ftp/Documentation/R&R V10/rapidrun
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1. e Open a report set that is write protected A file may be write protected due to the setting in Windows or due to network permissions e Open a report set that is in use by another user See File Locking below Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 16 of 55 When you open a report set Read Only the text Read Only appears in the title bar set10 set Rapid Runner Read Only Basic Columnar Report x Basic Columnar Report SQL Basic Columnar Report Xbase rrenvrt Xbase M jo Wate source M M Set File Locking When someone opens a Rapid Runner report set the set file is locked so that other users cannot open it for editing This is to prevent two users from editing the same file then saving over each other s changes When the first user closes the file the lock is released Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 17 of 55 The Report Items List The Report Items List is the large white box on the left side of the Rapid Runner screen The Report Items List displays the Description for each report item in the current set You can select a report item from the list using either the mouse or the keyboard up down arrow keys Rapid Runner then loads the Description and the various Runtime settings for that item in the Report Selection and Runtime Settings boxes on the right of the screen You can view and modify runtime settings for the selected report by clicking on a setting Adding Reports You add reports to a set us2. Rapid Runner 2 0 User Guide COPYRIGHT O 2002 Liveware Publishing Inc All rights reserved Liveware Publishing Inc 1406 Society Drive Claymont DE 19703 This manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved This document may not in whole or part be copied photocopied reproduced translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without the prior written consent of Liveware Publishing Inc Printed in the United States of America Trademarks and Acknowledgments R amp R Report Writer is a trademark of Liveware Publishing Inc Rapid Runner is a trademark of Personable PC Solutions All other product names and logos in this manual are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 3 of 55 Rapid Runner Overview Features Rapid Runner allows you to create report set files A report set is a collection of R amp R reports and can contain as many reports as you wish A set may contain both Xbase and SQL reports You can then run individual reports within the set or the entire set directly from Rapid Runner Rapid Runner then calls the appropriate version of R amp R runtime to execute the report Rapid Runner allows you to Quickly modify various runtime settings without using R amp R Copy settings from one report item to another For example if you set one report to run with a certain d
3. e Save the report set Once a report item is included in a set you can modify its runtime option settings Creating a New Report Set When you open Rapid Runner an empty Report Set is automatically displayed with the default name of Untitled Set If Rapid Runner is already running you can create a new set by selecting New from the File menu or clicking on the New Set button on the toolbar Saving a Report Set You save a report set using the menu choice File gt Save or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl S To save an existing report set using a different file name or location you use File gt Save As Ctrl A Set files by default are given the file extension SET and are saved to the report set directory specified in Options gt File Settings Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 15 of 55 Opening a Report Set Opening a Set File You can open a report set in the following ways e Select Open from the File menu e Click on the Open button on the toolbar e Select a set name from the Recently Opened Files list at the bottom of the File menu Read Only Set Files When you open a report set as Read Only you can change settings and run reports but you can t save the report set under the original name You can open a report set Read Only in the following ways e Check the Open as read only box in the File Open dialog box Look in 3 Template 7 Al c Files of type Report Sets set rrs v Cancel Help V Open as read only
4. Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 18 of 55 Naming Report I tems When you add a report to a set the default name that appears in report items list is the name of the report followed by either Xbase or SQL to indicate its file type You can change this default by selecting the report from the list and then editing its name in the Desc box in the Report Selection pane on the upper right As you type in the Desc box the report list name will immediately change The actual name and pathname of the report does not change and is always displayed in the area below the Desc box Report Descriptions do not need to be unique within report set You may want to change a report description if you are running the same report more than once in a Set Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 19 of 55 Running Reports The following methods can be used to run reports using Rapid Runner e Preview or run a single report within a set e Run all of the reports within a set e Schedule a set to run at a specified time using the Rapid Runner timer e Run a report from a command line or Windows shortcut Each of these methods is described below Previewing or running a single report There are several ways that you can execute a single report For each method you must first you must select the report item from the Report items list on the left The name of the selected report will be listed in the Report Selection box on the right Then e Click the Preview or the Run amp button f
5. Copying Report Item Settings When you modify a report set it s often helpful to make the same change to many report items at the same time Rapid Runner allows you to do this for the following settings e Scope Xbase reports only e Parameters e Queries e Printer Selecting the Copy from the Rapid Runner main menu can access all of these features Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 46 of 55 Copying Scope Settings Xbase only To quickly copy scope settings to many Xbase report items in a set select Copy gt Scope from the main menu This will display the copy Scope dialog p Search and replace scope From To Low Scope fi High Scope fio Replace r Copy the current report item s scope settings to report items with the same master index C report items with scope usage set to Override all reports items in set Copy Cancel There are several ways to modify Scope settings throughout a report set The first is to use Search and replace scope in the upper part of the screen This allows you to find and replace specific scope values Or you can choose one of the three Copy options in the lower part of the screen to copy Scope settings from the selected report to other reports in the set Search and replace scope The low and high scope values for the selected report item are automatically displayed in the Low Scope and High Scope From column Enter the replacement values in the To column and click Rep
