SRS Form Designer

Forms

There are four types of report forms in SYSPRO Reporting Services:

Form type	Description
Standard report forms	These are saved in the `\Base\ReportingServices\ReportForm` folder on the application server and are updated if required when you run a SYSPRO update. Every standard SYSPRO SRS report uses a standard form with at least the Output Options tab page displayed on the form. Most of the standard SRS reports use a standard form with the Report Options and Output Options tab pages displayed on the form.
Customized report forms	These are based on the standard forms and saved for a specific security level in the `\Base\ReportingCustomized\ReportForm` folder on the application server. This can be system-wide, for a specific company, a specific operator group, a specific operator or a specific role.
User-defined forms	These are based on the default form with usually only the Output Options tab displayed. They are saved for a specific security level in the `\Base\ReportingCustomized\ReportForm` folder on the application server. You use these forms for user-defined reports.
The default form	If none of the other types of forms exist for a report, then a default form is created and saved in the `\Base\ReportingCustomized\ReportForm` folder on the application server.

Design Form

The Design Form function loads the Form Designer program. It is available from a number of locations.

From the context menu displayed when you right-click a report within the SRS Main Menu.
From the Setup menu of the SRS Main Menu toolbar.
On the form itself when you run the report from the SRS Main Menu.

Control Library

This pane displays the report controls that are defined in the Schema In file (.xsd) associated with the report.


	If a business object is enhanced to include new options, then the corresponding `*.xsd` is updated. Use the Form Designer program to add these new report controls to customized forms. You do not need to do this for reports using the standard report forms. A report control can only be added once to a form. If the Form Designer program does not allow you to add a report control to the form, this is an indication that this report control is already displayed on one of the tab pages of the form. Report controls that are already present on the form are displayed in blue in the Control Library. Report controls that are not present on the form are displayed in black in the Control Library.

You cannot add any report control or standard control directly into any group box. You first need to drag the control onto any position outside the group box on the form and then drag the control into the group box. If you have added a control to the form and you cannot see the control, then the control may be hidden behind a group box.

The contents of this pane changes according to the type of report:

Report based on

Report Controls

Standard Controls

Business object

Report controls are populated from the associated business object Schema In file (.xsd). This file also contains detailed information about every control, the purpose/type of the control and the default values.

If the business object is enhanced to include new options, then the corresponding *.xsd file is updated.

You can add new tab pages and change/delete existing tab pages.
You can add new labels and change/delete existing labels.
You can add new group boxes and change/delete existing group boxes.
You can add available report controls to the group boxes and change/delete existing report controls.

Crystal driver

No report controls exist.

If you have to define parameters for the report in Crystal Reports, then these parameters will not appear in the Report Controls section and you cannot add these parameters to the form. The parameters are requested when you run the report.

A blank tab page is automatically created when you select the Design Form option. You can also add more tab pages and change/delete existing tab pages.
No labels exist on the form by default, but you can add new labels.
You can add a new group box to the form, but there are no report controls to add to the group box.

GL report writer

Report controls are populated from the gl_fin_report_writer.xsd file.

All the run-time prompts (available when you run the financial report in SYSPRO) are available in the Report Controls section. If no run-time prompts exist against the report in SYSPRO, then the report in SRS is processed with the default form.

Four default report controls exist:

ReportCurrency
ReportTotalOnly
ReportZeroOnly
Select companies.


	If any run-time prompt is changed in the GL Define Financial Reports program in SYSPRO, then you are prompted to maintain the form for the SRS report linked to the financial report.

A blank tab page is automatically created when you select the Design Form option. You can also add more tab pages and change/delete existing tab pages.
No labels exist on the form by default, but you can add new labels.
You can add new group boxes and change/delete existing group boxes.
You can add available report controls to the group boxes and change/delete existing report controls.


	If you exit the Form Designer program without adding all the available report controls, then a warning message is displayed. Although you can exit without adding these available report controls, we recommend that you add all the report controls available in the Control Library pane to the form.


	The Output Options tab is automatically created when you select the Design Form option. You can delete the tab from the form.

When you customize a standard report, then you need to take note of the type of report controls that you can use for the form. The type of control is indicated by the icon next to the report control name in the Control Library pane:

Report Control

Description

Drop-down list/Radio button controls

These controls are normally embedded in a group box and they can consist of the following objects:

Label
Drop-down list or a radio button
User-input fields
Browse icons


	These objects cannot be used separately and cannot be deleted from or moved out of their group box. The group box of the report control can however be dragged into another group box.

Check box controls

These controls include a check box and a label. They are not embedded in a group box. The check box and its label are always used together.

User-input controls

These controls are normally embedded in a group box and they consist of the following objects:

Label
User-input text box (text can be entered in the box)


	You can move/delete the label from the group box, but you cannot move/delete the user-input text box from the group box. The group box of the report control can however be dragged into another group box.

Output Options standard control

The Output Options standard control has several individual objects which cannot be deleted, moved or used outside its group box. This implies that you cannot remove, for example, the Email report or Archive report objects for a specific form. You can change the default values of these individual objects, but cannot move, delete or use these objects outside the Output Options group box.

Form Designer

This pane displays the form and all of the current controls.

You can perform the following:

Resize the individual labels, controls, group boxes and also the entire form window to accommodate changes.


	Alignment marks appear on the form to help you align report controls when moving them around.

Resize the tab page by resizing the form window.
Edit the TabIndex property on most of these controls. The TabIndex indicates the tabbing sequence of the controls on the tab page and appears in the Properties pane.

Error messages

When moving report and standard controls on the form, the following error messages may be displayed:

Control(s) cannot be moved from its group. The action will be reversed.

