Row and Column Management

At the top of the General – Custom Report Template window is the Row/Column Management tab, this tab allows you to define row properties and well as add and remove row and/or columns.

Row Properties

It’s important to understand that if the Page Report When Out of Space feature is utilized any cells containing report totals/aggregates will display on each page unless you decide otherwise. The totals displayed within the cell(s) will not reflect the totals/aggregates for just that page but for the report in its entirety.

By utilizing the options within the Row Properties you can decide however, to keep cells with the previous data, include a cell(s) data on the first page only or include cell(s) data on the last page only.

The following row properties are available:

Keep with Previous Data – This option will keep two or more rows of data together. If this option is not checked, then data that is on two separate rows will generate independently instead of staying together. First, all of the data for the first row will generate, and then the data for the next row will all be generated into the report.
Include on First Page Only – select when wanting to see report totals on the first page of the report versus the last.
Include on Last Page Only – select when wanting to see report totals on the last page of the report versus the first.
Shrinkable – this options allows the row you have selected to shrink in order to print all on the same page
Skip if No Data – this options allows the row to be skipped in the final report if there is no information contained within the row

! If you don’t select either Include on First Page Only or Include on Last Page Only, the report totals will be included on every page.

Shrinkable Rows

Currently the Custom Report Template does not include a page break preview that adjusts or shows where one page ends and another begins as found in many Microsoft Office products. Instead, you will create a shrinkable row and utilize print preview to adjust the reports page length.

A shrinkable row is simply an expanded row assigned a Shrinkable property. This row is expanded so that its space combined with the space of the existing template cells and information equal the height of a printed page. Typically, this row is directly below any rows that populate with report data eg. inventory, or a total/aggregate row.

This expanded row space then is reduced as each additional row of data is added to the report. Once this shrinkable space is used up by rows of report data, the report generates an additional page and continues to add rows of data until the shrinkable space on that page is used up. In essence, by using a shrinkable row, you determine a fixed page height and subsequently determine how much room is available for data before additional pages generate.

So for example, there are 30 inventory items for the report you just created. The first inventory item populates within the row you created to populate with the inventory information. The next inventory item populates below the first in a newly created row. This row is created at the same height as the first inventory row and takes it’s space from the space available within the Shrinkable row until no more Shrinkable space exists.

! If you do not need to print, the use of a Shrinkable row isn’t necessary. If a Shrinkable row is not used the report will continue to create data rows until there is no more data, at which point the total/aggregate rows will display. The shrinkable row is also not necessary if it is not important that some elements of the report are duplicated on each page. The shrinkable row is also not necessary if the Page Report When Out of Space option is not used.

To create a shrinkable row, do the following:

Hover your mouse pointer over either the top or bottom border of the farthest left cell (the light grey cell) of the row to resize. The pointer icon changes to a single line with an arrow above and below.
Left click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the line to increase the row height.
Release the mouse button when the row is at the desired height.
Click the Row/Column Management
Within the Row Properties ribbon group, checkmark the Shrinkable
View the effect of the row upon the page size by exporting the custom report template to Excel and then choosing print preview. For steps on how to complete these two options, see Exporting, Previewing, Printing, Copying and Deleting.
Make any additional adjustments to the page size by repeating steps 1-6 as needed.

* It can be extremely helpful to have text within a cell after the shrinkable row. This way when the report is previewed the text will provide an indicator of what adjustments need to be made to the shrinkable area to fit the report within a printable page. Adding report information such as a page number, date or time below the shrinkable is one such option. For steps on how to add report information, see Report Information.

Grid Row Actions

Insert Row Above Selection – within the Template Setup pane, highlight a row by clicking the grey block just to the left of the first cell, and click this selection to insert a row directly above the highlighted one.

Insert Row Below Selection – within the Template Setup pane, highlight a row by clicking the grey block just to the left of the first cell, and click this selection to insert a row directly below the highlighted one.

Delete Selected Rows – within the Template Setup pane, highlight a row by clicking the grey block just to the left of the first cell, and click this selection to delete the entire row

Grid Column Actions

Insert Column Before Selection – within the Template Setup pane, highlight a column by clicking the grey block at the top of the column, and click this selection to insert a column before the highlighted one.

Insert Column After Selection – within the Template Setup pane, highlight a column by clicking the grey block at the top of the column, and click this selection to insert a column after the highlighted one.

Delete Selected Columns– within the Template Setup pane, highlight a column by clicking the grey block at the top of the column, and click this selection to delete the entire column

Resizing Rows and Columns

The rows and columns work similar to rows and columns in an Excel Spreadsheet. Currently there is no way to reset the column and rows back to the default.

To resize a single row

Hover your mouse pointer over either the top or bottom border of the farthest left cell (the light grey cell) of the row to resize. The pointer icon changes to a single line with an arrow above and below.
Left click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the line to increase or decrease row height.
Release the mouse button when the row is at the desired height.

To resize a single column

Hover your mouse pointer over either the left or the right border of the top most cell (the light grey cell) of the column to resize. The pointer icon changes to a single line with an arrow to the left and right.
Left click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the line to increase or decrease column width.
Release the mouse button when the column is at the desired width.

To resize a multiple rows:

Left click the farthest left cell (the light gray cell) within the initial row that you want to resize.
Hold down the left mouse button and drag the pointer to the last row to resize. The selected rows highlight.
Hover your mouse pointer over either the top or bottom border of the farthest left cell (the light grey cell) of one of the selected rows. The pointer icon changes to a single line with an arrow above and below.
Left click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the line to increase or decrease the selected rows height. Notice the height of all selected rows adjust simultaneously.
Release the mouse button when the rows are at the desired height.

To resize multiple columns:

Left click the top most cell (the light gray cell) within the initial column that you want to resize.
Hold down the left mouse button and drag the pointer to the last column to resize. The selected columns highlight.
Hover your mouse pointer over either the left or right border of the top most cell (the light grey cell) of one of the selected columns. The pointer icon changes to a single line with an arrow to the left and to the right.
Left click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the line to increase or decrease the selected columns width. Notice the width of all selected columns adjust simultaneously.
Release the mouse button when the columns are at the desired width.

To resize all rows:

Left click the upper most left cell. All cells are selected and highlight.
Hover your mouse pointer over either the top or bottom border of the farthest left cell (the light grey cell) of one of the selected rows. The pointer icon changes to a single line with an arrow above and below.
Left click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the line to increase or decrease the height of all the rows. Notice the height of all the rows adjust simultaneously.
Release the mouse button when the rows are at the desired height.

To resize multiple columns:

Left click the upper most left cell. All cells are selected and highlight.
Hover your mouse pointer over either the left or right border of the top most cell (the light grey cell) of one of the selected columns. The pointer icon changes to a single line with an arrow to the left and right.
Left click and hold down the mouse button. Drag the line to increase or decrease the width of all the columns. Notice the width of all the columns adjust simultaneously.
Release the mouse button when the columns are at the desired width.