6. From the Destination menu select Consolidate DBF and in the Output File box select or enter the Output filename When the report is executed if the Output file does not exist such as if this is the first report in a consolidate series it will be created If the Output File does exist then the output of the current report will be appended to the existing file When you are using consolidation for several reports the first time that a consolidate report is sent to the output file the structure fieldnames and data types of the file will be created For subsequent consolidated reports only those same fieldnames data types will be appended For example you may have a SQL Server table that you are sending to a consolidated file The structure of the output file becomes CUSTNO Numeric 8 0 COMPANY Char 25 ADDRESS1 Char 100 ADDRESS2 Char 100 CITY Char 30 STATE Char 2 ZIP Char 10 The local DBF file that you want to consolidate with the SQL Server data has the structure CUSTNUM Char 8 CUSTOMER Char 25 ADDR1 Char 100 ADDR2 Char 100 CITY Char 30 STATE Char 2 ZIP Char 10 The local DBF contains similar data but some of the field names and data types are different from the SQL Server file To allow for consolidation in the second report against the local DBF file you need to create calculated fields whose names and data types will match those in the SQL Server consolidated DBF Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 7 o
7. View Reports Copy Options Help Saved Query INLISTIRAPRICES gt DESCRIPTN PC Com PC Database PC Graphics PC Project Planner JHO Runtime Query Query Usage Combine Queries AND Ada Remove T Advanced Make sure text values are surrounded by quotes and date values by braces Cancel Each row contains four separate boxes that allow you to build a single query clause In the first box you select a comparison field from the drop down field list The second dropdown list in the query row can be blank or you can select the drop down choice of Not Selecting Not acts to reverses the action of the operator that you select in the third drop down list The available operators are Operator Description Equal to gt Greater than gt Greater than or equal to lt Less than lt Less than or equal to InRange Included within the range of two inclusive values InList Included within a list of values Like Matching the display pattern SQL only IsNull Is an empty null value SQL only Selecting this operator disables the 4 compared to box Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 30 of 55 The final box is a text entry box where you enter the compared to value to be used for that query row Rules for entering Comparison Values e Character values must be enclosed in quoted delimiters Examples O Brien Accounting Dept e Numeri
8. provides additional selection choices described below Override Saved Query Replace the saved report query Selecting this option provides additional selection choices described below No Query Run the report without ANY query condition Build at Runtime When the report is run it will display the saved queries as they would be displayed in R amp R and then wait for user input You can then modify them as you would in R amp R When you click OK the report runs with your temporary settings Note that you should only use this setting if the report set will be interactively run since user input is required for the report to execute Runtime Query Criteria Builder If you select the Query Usage value of Combine Queries AND or Override Saved Query the Runtime Query section enables additional selection choices w Query Settings EG Saved Query INLIST RAPRICES gt DESCRIPTN PC Com PC Database PC Graphics PC Project Planner 0 zj Runtime Query Query Usage feite en Ke Add I Advanced i Make sure text values are surrounded by quotes and date values by braces Cancel Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 29 of 55 Clicking the Add button adds an empty query builder row to the dialog and also enables the Remove button If you Add multiple rows the currently selected row is highlighted with a diamond symbol at the start of the row mixed1_set Rapid Runner Read Only File EI File
9. the Log viewer program box in the Options gt File Settings screen For example if you wanted to use WordPad you would enter C Program Files Accessories Wordpad exe The quotes are required since the path name contains spaces You can automatically delete old log entries when the log file exceeds a certain size by checking the AutoPurge box in Options gt File Settings and entering values for the If over and reduce down to byte settings If the Log File is deleted or moved a new one will automatically be created the next time the set is run Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 24 of 55 Runtime Settings There are 8 available runtime setting items that can be changed for individual report set items These settings are used to modify how a particular report item is run For example you could have a sales report listed twice in the report list The first one could report on July sales only and the second could show total sales for the year Runtime settings are saved with a report set but make no changes to the actual saved report files Some runtime items are available for Xbase or SQL only Other change in name depending on whether the selected report is an Xbase or an SQL report If a setting is not available to a selected report it will be dimmed To view or modify a setting click on its name to display the dialog box for that setting Each runtime item has a checkbox to its left When an item is changed then that checkbox is checked
10. 1 and 2 for as many reports as you want You can even add the same report more than once should you wish to run it multiple times but with different selected options When you add a report its name will appear in the report list and either Xbase or SQL will be displayed after the name to indicate the report type Modifying Report Settings Select a report from the set listing on the left and then use the controls on the right side of the screen to modify any of the available settings These settings will be activated when the report is run but will not change the saved report Running Reports in the Set Use the Preview or the menu choice Reports gt Preview this Report or the keyboard shortcut Ctrl V to preview a single report To run single report use Reports gt Run this Report or the Ctrl U keyboard shortcut Use the Run Set 4 button or Ctrl R to run the whole set To run the set at a specified time click the Timer button on the toolbar Note that Rapid Runner must be running for the timer to launch reports Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 9 of 55 The Rapid Runner Main Window The main Rapid Runner Window consists of a top level menu with a toolbar immediately below As reports are added to a set they are displayed in the white report list pane on the left In the upper right pane the Report Selection Desc box displays the selected report name as it appears in the report list window Immediately below the Desc the full path and fi
11. The following runtime settings are available Setting Purpose Scope Used to change range of records to include from the master table Xbase only Data Source Used to set a data source and any required user name and password SQL only Queries Filters Used to change record selection criteria For an Xbase report the displayed setting name is Queries For a SQL report the displayed setting name is Filters Report Destination Used to select output destination printer and an output filename for file destinations Page Settings Used to set the number of report copies and the output page range Parameters Used to supply values to any RIPARAM calculated fields in the report Master Table Info Used to change the saved master table for the report Relations J oins Used to change saved related joined tables For an Xbase report the displayed setting name is Relations For a SQL report the displayed setting name is J oins Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 25 of 55 Scope Xbase Reports only For Xbase reports only you can use the Runtime Scope Setting to limit the records that are read from the master file When you select Scope from the main window a Scope dialog is presented ia Scope olx r Report Settings From 10015 To Runtime Settings Usage iperen From To Cancel The Report Settings box in the Scope dialog shows the starting and ending range of records fro
