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There are two techniques to access report data from other [[Applications|applications]].
* If you want to access reports from '''Microsoft Excel''' or '''Microsoft Word''', then you can use the [[SmartSimple]] [[:Category:Plug-Ins for Microsoft Office|Plug-Ins for Microsoft Office]] for these [[Applications |applications]] to access report data.
: See [[:Category:Plug-Ins for Microsoft Office|Plug-Ins for Microsoft Office]] for details
This article explains how to use the 2nd method, which is exporting.
* If you want to export the report data to any other data format (for example comma separated values), then you can use the '''Export''' settings for the report to create the file format required.
* You can also use this technique to create a '''MS-Excel''' or '''MS-Word''' file, without the need to use the [[:Category:Plug-Ins for Microsoft Office|Plug-In]] [[Application|application]].
[[Image:Reps200.png]]
This window consists of the following settings:
* '''Header''' - Static or variables that you need to display at the top of the export file.
* '''Fields''' - A list of fields taken from the report that is being used to create the report. In addition, you can select two special settings – {tab} – used to add a tab character to the specification and {break} – used to add a line feed to the specification.* '''Detail''' - You construct the actual record layout for the specification in this area. This section can consist of multiple lines.
* '''Footer''' - Static or variables that you need to display at the bottom of the export file.
* '''File Extension''' - The extension that you wish to associate with the export specifications. By setting this value to any valid Windows file extension, the appropriate [[Application|application]] will be launched when the data is exported.
Each field will be delimited by a tab character ({TAB}), and a line feed ({BREAK}) will be added to the end of each exported record.
==File Extension==
By setting the file extension, you define which program on your computer should be used to process the exported report data. Some common extensions that are useful for exporting data are:
* '''txt''' – Windows Notepad.
[[Image:Reps199.png]]
The extension '''txt''' is generally associated with '''Notepad'''.
[[Image:Advanced export settings3.png]]
5. Click the '''Export''' button.
[[Image:Reps197.png]]
6. If required, click the '''Open''' button.
The file is opened in the associated application – '''Notepad'''.
The file name is set to the report name plus the extension specified.
[[Image:Excel report.png]]
'''IMPORTANT:''' In order to support '''special characters''' such as French accented letters, euro symbols etc [[SmartSimple]] uses UTF-8 encoding. When opening exported files Microsoft Excel always imports using ASCII, so special characters do not appear correctly. This is a flaw with Excel. In order to export data containing special characters to Excel use one of the procedures outlined on the [[Exporting Reports with Special Characters to Excel]] article.
1. In the '''Header''' section enter the XML declaration and open the root element, ''details'':
<pre><!--?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>{BREAK}<details-->{BREAK}
</pre>
<details>{BREAK} </details>
2. In the '''Detail''' section add the child elements, in the sample below the child is ''employee'' with subchildren ''firstname'', ''lastname'', ''salary'' and ''startdate''.
The {TAB}s and {BREAK}s will give the XML document proper indentation:
<pre>{TAB}<employee>{BREAK}{TAB}{TAB}<firstname>@Users - First name@</firstname>{BREAK}{TAB}{TAB}<lastname>@Users - Last name@</lastname>{BREAK}{TAB}{TAB}<salary>@Users - Salary@</salary>{BREAK}{TAB}{TAB}<startdate>@Users - Start Date@</startdate>{BREAK}{TAB}</employee>{BREAK}
</pre>
3. In the '''Footer''' section, close the root element:
<pre></details> </pre>
4. The Export XML document opened in Notepad:
<details> <employee> <firstname>Peter</firstname> <lastname>Jahl</lastname> <salary>25000</salary> <startdate>11/05/2003</startdate> </employee> <employee> <firstname>Herry</firstname> <lastname>Lee</lastname> <salary>55000</salary> <startdate>27/02/2005</startdate> </employee> <employee> <firstname>Peter</firstname> <lastname>Manlee</lastname> <salary>75000</salary> <startdate>12/05/2001</startdate> </employeedetails></details></pre>
==Exporting with Subreports==
'''Example:'''
* The following would export a report and subreport in Comma Separated Values format (CSV):
@Companies/Accounts - Company name@,
@Companies/Accounts - Address 1@,
@subreport_0@
{BREAK}
==Export to specified SmartFolder==
New ability to schedule and automate report exports to a SmartFolder or external SFTP site. You can now schedule a recurring task on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to automatically run a report and export the contents. This first release is limited to the file export functionality, e.g. CSV, with support for custom export formatting coming in a future release.
==See Also==
* [[Using ReportProperty with a Word Merge Document]]
{{PrevNextStart}} [[Creating a Dashboard to Display a Set of Charts]]{{PrevNextMid}} Back to [[Reports]] Category {{PrevNextEnd}}
[[Category:Reports]][[Category:XML]]