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Create Report Packages

If you want to create a series of documents - or sections of a document - that are individually tailored but are generated and organized as a single unit, you can design each document in its own Model Document element but organize these elements under a Report Package. This is a Package element with a child Common diagram to which you add the Model Document elements. You can then generate a document with common contents and the headers and footers, and each section having its own appearance defined by a template appropriate to the section content. When you add Model Document elements to a Report Package, the Report Package element resembles this:

The Report Package element and child diagram are listed in the Project Browser as shown:

Create a Report Package

Step

Action

See also

1

Open or create a diagram in which to create the Report Package. The diagram can be of any type, although 'Documentation' automatically provides the correct Toolbox page.

 Add New Diagrams

2

If the Toolbox 'Documentation' page is not already shown, click on to display the 'Find Toolbox Item' dialog and specify 'Documentation'.

 Diagram Toolbox Virtual Documents

3

Drag the 'Report Package' icon onto the diagram.

The system prompts you for the name of the Report Package element.

4

Type the element name and click on the OK button.

The system creates the Report Package element and a child Custom diagram of the same name.

5

If creating a Report Package for an HTML report, go to step 6.

Otherwise, open the Tagged Values window (the 'Start > Explore > Properties > Tagged Values' ribbon option) and click on the Report Package element. A number of Tagged Values are available, the first set of which you can use to define the Report Constants for the document cover page details:

  • ReportAlias
  • ReportAuthor
  • ReportName
  • ReportStatus
  • ReportTitle
  • ReportVersion
 Tagged Values

6

Return to the Project Browser and open the Report Package child diagram. At this point, to provide the content for the generated document, you either:

  • Create the Model Document elements in the child diagram, or
  • Drag existing Model Document elements from the Project Browser into the child diagram
 Create Model Document

7

Having set up the Report Package, and created or added and set up its Model Documents as required, you can generate the document report on the Report Package Document; this pulls in the contents of the Model Documents.

 Generate the Document