12. a selected table select the Clear button Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 39 of 55 Parameters Parameters are a powerful and flexible way to communicate with R amp R reports at run time Parameters allow you to design R amp R reports so that information is provided to the report at runtime rather than being hard coded within the report R amp R Report Designer provides a parameteRR field type When a parameteRR field is used in a report when the report is executed a parameteRR value entry screen is presented so that the end user can enter values You can consult the R amp R Report Designer documentation for more information on designing reports with parameteRR fields If a report containing parameteRR fields is included in a Rapid Runner set the parameteRR value entry screen will be displayed so that the end user can input field values Since report sets may be run at times when a user may not be present such as a set that is run nightly the parameteRR value entry screen has a default timeout value If no user input is made within the timeout period then the report will proceed using the default values for each parameteRR field Since there may be circumstances where you need to provide unattended input to a report R amp R offers an alternative method to pass a parameter to a report using calculated fields with a special RIPARAM function The RIPARAM function takes a string as its argument and at runtime evaluates the contents of a parameter val
13. al stri ithi Caead HMen cubis Gubber for ranae aber StateParam as ie Sine a braces F eee or example i ncel RIPARAM Customer State a Insert Verify j Help I Paste Function Arguments Fields ADDRESS Street address or PO Box Rrcust CITY City Rrcust CODE Postal code Rrcust COMPANY Customer s company Rrcust COUNTRY Country blank if US Rrcust CUST_NO Customer number Arcust Date rr Today s date Arcust DBF 11 Master table name Rrcust Functions SETE T2HrTimelchar ABS num AZ Table Type Ad2NoTitlefchar char Ad3NoTitle char char ct 2 Calc Expression Key Expression UDF Expression 2 Create a query in the report 3 Field STATE Comparison equal to Compared To Type StateParam without quotes or click in the Compared To box click on the Field button just below it and select StateParam Query Include all records where STATE is equal to StateParam Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 41 of 55 4 Add this report to a Rapid Runner set Select the report and choose Parameters from the Runtime Settings box 6 Define the Parameter Name as Customer State this was the text inside the RIPARAM calculation 7 Define the parameter value as AZ Note that you do not need to add any text delimiters to the value that you enter al w Parameters xi Parameter Name Parameter Yalue Customers AZ ustomer state New Param When y
14. ate range you can copy that setting to all the reports in the set Run individual reports to the screen printer or export file without using the R amp R Report Designer Run a whole set of reports upon request or at a specified time Consolidate the output of multiple reports to a single database file Advantages Running reports using Rapid Runner has the following advantages No programming knowledge is required You don t tie up an R amp R license just to run reports You can save time by running reports more efficiently You cannot inadvertently make unwanted changes to a saved report You can seamlessly run both Xbase and SQL reports You can perform database consolidation of data from multiple platforms and data sources File Summary Rapid Runner uses the following files Note that this is only a partial and not a complete listing of the files required to run reports through Rapid Runner Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 4 of 55 Filename Purpose Location RAPIDRUN EXE Main program file RapidRun subdirectory within R amp R program location RAPI DRUN HLP Help file RapidRun subdirectory within R amp R program location RRWRUN EXE RSWRUN EXE R amp R Xbase and SQL runtime executables Progdir32 directory listed in windows R W INI RRRPT32 DLL RSRPT32 DLL DLL interface that Rapid Runner uses to communicate with R amp R windows system Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 5
15. c values must consist of only signs decimals and digits e Date and Date time values must be enclosed in curly braces Examples 01 31 2002 09 06 1974 10 15 am e The Inrange operator requires two values separated by a single comma Examples 100 500 gr op e The Inlist operator requires a single comma separated list of at least two elements Examples 100 500 100 MA CT RI ME VT e The SQL Like operator uses and _ as single character wildcards and and as multiple character wildcards e For Xbase reports only the Equals operator uses as a single character wildcard and as a multiple character wildcard See the R amp R Report Designer documentation for more information on using wildcards If you enter values that violate the above rules you will not get an error when the query row is created or the set is saved But when you run the report you will get an error message that will point to a problem with RI_ FILTER You can consult the R amp R Developing Applications documentation for more information Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 31 of 55 Adding and Deleting Query Rows To create additional query rows click Add To delete a query row select the row and then click Remove Note that each query row is applied as an AND condition so that records are selected only when they meet each condition Advanced Runtime Queries If you need more flexibility in specifying record selection criteria yo
16. e Type vendor and version of operating system and database in use Product and version in use Underlying application name and vendor To contact Liveware Publishing Technical Support for Pay per Call or Support Upgrade Account service call the special 800 number any time between the hours of 8 30 AM and 5 30 PM Eastern Time Alternatively you may send an email at any time using the online Technical Support Help Request form Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 55 of 55
17. e either or both of these settings You click the File button to the right of the table and index selection boxes to choose a file from an explorer window The starting directory and the default index extension will be determined by settings in the Options gt File Settings dialog Master Table Information x Report Settings Master Table CARR WtemSample rrorders dbf Index RRORDERS NDX Runtime Settings Master Table Master Index Tag for CDX MDX Index Type C Numeric Character Date Clear Cancel If you have selected a master index you will additionally need to tell Rapid Runner the data type of that index key expression by selecting one of the three index type radio buttons You can consult the R amp R Report Designer documentation for information on master index data types If the selected index is a compound index having a CDX or MDX file extension you will also need to provide the tag name that you wish to use You can consult the R amp R Report Designer documentation for information on compound index tags Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 44 of 55 Changing the Master Table SQL For SQL reports the Master Table information dialog has only a single choice to select a master table ig Master Table Information Removing Master Table Settings Click Clear to remove your settings and revert to the settings saved with the report Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 45 of 55
