Comparisons with the Design tab

You have the same formatting capabilities in the Preview tab as you do in the Design tab. Menus (both menu bar and shortcut menus), the Standard and Supplementary toolbars, and the Formatting toolbar remain active, providing essentially the same functionality you have when working with a report in the Design tab. However, when you are making numerous changes, it is quicker to make the changes in the Design tab. Some additional things to consider are:

• The Design tab and Preview tab are tied together internally. Any changes made in one are reflected in the other.
• The Preview tab has a single vertical ruler at the left of the tab rather than the individual section rulers seen in the Design tab. The functionality of the ruler is the same.
• The Preview tab identifies report sections in the shaded area to the left of the data. With a quick look you can tell which report section the data is printing from. While section names appear only once in the Design tab, they print each time a section prints in the Preview tab.
• The Record counter, the Data Age indicator (see The Data Age indicator), and the Page Forward/Page Back controls (see Preview tab), are all active in the Preview tab.
• The Preview tab highlights every value when you select a field; whereas, only the field frame is highlighted in the Design tab.

Working in the Preview tab has a different feel from working in the
Design tab.

Each field in a database contains dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of values, depending on the number of records in the database. When you place a field in the Design tab, a single field frame represents all those values. When you highlight the field, sizing handles appear on the frame and the frame changes color.

In the Preview tab, however, you are working with the actual data. Instead of a field frame representing many field values, the values themselves appear. Some additional things to consider are:

• When you highlight a field or formula field value, you are actually selecting every value in the field
  • the program places a sizing frame around the specific value you select
  • it highlights every other value in the field.
• Likewise, when you select a summary value, you are actually selecting all the related summary values
  • the program places a sizing frame around the specific value you select
  • it highlights all the related summary values.

Aside from the differences in appearance, the process of building and modifying a report is the same in both the Design tab and the Preview tab. You should find it easy to work with your reports in both places.