How to create and print a customized report

Introduction

You can choose from a variety of objects to include in a report, including chromatograms, methods, documentation, free text and more in the customized report interface. You can also place, align and size the objects as you please. This section describes how to create a customized report format.

Should you need to store store your reports in an electronic format you can save them as PDF files. This section also describes how to do this..

How to open the Report Editor in edit mode

The table below describes how to open the Report Editor in Edit mode to create a customized report format.

Step

Action

1

Open a result file in the Evaluation module.

2

  • Select File:Report.

or

  • Click the Report icon.

Result: The Generate Report dialog box opens.

3

  • Click the New button.

Result: The Create New Report Format dialog box opens.

4

  • Select the Customised format and click OK.

Result: The Report Editor opens in Edit mode.

The Edit mode window

The illustration below shows the Report Editor window in Edit mode with a blank report open:

Toolbar button functions in the Report Editor

The table below describes the different functions of the Edit mode toolbar buttons in the Report Editor:

Toolbar button

Function

Preview/Edit

This button toggles between a print preview of the report and the Edit mode.

Next Page

This button displays the next page or pair of pages (where there are more than one page).

Prev Page

This button displays the previous page or pair of pages (where there are more than one page).

One Page/Two Pages

This button toggles between single page view and pairs of pages view, when there is more than one page.

Zoom In

This button increases the magnification of the view.

Zoom Out

This button decreases the magnification of the view.

Add Page

This button adds a blank page to the report.

Delete Page

This button deletes the current page from the report.

Exit

This button closes the Customize Report window.

How to add and delete report pages

The table below describes how to add or delete report pages in the Report Editor:

If you want...

then...

to add new pages,

  • click the Add Page toolbar button.

Result: A new page is added after the last page.

to delete a page while in One Page mode,

  • select the page with Next Page or Prev Page,

  • click the Delete Page toolbar button and confirm the deletion.

to delete a page in Two Page mode,

  • select the page with Next Page or Prev Page,

  • click an object on the page,

  • click the Delete Page toolbar button and confirm the deletion.

How to change the page layout

The page layout is changed in the Page Setup dialog box. The table below describes how to set up the page layout:

Step

Action

1

Double-click anywhere on the report page in the Report Editor (not on an object).

Result: The Page Setup dialog box opens.

2

  • Type new values for the Margins if necessary.

  • Select the appropriate Settings and Unit.

Note: An extra Header tab will appear if you de-select the option to have the same header on all pages. The First Header tab is used for the first page header only, and the Header tab is used for all subsequent pages.

  • Click the First Header tab.

3

  • Select all the items you want to include in the header from the Select Items list.

  • Click the Font button to change the font for all items if necessary.

4

  • Type header text in the Free text box and click the Font button to alter the default font if necessary.

  • Type the report title in the Report title box and click the Font button to alter the default font if necessary.

5

  • Select the Logo check box and click the Browse button if you want to locate and select a logo image file.

  • Select the Alignment for the logo, if necessary.

Note: The logo file must be in bitmap format (.bmp) and smaller than 64 kB. Larger logo files or files in other formats must be inserted as Picture objects.

6

If you want to have a line under or over the header, select the appropriate option in the Layout field.

7

  • Repeat steps 3 to 6 on the Footer tab and the subsequent pages Header tab.

Note: All Header and Footer tabs contain the same options. You can have all information in either the header or footer or split information between the header and footer as required.

  • Click OK.

How to add objects to the report

The table below describes how to add objects to the report. The various objects are described below this table.

Step

Action

1

  • Click the appropriate icon in the Report items toolbar.

or

  • Choose an object from the Insert menu.

2

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page, and drag out a box to the size of the item you want to insert.

Note: The mouse pointer shows a symbol for the type of item you have selected.

  • Release the mouse button.

Result: A Setup dialog box opens. The dialog is specific to the type of item that you want to insert.

3

  • Select the desired options and click OK.

Result: The object is inserted onto the page.

Note: If you want to edit an object later, double-click the object box.

How to add free text

The table below describes how to add free text to the report:

Step

Action

1

  • Click the Free Text icon.