18. ee Copying Scope Settings for more information Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 26 of 55 Data Source SQL Reports only The Data Source runtime setting is only available for SQL reports Selecting this option brings you to a Data Source dialog where you can select an available data source name to override the saved data source and where you can enter a User Name and Password that will used to log into the saved or re reselected data source Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 27 of 55 Queries Filters Queries Xbase and Filters SQL are used in R amp R reports to limit the records included in a report Rapid allows you to enter a set of query lines to replace or further filter the query saved in your report Selecting the Runtime Setting Query Filter bring you to the Query Settings dialog ia Query Settings The upper area of the Query Filter dialog will display any query conditions that are saved within the report If there is no saved query the text None will be shown For lengthy expressions the vertical scroll bars to the right can be used to navigate the full expression Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 28 of 55 In the lower Runtime Query section of the dialog there is a Query Usage drop down box where you can select from the following choices Usage Value Runtime Behavior Use Saved Query Run report using the listed above Combine Queries AND Add additional query conditions to those saved with the report Selecting this option
19. en running Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 34 of 55 The Destination choices that have an asterisk in the listing above are band based file exports This means that only a single selected band line from the report is actually output to the file The default band line for export is a record band line However if a report has been saved in the Report Designer with an export choice that selects a different band line for that export format then that band line will be used The same holds true for other file output options For example in the Report Designer the Text Data Option offers four different file types CSV Tab Separated Fixed Width and Character Separated If a report is saved with Text Data options of Fixed Width Group 1 footer selected when Text Data is selected in Rapid Runner those same options will be used The third Printer list box allows you to select from the list of available printers or click Use Default Printer to remove your selection and use the current Windows default printer Copying Printer Settings If you make a printer name selection for one report item you can copy that printer name selection to other report items in the set See Copying Printer Settings Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 35 of 55 Page Settings Selecting Runtime Page Settings allows you modify the following print settings w Page Settings x Copies E Start Page End Page Cancel Copies Specify the number of report co
20. f 55 You will then create the following calculations in the DBF report FieldName Expression CUSTNO VAL CUSTNUM COMPANY CUSTOMER ADDRESS1 ADDR1 ADDRESS2 ADDR2 You can then place these 4 calculated fields along with the database field CITY STATE and ZIP on the layout and when you consolidate this report to the same output file in Rapid Runner you will get data from both tables in a single output file Note If you select a consolidate DBF file that was created by a database application rather than via a R amp R or Rapid Runner export make sure that it does not contain any memo fields in it s structure or the Rapid Runner consolidation may fail on an error Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 8 of 55 Quick Start Here are some basic instructions to get you started running reports with Rapid Runner Creating a Report Set A Report Set in Rapid Runner is a collection of R amp R reports that you can run individually or all at once When you run Rapid Runner you start with an empty report set You can create a new report set by clicking the New button on the toolbar or by selecting File gt New from the menu bar Adding Reports to the Set 1 Click the Add Report button on the tool bar or select Reports gt Add from the main menu You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl lns to add a report This will bring you to a report file selection dialog 2 Choose the report you wish to add and then Click the Open button 3 Repeat steps
21. ing a Select report or Library file dialog Rapid Runner uses the Default Report Directory that is set in Options gt File Settings for this dialog In the files of type drop down you can choose to display All report files RRW RSW RP5 RP6 RP1 Xbase Report Files RRW RP5 RP1 SQL Report Files RSW RP6 All files When you select a report it is added to the end of the report list The order in which the reports are listed is the order in which they will be executed Note that you can add the same report more than once in a set if you wish to run it more than once You can include both Xbase and SQL reports in a set If you select a report library file which can contain multiple reports after you select the file name a second Open Report dialog will list the individual report names within that library Select the report you wish to add then press OK Managing Items in the Report Items List There are several ways that you can manage the report items list You can add delete duplicate and re order report items in the list by e Using the Reports menu e Right clicking on the item in the list and select a menu choice e Using the appropriate button on the toolbar e By selecting and dragging a report item with the mouse to change its position in the list If you add more reports to a set than will fit in the report items window vertical scroll bars are automatically added so that you can scroll through the list
22. inter Name gt is the printer that was in effect for the selected report Note that Copy Printer only copies the printer name and not all of the Report Destination options that may have been set for the selected report Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 48 of 55 Copying Parameters To quickly copy parameter settings to many report items in a set select Parameters from the Copy option on the main menu This will display the Copy Parameters dialog w Copy Parameters iof x Copy the current report item s parameters to ireport items with the same parameters already defined C all reports items in set Copy Cancel There are two radio button options available for copying parameter settings Copying parameters to report items with the same parameters already defined Rapid Runner will search in the other report items in the set for the parameter names found in the currently selected report item When the parameter name is found its value will be replaced with the value from the current report When the parameters have been copied a message box will display the number of times each parameter was found in the set Copying parameters to all reports items in set Rapid Runner will copy all the parameter names and values in the currently selected report item to all the other report items in the set Any parameters that have not been defined in a report item will be created and given the value from the current report unles
