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The Report Template Explorer is where all the linked drawing entity selection set groups, linked cell values and entity relationships are defined.
To open the Report Template Explorer select the corresponding button (.png) ) from the Report Template Editor toolbar.
Information is organized in a tree-like structure:
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1. Template info. In this section information about the report template can be written. A text HTML editor is included where you can edit and format text. Typically, information about the purpose of the report template, conditions to be met and tips and recommendations are described.
2. Entity selection set. This node represents all the selected drawing entities by the user. A prompt selection text can be specified (i.e. "Select all entities on layer PARCEL"). This prompt will be displayed in the AutoCAD command line before the report is processed. If you select the option 'Select all entities in drawing database' no prompt will be displayed and all existing entities in the drawing will be selected.
3. Selection set groups are subsets of entities filtered from the main entity selection set. Group rows and columns can be auto-fitted to increase row height or column width to the extent of the maximum string length and height. The print area can be set to the extent of the selection set groups defined.
4. A Selection set group is a filtered subset of the main entity selection set. If no filtered conditions are defined, the selection set group is the same as the main entity selection set (2). The selection set group name can be changed if desired.
5. Filter properties. By specifying filter properties entities can be filtered from the main entity selection set. For example, it is possible to filter all entities in the layer PARCEL from the main entity selection set by selecting the property LAYER, the operator 'Equal', and setting the filter value to PARCEL. Using logical operators AND, OR, XOR, NOT and relational operators (equal, less than, more than, etc) sophisticated queries can be designed.
6. Sort properties. By selecting entity properties the group can be sorted in ascending or descending order. Entities can be grouped by the sort property, this way spreadsheet linked groups can be linked to a sorted group of entities and hierarchical reports can be created . Sorting can be case sensitive. If the property is a string that represents a number the 'Sort as numbers' option can be selected.
7. Spreadsheet linked groups are groups of entities linked to the spreadsheet. Options to format the group can be selected, such as number of group columns, offset between rows and columns and insert an horizontal page break between groups.
8. A Linked group is linked to a sorted group of entities. If there's no sorted groups defined or selected, the linked group is the parent selection set group of entities(4). Linked group cell ranges can optionally be included with each linked group entity. Blank rows between each subgroup can also be specified.
9. Entity properties. In this section is where linked entity property to cells are defined. If the entity property is a list of values (such as block attribute tags or polyline side lengths) the cell can grow vertically or horizontally to fill adjacent cells, displacing other linked cells bellow or to the right to accommodate the new values. The way the adjacent cells are displaced can be by inserting rows/columns or by moving cells down/right. Group operations can be performed on the list of entity properties, such as sum, average, count, minimum and maximum value. Repeated values can be hidden and a text can be specified to display if the entity property value is null (non existent). Offset between rows or columns of data can be specified to include a gap between each list property value member.
10. Linked group cell ranges are spreadsheet cell ranges that are copied with each linked group. Cell values, borders, formulas, validation rules, formats and comments can be copied from this linked group to the report, optionally keeping the same row heights and columns widths.
11. Linked entity screen shots. Images from linked group entities can be included in the report by selecting a linked screen shot cell range. The image can be in black & white, gray scale or in color, as shown in the screen. The background color can be forced to white as in a plotted drawing. The image can be aligned horizontally and vertically aligned to the left, right or center of the linked cell range. Before taking the screenshot a zoom factor and a percentage border increase can be applied to center the entities in the screen and increase image resolution. A delay in seconds can be specified if the images are not captured correctly.
12. Linked cell values. Values that must be supplied by the user before processing the report can be specified here. The value type can be a string, keyword, integer or double (decimal). A prompt to be displayed at the AutoCAD command line requesting information to the user must be defined. In case of keyword, integer or decimal values a set of keywords and a default keyword value can be specified. In case of string values allow spaces between words can be selected. A minimum and maximum value range limit can be set and the allow zero, negative and null values options can be selected in case of integer and double values.
13. Entity relationships. If an entity is related to another by a spatial constraint, relationships between parent and child entities can be specified in this section. For example, if a closed polyline has a text annotation inside, it is possible to define that the related child entity (text) insertion point must be inside the parent entity (polyline). Information about the related entity is saved in the parent entity extended data dictionary (XDictionary) under the dictionary name 'CSTE_Relationships'. The properties from the related child entity can be found in this dictionary and linked to spreadsheet cells. This way it is possible to include in the report information about the parent entity (polyline) such as area and information about the corresponding related child entity (text).
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