • 362
  • 363
  • 364
  • 365
  • 366
  • 367
  • 368
  • 369
  • 370
  • 371
  • 372
  • 373
  • 374
  • 375
  • 376
  • 377
  • 378
  • 379
  • 380
  • 381
  • 382
  • 383
  • 384
  • 385
  • 386
  • 387
  • 388
  • 389
  • 390
  • 391
  • 392
  • 393
  • 394
  • 395
  • 396
  • 397
  • 398
  • 399
  • 400

342
|
Chapter 28
Retrieving Data From a Drawing
Report generation is one of the primary features that sets AutoSketch apart
from a traditional drawing program.
Before you can generate a report, you must enter data. AutoSketch stores a
great deal of data in the drawing as you create entities. Graphic properties
such as color, style, and width are stored along with the geometric informa-
tion for each entity. However, reports are only available if fields have been
defined. For information on creating fields and storing information in them,
see the chapter titled “Storing Data in a Drawing,” which begins on page 333.
Creating a good report is a process of choosing what information to include
and to exclude from the report. You want to display the significant data and
nothing more. Provide too little information and your report isn’t a useful
source of data. Provide too much information and it is difficult to find the
pertinent facts.
Creating Reports
AutoSketch generates reports formatted in rows and columns like a spread-
sheet. Reports display information you store in the drawing. There are two
types of reports:
detail and summary. Detail reports display information for
every entity in the selection set. Summary reports display information for
each symbol definition in the selection set along with a count of the number
of instances of each symbol. Summary reports exclude non-symbol entities.
You can display the sum of a column of numeric database fields in a detail
report.
You can export information contained in the report fields of a AutoSketch
drawing to other applications using the Windows Clipboard. Open the
report that you want to export and click Copy. This transfers all the data to
the Clipboard in standard text format and comma-separated values. This
information can then be pasted into most Windows applications.
Reports operate on the current selection set. If no entities are selected, the
report operates on the entire drawing. Additionally, you can include
selection criteria in the report to further refine the selection set.
The reports you create are available to all of the drawings you edit on your
system. However, for the reports to operate correctly, the drawings you try to
generate reports from must have all of the fields used by the report.