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the text. Release the button.

Result: The Setup Free Text dialog box opens.

2

  • Type text in the edit field.

  • Select if the text is to start on a new page.

  • Select if the text box should be automatically sized.

  • Select if the text should appear in the same position on all pages, for example as header and footer text.

3

  • Click the Font button to change the default font.

Result: The Font dialog box opens.

  • Make the necessary changes and click OK to return.

  • Click OK.

Result: The text object is inserted onto the page.

How to add a picture

The Picture dialog box is useful to insert logos, pictures or other figures in the report. The table below describes how to add a picture object to the report:

Step

Action

1

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the picture item. Release the mouse button.

  • Click the Picture icon.

Result: The Picture dialog box opens.

2

  • Click the Browse button to locate the desired picture file.

  • Select the picture file and click the Open button.

Note: The file formats .bmp, .emf, .jpg and .tif can be used.

Result: A preview of the selected picture is displayed.

3

  • Select the desired Settings and click OK.

Result: The picture is inserted onto the page.

How to add a chromatogram or peak table

The table below describes how to add a chromatogram to the report. The layout can also be defined to include a peak or pool table if desired.

Step

Action

1

  • Click the Chromatogram icon.

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the chromatogram. Release the mouse button.

Result: The Setup Chromatogram dialog box opens.

2

Select which chromatogram(s) to insert from the Selected chromatogram(s) droplist.

  • Active chromatogram inserts the chromatogram that currently is active in the Evaluation module.

  • All chromatograms inserts all chromatograms that are open in the Evaluation module.

  • 1, 2...etc. inserts the corresponding chromatogram.

3

  • Select the desired Settings.

  • If desired, change the Fonts.

Note: Separate fonts can be selected for the Chromatogram, the Peak table and the Header text.

4

  • Click the Define button in the Layout field if you want to re-define the layout of the chromatogram.

Result: The Report Chromatogram Layout dialog box opens.

  • Make the appropriate changes and click OK to return to the Setup Chromatogram dialog box.

Note: The changes that you make will only affect the report and not the view of the chromatograms in the Evaluation module.

5

Click OK.

Result: The chromatogram is inserted onto the page.

Note: All curves can be de-selected in the Report Chromatogram Layout dialog box leaving only the selected peak table(s) in the report.

How to include a method

The table below describes how to include a method in the report:

Step

Action

1

  • Click the Method icon.

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the item. Release the button.

Result: The Setup Method dialog box opens.

2

Select the items to be included in the report:

  • Main Method is the method on which the run was based.

  • Blocks are the blocks that were used in the method.

3

  • Select the appropriate Settings.

Note: Expand main displays the expanded method view.

  • If desired, change the Fonts.

  • Click OK.

Result: The method object is inserted onto the page.

How to add documentation

The table below describes how to add documentation to the report:

Step

Action

1

  • Click the Documentation icon.

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the item. Release the button.

Result: The Setup Documentation dialog box opens.

2

Select the items to be included in the report:

  • Select All includes all items in the report.

  • Clear All removes all selections.

3

  • If desired, change the Fonts.

  • Select if the documentation should start on a new page.

  • If Select All, Logbook or Run summarySelect All or Logbook was selected, make the necessary changes to the Base and Logbook filter settings.

  • Click OK.

Result: The selected documentation items are inserted into the report.

How to add the Evaluation Log

The table below describes how to add the Evaluation Log to the report:

Step

Action

1

  • Click the Evaluation Log icon.

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the item. Release the mouse button.

Result: The Setup Evaluation Log dialog box opens.

2

  • If desired, change the Fonts.

  • Select if the Evaluation Log should start on a new page.

  • Click OK.

Result: The Evaluation Log is inserted into the report.

How to include Quantitate and Molecular Size data

The table below describes how to include Quantitate and Molecular Size data in the report.

Note: This option is only available if the Analysis module has been installed.

Step

Action

1

  • Click the Quantitate and Mol Size icon.

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the item. Release the mouse button.

Result: The Setup Quantitate dialog box opens.

