For many reports, building the source query is the most difficult step. Once you have the data you need and understand the grouping options and properties you can set, building the report is easy. We actually like to use the Report Wizard to get a jump start on laying out our client reports. The wizard works especially well when the record source contains 10 or fewer fields.
To start designing the Facility Occupancy By Date report, select the query in the Navigation pane, and click the Report Wizard button in the Reports group on the Create tab. Build the basic report by taking the following steps:
On the first page of the wizard, choose the FacilityName, DateValue, RoomNumber, and EmpName fields, and click Next.
On the second page, the wizard suggests grouping the report by the RoomNumber field. However, you need to define custom grouping and sorting later, so click the left arrow to undo that selection and then click Next.
On the next page, the wizard offers to sort the information for you. You can ask the wizard to establish some of the grouping and sorting settings you need by asking for an ascending sort on FacilityName, DateValue, and RoomNumber. Click Next.
Because you didn’t ask the wizard to create any groups, the wizard suggests a tabular layout, and this is just fine. Be sure that Orientation is set to Portrait and the Adjust The Field Width So All Fields Fit On A Page check box is selected. Click Next.
On the final page of the wizard, enter Facility Occupancy By Date – 4th Quarter 2010 as the report title, select the Modify The Report’s Design option, and click Finish to create your report.
The report the wizard built should look like that shown in Figure 18-2.
The wizard always places the report title label in the Report Header section, but that appears only once on the first page of the report. Especially when the report is likely to contain many pages, we like to see the report title repeated at the top of each page so that the subject of the report is clear throughout. You can move the report title from the Report Header section to the Page Header section. To do this, follow these steps:
Expand the bottom of the Page Header section about 0.7 inch.
Click in the ruler to the left of the four label controls in the page header to select all these label controls. Use the down arrow key to move the four label controls down to the bottom of the expanded Page Header section.
Click the label control in the Report Header section, and drag it down into the space you created in the Page Header section. You might want to select the column heading labels again and use the up arrow key to close any gap below the bottom of the report title label control. Also, move the bottom of the Page Header section up so that there’s only a small space between the line and the bottom of the section.
Close up the bottom of the Report Header section so that it has zero height.
While you’re refining the look of the report, click the DateValue label control and change its Caption to Date. Also, click the EmpName label control and change its caption to Employee. (You can change captions directly in a label control by selecting the control, clicking inside it with your mouse, and then typing the new caption.) Select all the controls in the Page Footer section and delete them. You’ll learn later how to create controls to display the current date and time and page numbers.
Your report should now look like Figure 18-3. Click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar to preserve your work to this point.
