Section 11.2. The Report Wizard | Access 2007[c] The Missing Manual

11.2. The Report Wizard

Creating a report in Design view is a labor of love. Adding and arranging the controls you need takes time. Seeing as the average Access fanatic's about as patient as a caffeine junkie in New York City traffic, Microsoft decided to add a shortcut for quickly generating different types of reports . That shortcut's the Report wizard .

Note: The Report wizard lets you more easily create a report that doesn't use a layout, provided you like the preset options it gives you for arranging controls. If you want to create a simple report that uses a layout (as you did in Chapter 10), then you don't have to use the Report wizardyou can create the report you need in one step (Section 10.1.5).

The Report wizard asks a few basic questions, and then creates the corresponding report. You can then tweak it to your heart's content in Design view. Here's how it works:

Choose Create Reports Report Wizard .

The Report wizard's first step appears.
From the drop-down list, choose the table you want to use .

In the Available Fields list, the wizard shows all the fields in your table.

Note: You'll probably recognize this window, because it's exactly the same as the one you use to start building a query with the Query wizard in Section 6.2.2.

Add the fields you want to include, as shown in Figure 11-10. When you're finished, click Next .

You can choose fields from more than one table, provided these tables are related .

Figure 11-10. To add a field, select it, and then click the > button to move it from the Available Fields list to the Selected Fields list. Click >> to add all the fields in one shot.

The next step asks you if you want to add any grouping. For now, click Next to create a report without grouping .

You'll learn how to use grouping in a report in Section 11.6.
Choose the field (or fields) you want to use to sort your report results, and then click Next .

You can sort your results by a combination of four fields, but usually one's enough to get them in the order you want.
Choose a layout option for your report (Figure 11-11) .

Your layout options include:
- Columnar puts each field on a separate row, one after the other. The name 's a little misleadingessentially your report has two columns . The first column holds the field caption, and the second column includes the field data.
- Tabular uses invisible layout tables that you explored in Chapter 10. Access transforms each field into a separate column.
- Justified packs the information into the smallest space possible. One row could include several fields. The name "justified" refers to the fact that the data fills the entire width of the page with no spaces. Where one fields ends, the next begins.
Figure 11-11. The layout option tells Access how it should organize your fields in the detail section.
If you want to turn the page on its side, then choose Landscape orientation, and then click Next .

Landscape orientation lets you fit wide tables or large amounts of information, but it includes fewer rows per page.
Choose one of the preset styles, and then click Next .

The styles determine the formatting Access applies to your report. Unfortunately, you'll have a difficult time visualizing the final result unless you actually try each option.
Enter the name for your report .

When the Report wizard finishes, it immediately saves your report.
Choose "Preview the report" if you want to look at the finished product in Print Preview mode, or "Modify the report's design" if you want to change it in Design view first. Then, click Finish .

Access saves your report, and then opens it in Print Preview mode or design mode, depending on your choice.

As you can see, the Report wizard really isn't that flexible. It supports only a few types of layouts, and it doesn't let you tailor how Access arranges different fields. However, it may give you a good starting point (and even if it doesn't, it's a worthwhile way to explore report layout in Design view).