23. item down in the list Duplicate Add a copy of the current report item to the report set Preview this Report Ctri V Display the selected report to the screen Run this Report Ctri U Run the selected report Run Set Ctrl R Run all the reports in the set one after the other Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 11 0f 55 Copy Menu Command Purpose Scope Scope is available for Xbase reports only Displays a screen allowing you to either search for specific scope values and replace them in all report items in the set or copy the scope settings of the current report item to other Xbase report items in the set Parameters Displays a screen allowing you to copy parameter settings from the current report item to other report items in the set Queries Copy the query from the current report item to other report items in the set Printer Copy the selected printer from the current report item to other report items in the set Options Menu Command Purpose File Settings Display the File Settings screen for setting default locations and log viewer options Help Menu Command Purpose Contents Display the main help screen Search for Help on Run help and open the Search screen About Rapid Runner Display Rapid Runner version and copyright information The Rapid Runner Toolbar Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 12 of 55 Below the Mai
24. lace Rapid Runner will then search for the From values in the Scope setting of all of Xbase reports in the set and when a match is found will replace it with to To value Copy current scope settings to report items with the same master index The current scope settings usage low scope high scope for the currently selected report item will be copied to all of the Xbase report items in the current set that have the same master index as the currently selected report item Copy current scope settings to report items with scope usage set to Override This is a broader change than the one based on master index It is useful if many Xbase reports in the set are based on different tables with different indexes but they use the same scope For example reports are based on different orders tables but you want to run them on the same dates Copy current scope settings to all report items in the set This selection should only be used if all the Xbase reports in the set use a similar scope format Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 47 of 55 Copying Printer Settings The Report Destination screen allows you to select the default printer or any available printer for a report s output To copy the printer selection for the currently selected report item to all report items in the set select Printer from the main menu Copy choice After you select this choice you will get a dialog box indicating lt Printer Name gt copied to all report items where lt Pr
25. le to the selected output filename Xbase DBF Output the report as a DBF file to the selected output filename Consolidate DBF Append the report output to the to the selected output filename HTML HTM Output the report in HTML format to the selected output filename MS Word Merge Output the report as a word merge text file to the selected output filename Rich Text RTF Output the report in RTF format to the selected output filename Worksheet XLS Output the report in worksheet format to the selected output filename Prompt at Runtime Provide the user with an destination dialog at runtime The second section is the Output File box If you have selected one of the file output choices in the Destination menu the file name that is entered in the Output file box will be used You can enter a filename or use the file button to display a file dialog If you choose a file based Destination but not an Output File name then the output filename then any output filename that was saved with the report for the specified destination e g Xbase will be used If there is no file selected in the report there will be an error when you run it The default Export directory can be set in the File Settings screen When running a report that sends output to a file you will not be warned about replacing an already existing file This is so that report sets will not be interrupted wh
26. lename of the report is displayed In the lower right pane there are several Runtime Settings checkboxes Clicking on any one of these will open a dialog box where you can select a variety of options to apply to the execution of the selected report Untitled set Rapid Runner Lopy Lf Scoge p Page Setinde J Data Source Parametre F ueries Jn Master table Ima REPEL WES AGh eel al OTe TIE Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 10 of 55 The Rapid Runner Menu The Rapid Runner menu has 6 available choices The following section lists each of the submenu choices that can be selected File Menu Command Purpose New Ctrl N Display a blank report set Open Ctrl 0 Open an existing set Close Close the current set Save Ctrl S Save the current set Save As Ctrl A Save an unsaved set or save a saved set under a new name Exit Exit from Rapid Runner View Menu Command Purpose Log Ctrl L Displays the log file for the current set Instructions Ctrl 1 View or edit the instructions for the current set Reports Menu also available by right clicking on the report item list Command Purpose Add Ctrl I ns Add a report to the current set Delete Ctrl 0 Delete selected report from the current set Move Up Move the selected report item up in the list Move Down Move the selected report
27. ly You must have SQL report selected to activate this choice The default selected here will become the default value when the Runtime Settings Data Source box is checked Export directory Default directory selected for Output Files in Report Destination Index type Applies to Xbase reports only Used when indexes cannot be located using the extension saved with the report Log viewer Program used to view the log file that is program updated each time a report set is executed AutoPurge When the AutoPurge box is checked RapidRunner checks the size of the Log File when the set is opened If the size is above the limit set in the If over box you are asked if you want Rapid Runner to purge down to the lower size set in the reduce down to box by removing the oldest data Within the File Settings dialog you can click the File button m to the right of a selection box to choose values from a list If you enter an invalid value for any item a warning message will be displayed when you press OK to save changes Rapid Runner saves all selected settings to the Windows registry Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 14 of 55 Creating Report Sets Brief Overview Creating a report set involves the following steps e Create a new blank report set e Add one or more reports to the set As you add reports they will be listed in the large white Report Items list box on the left side of the Rapid Runner screen
28. m the master file that are contained in the saved report These values represent record numbers if a report does not have a saved master index or index key values if there is a master index If the saved report does not have a saved scope the value will be shown as a horizontal line In the Runtime Settings box of the Scope dialog there are 3 controls The first is the Usage drop down list This allows you to choose Usage Value Runtime Behavior Use Report Settings Run report using the saved From and To Report Settings Override Report Settings Enables the From and To boxes so you can enter new values None Run report using all master file records ignoring any saved Report Settings If you select Override Report Settings in the Usage field then the From and To fields are enabled Any values that you enter will be used to limit the records that are returned from the master file If you leave box either empty it will default to the lowest or highest value index or record number value Note that the range you set fully includes the endpoints For example if you enter A as a From value and M as a To value using a Master Index based on the character field COMPANY the report will read all COMPANY records from the first COMPANY beginning with A to the last COMPANY beginning with M Copying Scope If you make a Scope selection for one Xbase report item you can copy that setting to other Xbase report items in the set S
