4.4.1 Using the DEF_LINE Command

All the following examples of report production use a file called ACCOUNTS that contains the following records. It is assumed that the file is ordered (i.e.: keyed) by company, division and department.

Company (#COMP)

Division (#DIV)

Department (#DEPT)

Expenditure (#EXPEND)

Revenue (#REVNU)

01

1

ADM

400

576

"

"

MKT

678

56

"

"

SAL

123

6784

 

 

 

 

 

"

2

ADM

46

52

"

"

SAL

978

456

 

 

 

 

 

"

3

ACC

456

678

"

"

SAL

123

679

 

 

 

 

 

02

1

ACC

843

400

"

"

MKT

23

0

"

"

SAL

876

10

 

 

 

 

 

"

2

ACC

0

43

 

 

Note that although all the examples deal with one file only, for the sake of simplicity, there is no restriction on the number of files that can be accessed by or printed by an RDML program.

The simplest type of report that can be produced is a straight listing from all or part of a file.

To list all of the ACCOUNTS file, all that is required is:

 

DEF_LINE    NAME(#ACCOUNT) FIELDS(#COMP #DIV #DEPT 

            #EXPEND #REVNU)

SELECT      FIELDS(#ACCOUNT) FROM_FILE(ACCOUNTS)

PRINT       LINE(#ACCOUNT)

ENDSELECT

ENDPRINT

 

This would produce a report that looked something like this:

 

 Company    Division    Department   Expenditure   Revenue 

  01          1           ADM              400       576  

  01          1           MKT              678        56  

  01          1           SAL              123      6784  

  01          2           ADM               46        52  

  01          2           SAL              978       456  

  01          3           ACC              456       678  

  01          3           SAL              123       679  

  02          1           ACC              843       400  

  02          1           MKT               23         0  

  02          1           SAL              876        10  

  02          2           ACC                0        43  

 

 

Of course, this example can be changed in various ways to only print part of the file - such as only the records for a selected company:

DEF_LINE    NAME(#ACCOUNT) FIELDS(#COMP #DIV #DEPT 

            #EXPEND #REVNU)

REQUEST     FIELDS(#COMP)

SELECT      FIELDS(#ACCOUNT) FROM_FILE(ACCOUNTS) 

            WITH_KEY(#COMP)

PRINT       LINE(#ACCOUNT)

ENDSELECT

ENDPRINT

 

Or, only records where the difference between expenditure and revenue is less than a specified amount:

DEF_LINE    NAME(#ACCOUNT) FIELDS(#COMP #DIV 

            #DEPT #EXPEND #REVNU)

DEFINE      FIELD(#MAXLOSS) REFFLD(#REVNU) 

            LABEL('Allowable loss')

REQUEST     FIELDS(#MAXLOSS)

SELECT      FIELDS(#ACCOUNT) FROM_FILE(ACCOUNTS) 

            WHERE('(#REVNU - #EXPEND) *LT #MAXLOSS')

PRINT       LINE(#ACCOUNT)

ENDSELECT

ENDPRINT

 

This final example uses the *ONCHANGE field attribute to only print the company number when it changes, rather than on every line:

DEF_LINE    NAME(#ACCOUNT) FIELDS((#COMP *ONCHANGE) 

            #DIV #DEPT #EXPEND #REVNU)

SELECT      FIELDS(#ACCOUNT) FROM_FILE(ACCOUNTS)

PRINT       LINE(#ACCOUNT)

ENDSELECT

ENDPRINT

 

This would produce a report that looks something like this:

 

     Company    Division    Department   Expenditure   Revenue 

       01          1           ADM              400       576  

                   1           MKT              678        56  

                   1           SAL              123      6784  

                   2           ADM               46        52  

                   2           SAL              978       456  

                   3           ACC              456       678  

                   3           SAL              123       679  

       02          1           ACC              843       400  

                   1           MKT               23         0  

                   1           SAL              876        10  

                   2           ACC                0        43