Understanding fields

Before going any further, take a look at the field you just placed in the Details section:

• First of all, the object frame indicates that when the report is printed, a field value will appear where the box is positioned.
• The X's in the object frame indicate that the database field contains a text string. Other data types have different character representations. For example, a currency data type is represented by $55,555.56.

  Note:    The X's appear only if you haven't selected the Show Field Names check box on the Layout tab of the Options dialog box.

• The number of X's in the object frame is the data width, the maximum number of characters in the field as defined by the database. The width of the object frame is the field width (the amount of space allocated to the field for printing). Initially it is set to the width needed to display the maximum number of characters in the field (using the font selected for the field). You can change this width by resizing the field.
• The size of the X's indicates the point size selected for the characters in the field.
• The font and style (Bold, Underline, etc.) used in displaying the X's indicate the font and style selected for the characters in the field. Later in this tutorial you will learn how to make changes to these properties.
• The line spacing is adjusted to the point size selected for the characters in the field.

Adding additional fields

Next, you will insert two additional fields in the report. This time, however, you will use the Ctrl-click combination to add them at the same time.

To add additional fields

1. Highlight the City field in the Field Explorer dialog box, press the Ctrl key on your keyboard, and then highlight the Country field. Release the Ctrl key. If you scroll through the field list, you will notice that both fields remain selected.

   Note:    Using the Ctrl-click combination allows you to select a non-continuous range of fields. The Shift-click combination can be used to select several fields from the list that are continuous.

2. Drag the fields to place them.
3. As the cursor is moved over the report, an object frame appears along with the Arrow cursor.
4. Place the fields to the right of the Customer Name field. Click once to insert the fields. Both fields appear in the Details section of the report in the same order in which they are listed in the Field Explorer dialog box.