29. n Menu there is a shortcut toolbar that allows you to quickly perform many Rapid Runner tasks Toolbar Button Menu Bar Command Purpose File gt New Ctrl N Create a new report set File gt Open Ctrl 0 Open a report set File gt Save Ctrl S Save the current report set Reports gt Add Ctrl Ins Add a report item to the current set Reports gt Delete Delete the selected report item from the set Reports gt Move Up Move the selected report item up Reports gt Move Down Move the selected report item down Reports gt Preview this Report Preview the selected report Reports gt Run this Report Print or export the selected report Reports gt Run Set Run the entire set View gt Log Ctri L View the log file for this set E o EEE awe Only available from toolbar Set a time to run the set Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 13 of 55 File Settings Selecting File Settings from the Options menu allows you to modify the following settings Location of reports sets Default directory for opening and saving report sets Location of reports Default directory for selecting report libraries or report files Data directory Applies to Xbase reports only Directory used to locate tables and indexes when they cannot be found in the locations saved with the report Default data Source Applies to SQL reports on
30. of 55 What s New in 2 0 The following summarizes the changes and new features for Rapid Runner Version 2 0 A single version now supports both Xbase and SQL report Report output may be appended to an existing database file Report sets are now saved with the file extension SET Compatibility with earlier releases e You can open and run report sets created with earlier versions of Rapid Runner But if you make modifications the set will be saved in 2 0 format and will not be available for use with earlier Rapid Runner versions Rapid Runner 2 0 can run reports created with any Windows 6 5 or above release of R amp R for Xbase or SQL and any report created in the DOS Xbase version of R amp R Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 6 of 55 Consolidation to a single DBF Rapid Runner now allows you to output a report to an existing database table Using this feature you can combine multiple data tables into a single table For example you may have separate sales journals for dozens of outlets of a retail store Using Rapid Runner you can now combine this data into a single file and then can even in the same Rapid Runner set run additional reports based on the consolidated file And since consolidation is available for both SQL and Xbase reports you can use this feature to combine data from for example an Oracle database on your server and a DBF file that you maintain locally To use this new feature select the Runtime Setting Report Destination
31. other tables that are related to the master table or to each other Parameter A parameter is a report field whose value is set when a report is executed Report Item An entry in a report set that refers to a report created in R amp R Report Writer A report set set is a collection of report items Right Click Position the mouse pointer over an item and press the right mouse button Runtime Runtime refers to the R amp R utility that can run reports without the full version of R amp R running Runtime also is used to describe when report settings are changed changes made using R amp R itself are made at design time settings modified when a report is run as with Rapid Runner are made at run time Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 51 of 55 Scope The scope settings are the most efficient way to limit the records in an Xbase report If a report includes a master index the low and high scope settings limit the report output to the appropriate range of records in the master table as applied to that index For example if the master index of a report is based on an OrderDate field you can enter scope values for the order dates to be included If a report does not have a master index the scope values refer to the positions of the records in the data file Set A set is the file structure used by Rapid Runner to store information about reports and their runtime settings Table A file containing a set of records For example in an XBase s
32. ou run the report from Rapid Runner the value AZ will be passed to the report in the parameter Customer State so the resulting query will be STATE AZ and only Arizona customers will be displayed gt StateParam RRW R amp R Xbase sje e sjef Ji v a CARRAtenISampleiRrcust dbf Printed 09 03 2002 08 55 CUST NO TITLE LAST NAME FIRST NAME COMPANY 10003 Mr Adams David PC Products 10004 Mr Gladdin John Software Systems Records printed 2 Page 1 a YW Important Note on using Parameters in Reports Parameters are always passed to R amp R reports as character fields If you want to use a parameter to query on number or date fields you must convert the text using the VAL or CTOD function Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 42 of 55 These examples can be created using a simple report based on the a table called ORDERS DBF Parameter for a numerical field using ORDERS DBF Parameter Name Customer Number Parameter Value 10001 R amp R Calc Field Name CustParam Database Field CUSTNO Numeric datatype R amp R Field Formula VAL RIPARAM Customer Number Report Query CUSTNO is equal to CustParam Parameter for a date field using ORDERS DBF Parameter Name Order Date After Parameter Value 3 10 2002 R amp R Calc Field Name DateParam Database Field Date Date datatype R amp R Field Formula CTOD RIPARAM Order Date After Report Query DATE is greater than DateParam Adding Additional Parameters You use the Ne
33. ou save the set the date and time settings are also saved Canceling a Running Set When a report set is running the Run Set button changes to a Cancel button When you click on the Cancel button Rapid Runner stops sending reports in the set to the R amp R run time module After choosing Cancel you may have to also cancel the currently running report The status window for the running report may be hidden behind other windows Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 21 of 55 Running a Report Set From the Command Line You can run Rapid Runner so that it automatically runs a specified report set and then closes This would be useful if you have a scheduling program that you want to use to run a report set on a daily or weekly basis This is especially efficient if no settings need to be changed every time the report is run the report always runs off of current data or uses the system date to query records To do this you invoke the Rapid Runner executable with two command line parameters each separated by a single space The first parameter is the name of the set and the second is a run For example if the Rapid Runner executable is installed in C Program Files RRVer10 RapidRunRunner and the set you wish to run is C My Documents Rapid Runner Sets Daily set The command line would be C Program Files RRVer10 RapidRun RapidRun exe C My Documents Rapid Runner Sets Daily set run This will run Rapid Runner open the set Daily set run the se
