Planning Reports

Report design is important to presenting information. Include the proper elements and arrange information in an attractive, easy-to-read layout.

  To plan a report:

  1. Consider the reporting needs and the time required to generate the report.

  2. Roughly sketch the report. Include the following items:

    • Layout

    • Number of columns

    • Members

    • Titles, if applicable

    • Format of data values

  3. Review the sketch; it is often apparent at this stage if additional data or formatting is needed.

  4. Determine ways to optimize the report runtime.

    See Optimizing Reports and Other Types of Retrieval for a comprehensive discussion of how to optimize a report script.

    Note:

    As you plan the report, minimize use of numeric row names; instead, to avoid ambiguity, give rows descriptive names.