On the Edit Report screen for the selected report, click the Report Parameters button or select the Maintenance menu and then Report Parameters.
Note: If the report to edit is not yet open, first complete the following: from the Report Writer screen, click on the name of the view group in the Report Groups List that contains the report for which to add a report parameter and click on the name of the report to edit in the Reports List (or click the Find button instead to search for the desired report); then click the Edit Record button located at the top of the screen.
At the Report Parameters screen, click the New Record button.
Enter the field or formula for which to add the parameter in the Field Name field, or click the Directory button to select the desired one.
In the Parameter Caption field, enter the description to use as the parameter label on the Report Printing Options screen. The description can be up to 100 characters long.
If desired, enter the same field for which the parameter is being added in the Parameter Type field (or click the down-arrow button to select the desired field) to have a selection automatically passed in for the parameter when generating the report. The parameter will only be passed in if the report is generated from within the applicable option, and the record or batch currently displayed will be what is selected for the parameter. For example, if a parameter is being added to a report for the Employee ID field, enter Employee ID as the Parameter Type; then when the report is generated from within the Employee File (or other applicable option), the employee currently displayed on the screen will be selected automatically. Leave the field blank to not automatically select a record for the parameter.
Note: The Parameter Type field is only available for certain fields; to view the list of fields available for use with the Parameter Type field, click the down-arrow button (or press the Ctrl+F keys) and change the filter for the Data Type field (column) to show All.
If the parameter should be grouped (combined) with another parameter when generating the report using an 'or' operator (instead of the typical 'and' operator), enter the appropriate 1-digit group number to use for the parameter in the Or Group Number field. For example, if there is a set of parameters that should be grouped together using the 'or' operator, enter 1 in this field for the applicable parameters; or if there are two sets of parameters that should be grouped together, enter 1 in this field for the applicable parameters in the first set and 2 for the parameters in the second set. In most cases, this field will be left blank to use the 'and' operator in conjunction with other parameters.
Tip: When parameters have this field completed, a record only has to meet the criteria for one of the parameters in the specified group in order to be included on the report; whereas normally, a record would have to meet the criteria selected for all the parameters in order to be printed on the report.
If applicable, select the Select by Sum field to omit the Search button from displaying for the parameter when generating the report. A checkmark will appear in the box if the field is selected.
Note: This field is only enabled if the Report Type for the report is Group By (as defined within the report settings) and the field for which the parameter is being added is a numeric field.
If applicable, all the report selections defined for the report appear in the Report Selection List (under the Select by Sum field). To tie the parameter to one or more of the existing report selections, click the box for the Selected column to the left of each desired report selection description. A checkmark will appear in the box if the report selection is selected. If a parameter is tied to a report selection, the parameter will appear on the Report Printing Options screen when generating the report for the particular report selection. By default, all report selections will be selected, but can be changed if needed.
To have additional fields of information appear for each record when clicking the Search button for this parameter (when printing the report), enter the number for the order in which to display the desired fields in the Field Sequence field (column) in the Additional Fields to Display List. For example, if a parameter is being added to the report for the Employee ID field and the first and last names for the employees should also display with the IDs when clicking the Search button for the Employee ID parameter, enter 1 under the Field Sequence field (column) for First Name and enter 2 for Last Name.
Click the Save button.
When finished adding all desired parameters, click the X in the upper right-hand corner to return to the Edit Report screen.