34. pies to be printed This setting only applies to reports that are output to a printer Start Page Specify the starting page number End Page Specify the ending page number Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 36 of 55 Relations J oins Relations are used to include other tables in a report besides the master table Rapid Runner allows you to change related tables and for Xbase only related indexes at runtime The advantage to this is that instead of having two reports that access similar data you can have one report If you decide to change the design of the report you only have one to worry about When you select the Runtime Setting Relations Joins is displayed for SQL the Relations J oins dialog is displayed w Relations Ed Alias Related file Related index Saved relation RRCUST DBF RRCUST NDX OK Cancel The Xbase Relations Screen The leftmost column in the relations screen shows a listing of the alias names for all the relations in the saved report For reports having no related tables this list will be empty As you select an alias in the list the table and index that define the relation are shown below the table list box The second and third columns show any related file and related index replacements that have been selected To change a relation double click on its line or select it and click the Edit button This will bring you to the Edit Relation dialog Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 37 of 55 Rela
35. rades The balance in your account never expires Customers with SUA accounts will be supplied a statement of account usage upon request itemizing time spent on each call Per call customers will be informed of the time and cost of the call at its conclusion Requests for review of charges may be sent via e mail at our web site Customers with SUA s should deposit sufficient funds to cover reasonable support needs for your organization for at least three months Automatic re billing to replenish accounts is available or you may use a credit card or purchase order Option 3 Option 3 Self ServiceResources Self Service Resources At any time you may refer to the Resources page on our web site http www livewarepub com for Documentation Frequently Asked Questions Technical Bulletins Service Packs and other information about R amp R Report Writer The site also includes an R amp R User Discussion Forum so that you can post questions and view posting from other users ver Complete the form on our web site http www livewarepub com ts_order htm to open your Support Upgrade Account today or call 800 936 6202 or email us at livesales livewarepub com for more information Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 54 of 55 Before You Call Please be prepared to provide the following information with each call or email User name company email and phone fax numbers Product serial number SUA account number if applicabl
36. rom the toolbar e Select Reports gt Preview This Report or Reports gt Run this Report from the main menu e Right click on the selected report item to display the shortcut menu and then select Preview this report or Run this Report from the menu e Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl V to Preview or Ctrl U to run the selected report Running All the Reports in a Set To run all of the reports in the current set you can e Click the Run Set button on the toolbar e Select Reports gt Run Set from the main menu e Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl R Each report in the set will then run in sequence Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 20 of 55 Scheduling a Report Set to Run at a Specified Time To run a set at a specific time click the Timer button on the toolbar This will open the Timer Settings dialog Current Time Set Timer 09 03 2002 07 06 pm EE Clear Timer Date Copy Time VISE Cancel dd You can use the Copy Time button to copy the current date and time to the Date and Time fields You can then use the up down arrows to set the desired date and time The Clear Timer button erases any settings Click on the Set Timer button to turn on the timer When the timer has been activated the date time that has been set will appear on the Rapid Runner toolbar just to the right of the timer button The set will then automatically be run at the pre set time Note that you must leave Rapid Runner running for the timer to work When y
37. s the maximum number of allowed parameters has been reached Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 49 of 55 Copying Queries Filters To copy the query filter settings for the currently selected report item to all report items in the set select Query from the Copy menu This will copy the both the query usage and any runtime query to all reports in the set Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 50 of 55 Glossary Alias An alias is the name used to uniquely identify a table within a report Usually this is just the name of a table But if the same table is included more than once in the same report different aliases must be used for each reference Data Source A data source is a named configuration of an ODBC driver You create and manage data sources using the ODBC database Administrator within the Windows Control Panel The SQL version of R amp R uses an ODBC data source to make data available for a report Index A separate file used for sorting data in a data table Indexes are used by the Xbase version of R amp R to link tables together and to quickly sort or scope master table data Master I ndex The index applied to the master table in an Xbase report When a master index is selected the master table is processed in the order specified by the master index In addition you can enter scope values to quickly restrict the report to a range of records Master Table The main source of data for an R amp R report Relations joins are used to include
38. t and close Rapid Runner Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 22 of 55 Report Set Instructions Selecting View gt Instructions opens a Report Set Instructions dialog where you can enter text that will be saved with the report set and available when the set is opened Examples of items you might include in report set instructions include e Steps to complete before running the set like updating indexes e How to use the output when a report is exported to a file e How the scope settings should be set If you check the Display when set is opened checkbox then when the set is opened the instructions window will automatically be displayed Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 23 of 55 Report Set Log Files When a report is run not previewed an entry is added to the report set s log file The log file is a text file that is saved in the same directory as the report set with the file extension log So if you have a set called DAILY SET the log file would be DAILY LOG The log entry includes the start time end time and elapsed time for the report as well as the scope query and parameter values used to run the report If an error occurs while trying to run the report that is also included You can view the Log File by selecting View gt Log Ctrl L from the main menu or by selecting the log file button e on the toolbar By default the log is displayed using Notepad You can change this default by entering the path and filename of the viewer file in
39. t provided A call is defined as phone conversations e mail and voice mail messages related to resolution or attempted resolution of a particular issue Issues may be grouped in a particular call to reach the minimum Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 53 of 55 Option 2 Support Upgr ade Account You can establish a pre paid support upgrade account SUA with Liveware Publishing to receive a faster response and at a discounted rate The cost for opening an SUA account for a single user is 125 and special pricing is available for multiple user accounts Once you have opened an SUA account at any time between the hours of 8 30 AM and 5 30 PM Eastern Time you may call the special 800 number to speak with a technical support representative You may also send an email if you are working outside our normal business hours The fee for support is discounted to 80 per hour with a minimum charge of 10 per call In addition with the purchase of an SUA account you receive the following benefits Installation support during the first 60 days is not chargeable One FREE tech support call One FREE copy of Relate and Report Your Guide to Reporting with R amp R 350 pages a 59 value FREE maintenance releases Reduced pricing on printed copies of the product documentation pay just 25 a 10 savings Reduced pricing on product upgrades You may apply any unused portion of your SUA account balance to the purchase of upg