Unable to cast object of type 'DesignerControlCollection' to type 'System.windows.Forms.Control'.

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

If you receive any of these error messages, then move the object back to its original group box on the form and move the group box instead of the report control object.

Properties

This pane is refreshed with the properties of the selected area of the form within the Form Designer pane.

You can change the properties of the selected control on the form in the Properties pane. The properties available for editing change according to the type of control that is selected on the form:

Type of report control	Editable
Form	This contains all the objects and controls. Although you can change the `Text` property for the window (the window title) the change is not applied to the window. The window title is always derived from the report name on the menu.
Tab page	This is a labeled group of options used for many similar kinds of settings. You can edit the following properties: Text
Label	This is attached to any option, box, button or command. You can edit the following properties: Location Size Text
Group Box	This is a frame or a box that encloses a set of related options. These options include labels, radio buttons, combo boxes and check boxes. You can edit the following properties of both types of group boxes: Location Size TabIndex Text
Check Box	This is a square box that is selected or cleared to turn on or off an option. More than one check box can be selected. You can edit the following properties: Checked (True or false) Location Size Text TabIndex
Radio Button	This is a round button used to select one of a group of mutually exclusive options. You can edit the following properties: Checked (True or false) Location Size Text TabIndex
Combo Box	This is a text box with a list of possible values attached (drop-down list). You can edit the following properties: Location SelectedIndex This defines the index of the default value (e.g. if a list has three possible values, then the `SelectedIndex` for the first value is 0, for the second value it is 1 and for the third value it is 2. Size TabIndex
Output Options	This includes the standard output options for all reports. You can add this tab page to any form.

The type of possible values for the option determines the report control type that is best to use.

You can convert a combo box (drop-down list) to a radio button and a radio button to a combo box.

Tab pages can be added or removed from the form as required. You can move tab pages to the left or the right on the form.

The Delete icon (or the Delete menu item) is not available if a control cannot be deleted.

Events

C# or C++ .NET developers can create report control events to customize form behavior.

You enter the code in the Code Page pane of the Event window, which is opened when you select the relevant report control object from the Events menu in the Form Designer program.


	You first need to select the object before you select the report control object type from the Events menu.

The following events can be created:

Report Control Object	Available event
Forms	Load
Radio button	Check Changed
Check box	Check Changed
Combo box	Selected Index Changed

Some examples of where this is useful include:

To set default text for a textbox
To enable or disable a form based on selected options
To enable or disable options and other report control objects based on selected options
To display messages based on selected options.

The coding is saved together with the customized form details in the ..\Base\ReportingCustomized\ReportForm folder on the application server.


	You need to save the form before you can create any events for the report controls. Events can only be created for existing report and standard controls that are displayed in the Form Controls and Variables pane of the Events window. Avoid editing of the code in the Variable Declaration pane. Removing any of the code in this pane may result in unpredictable results.

Notes and warnings

Activity considerations

Operator access to the following activities within this program can be restricted. You configure this using the Operators program.

Activity	Description
SRS Allow maintenance of SRS forms	Controls whether an operator can create or maintain a report form.

Crystal Parameters - Server-side Reporting

For Server-side reporting, you MUST add Output options to the form so that the server knows what to do with the output.

Server side printing allows you to capture the report parameters in the SRS report form before running the report. You must design the empty form and add the Output options. Once this has been defined, the Crystal parameters will be added when the report form is relaunched.

If you do not design the Output options and you run an SRS report with parameters (using server-side reporting) the parameters are ignored and the report runs with the saved or the first parameter selection.

Saving a form

Forms are saved in the \Base\ReportingCustomized\ReportForm folder. You can save the customized or user-defined form for all companies (system-wide) or for a specific company, group, operator or role.


When the `frm_menu_item_name_.xml` file is created, it uses the Menu item name you specified (when you added the report to the menu) as part of the filename. If you rename the report on the menu, the `frm_menu_item_name_.xml` filename does not change. It uses the original Menu item name (when you first added the report to the menu) as part of the filename.

When the frm_menu_item_name_*.xml file is created, it uses the Menu item name you specified (when you added the report to the menu) as part of the filename.

If you rename the report on the menu, the frm_menu_item_name_*.xml filename does not change. It uses the original Menu item name (when you first added the report to the menu) as part of the filename.

Deleting a form

You cannot use the Form Designer program to delete a customized or user-defined form.

You must use the Maintain Report Control function to delete a customized report configuration, including the report template, the report form and the report control file.

The next time you run the report, the program checks to see if another customized form applicable to the operator code exists. If not, then the standard form is displayed. If there is no standard form for the report, then a default form is created and displayed.

You should not delete standard forms (i.e. the XML files in the \Base\ReportingServices\ReportForm folder on the application server).
You can delete a customized form:
- If a form was saved for a specific level, for example an operator code or operator group, and that level does not require the customized form anymore.
- When you want to revert to using the standard form for standard SRS reports.
- When you want to revert to using the default form for user-defined reports.
If you do not want to use the customized/user-defined form anymore, then you need to delete the relevant frm_menu_item_name_*.xml file from the \Base\ReportingCustomized\ReportForm folder on the application server.

Hints and tips

Customizing the default form

If a standard or customized form does not exist for the menu item, then a default form is created and saved in the \Base\ReportingCustomized\ReportForm folder on the application server.

The only options on this default form are:

Design Form
Process
Close.

The default form is displayed when you run a user-defined report. You can customize this default form in the following ways:

You can add the Output Options standard control group box to the default form. This enables you to email and archive the user-defined report in the same way as you would do for a standard report.

You can add any of the standard controls to the form, including tab pages, group boxes and labels.


	No report controls exist for user-defined reports, so you can only add text (labels) to the tab pages and group boxes.