2

  • If desired, change the Fonts.

  • The default option is that the Quantitate and Molecular Size data will start on a new page.

  • Click OK.

Result: The Quantitate and Molecular Size data is inserted into the report.

How to include Frac-950 data

The table below describes how to include Frac-950 data in the report.

Note: This option is available only if a Frac-950 has been installed and if the result file contains data from the Frac-950.

Step

Action

1

  • Click the Frac-950 icon.

  • Press and hold the left mouse button on the report page and drag out a box to the size of the item. Release the mouse button.

Result: The Setup Frac-950 dialog box opens.

2

  • If desired, change the Fonts.

  • Select if the Frac-950 data should start on a new page.

  • The Include rack layout option is selected by default. This will display the rack layout that was used in the run.

  • Click OK.

Result: The Frac-950 data is inserted into the report.

How to move and resize objects freely

The table below describes how to select, move and resize objects freely:

If you want...

then...

to select a single object,

  • click the Select icon,

  • click the object of interest.

to select several objects,

  • click the Select icon,

  • press and hold the <Ctrl> key while you click the objects.

to move the selected object(s),

click on the objects, hold down the left mouse button and drag the object(s) to the new position.

to resize the selected object(s),

click one of the object border anchors, either in the corners or in the middle of a border, and drag the box to the new size.

Note: Some Text objects cannot be resized.

Alignment toolbar icon functions

Objects can be placed in exact positions and sized in relation to other objects. The table below describes the function of the Alignment toolbar icons in the Report Editor:

Toolbar icon

Function

 

Align left

Matches the left alignment of all selected objects to that of the highlighted object.

 

Align right

Matches the right alignment of all selected objects to that of the highlighted object.

 

Align top

Matches the top alignment of all selected objects to that of the highlighted object.

 

Align bottom

Matches the bottom alignment of all selected objects to that of the highlighted object.

 

Adjust to margins

Stretches the selected object(s) to the left and right margins.

 

Adjust to left margin

Adjusts the selected object(s) to the left margin.

 

Adjust to right margin

Adjusts the selected object(s) to the right margin.

 

Adjust to centre

Adjusts the selected object(s) to the center of the page.

 

Make same size

Adjusts the selected objects to the same size as the highlighted reference object.

 

Make same width

Adjusts the selected objects to the same width as the highlighted reference object.

 

Make same height

Adjusts the selected objects to the same height as the highlighted reference object.

Note: The Make same size and Make same width functions can only be used to resize the width of chromatograms, free text and picture objects.

How to print the report

The table below describes how to print the report:

Step

Action

1

  • Choose File:Print.

or

  • Click the Print icon.

Result: The Print dialog box opens.

Note: Printers are set up in the File menu of the UNICORN Manager.

2

  • Select the printing range.

  • Select the number of copies.

  • Click OK.

Note: You can also print the report from the Generate Report dialog box.

How to save the report in PDF format

The table below describes how to save the finished report as a PDF file:

Step

Action

1

  • Click the UNICORN Manager icon on the Windows taskbar.

Result: The UNICORN Manager opens.

  • Choose File:Printer Setup.

Result: The Print Setup dialog box opens.

2

  • Select an Adobe Acrobat printer from the Printer Name list (e.g. Acrobat Distiller).

  • Click the Properties button and edit the document properties if needed.

  • Select the appropriate paper size and orientation.

  • Click OK.

3

  • Click the Evaluation icon on the Windows taskbar.

Result: The Evaluation module opens

4

  • Print the report as described in "How to print the report".

Result: The report is created as a PDF file and saved in the location specified in your Acrobat settings.

Note: You must have a full installation of Adobe Acrobat or a suitable printer driver to be able to do this.

How to save the report format

The table below describes how to save the finished report format:

Step

Action

1

  • Choose File:Save.

or

  • Click the Save icon.

Result: The Save Report Format dialog box opens.

2

  • Type a name for the format.

  • Select if you want to save the format for global use.

  • Select if you want to save the format as default.

Note: The name for the default format will automatically be changed to DEFAULT.

  • Click OK.

2005-06-15