40. tion Alias RRCUST Related File ae Related Index ere Tag for CDX MDX OK Clear The Edit Relation dialog has a selection box for both the related table and for the related index You can change either or both of these settings You click the File button E to the right of the table and index selection boxes to choose a file from an explorer window If the selected index is a compound index having a CDX or MDX file extension you will also need to provide the tag name that you wish to use You can consult the R amp R Report Designer documentation for information on compound index tags To remove a selected table or index select the Clear button from the Edit Relation dialog Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 38 of 55 The SQL J oins Screen im Joins The leftmost column in the joins screen shows a listing of the alias names for all the relations in the saved report For reports having no related tables this list will be empty As you select an alias in the list the table defines the relation is shown below the table list box The second shows any Related table replacements that has been selected To change a joined table double click on its line or select it and click the Edit button This will bring you to the Edit Join dialog w Edit Join The Edit Join dialog has a selection box for the related table Click the File button to the right of the related table box to select a different table To remove
41. u can click the Advanced check box instead of Adding query rows This will give you a text box where you can enter a logical expression that will be used for Override Saved Query or AND appended for Combine Queries as your runtime query This box uses the same syntax as required for an R amp R calculated field that returns a logical value For more information consult the R amp R Report Designer documentation Note If you enter query rows and then select Advanced your query rows will be cleared Copying Queries If you make a Query Filter selection for one report item you can copy that setting to other report items in the set See Copying Queries Filter for more information Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 32 of 55 Report Destination The Report Destination options allow you to send the results of a report to a file or a specific printer at run time When you select the Runtime Option of Report Destination the following Report Destination dialog is displayed w Report Destination Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 33 of 55 There are three sections in this dialog The first is the Destination drop down list The Available choices in the Destination list are Item Description Printer Send report directly to the selected printer Print to File Output report to the selected output filename Text File Output the report as an ASCII text file to the selected output filename Text Data File Output the report as a text data fi
42. ue whose name is the name of the RIPARAM string The Parameter runtime setting in Rapid Runner works directly with RIPARAM calculated fields so that you can use Rapid Runner to pass values to a report Working with parameters involves the following steps e Use R amp R to create a calculated field in the report that uses the parameter name from Rapid Runner with the RI PARAM functions e For number and date quantities convert using VAL and CTOD e Use advanced calculations for reports that will be run from R amp R and Rapid Runner or for using parameters to query on a list of values e Create a parameter in Rapid Runner to set the runtime value for the RIPARAM calculated field The following example will help to illustrate the use of an RIPARAM field along with a Rapid Runner runtime parameter Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 40 of 55 Example of Using a Parameter in a Report You have a simple report titled Customer List based on a table CUST DBF You want to use a query to display only the customers from one state but the state will change every time you run the report We will show how to do this by creating a parameter named Customer State the name chosen is arbitrary and using it in the report s query 1 Use R amp R to create the following calculated field in the report R amp R Field Name StateParam any legal field name is OK R amp R Field Formula RIPARAM Customer State Edit Calculation x a Reminder Type liter
43. w Param button to add an additional row You can then enter an additional parameter name and value You can repeat this process as required Deleting Parameters To delete a parameter you simply delete the contents of the both the parameter name and the parameter value to create an empty row When you OK and then reopen the Parameters setting the empty row will no longer be represent Copying Parameter Settings If you make a parameter selection for one report item you can copy that to other report items in the set See Copying Parameters for more information Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 43 of 55 Master Table Information Clicking on the Master Table Information setting brings you to a dialog where you can change the master table for the report and for the Xbase version only can also change the master index Note that any selected table must contain the same fieldnames and datatypes as fields from the current master file that are used in the report or when you run the report an error message will be returned and the report will not execute The appearance of the Master Table Information dialog depends on whether your selected report is an Xbase or a SQL report For Xbase you can change both the master table and the master index For SQL the dialog only allows for a new master table Changing the Master Table and Index Xbase The Xbase master table dialog has a selection box for both the master table and for the master index You can chang
44. ystem the file orders dbf is a table Rapid Runner 2 0 Page 52 of 55 Technical Support Summary Technical Support service gives you access to product experts who can help solve problems you encounter using R amp R Report Writer Several options provide you with the level of service you need to get answers in the most timely and cost effective manner Key Benefits Help available when you need it online email or 800 Dedicated knowledgeable staff over 50 years R amp R experience Cost effective pay only for what you use never expires Capabilities Liveware Publishing offers varying levels of service to meet your technical administrative and budgetary requirements From comprehensive support plans to self service online resources we ve got the right program to fit your needs Option 1 At any time between the hours of 8 30 AM and 5 30 PM Eastern Pay per Call Time you may call 302 791 9446 to speak with a technical support representative The fee for support is 100 per hour with a minimum charge of 10 per call Payment can be made by credit card VISA MC AMEX You will not be charged for problems arising from R amp R Report Writer software Time is calculated to the closest five dollar time unit only for time actually spent by a Liveware Publishing support representative resolving the issue Any time spent is subject to Liveware Publishing management review for effectiveness of the suppor
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