Running Reports in WBAR

The reports in WBAR are designed to work with any printer you have connected to your Windows computer or network. Reports can be viewed, then printed, or viewed only, or printed only. The way WBAR displays a report dependes on the properties of the printer you have connected at the time the report is generated. WBAR takes the printer information from the printer driver which you installed when you added the printer in  the Windows printer controls. This means that some options like paper size, orientation, number of copies and margins are controlled by the properties of the printer, not WBAR itself.

WBAR uses a report generator which is launched each time a report is generated. The print engine gathers the data needed to create the report, builds the report file, and then offers choices for printing or viewing the report. It also includes an Options button which you can use to set or change the way WBAR displays or prints the report.

WBAR's Report Generator Control Box

When the control box opens, clicking on the Options button allows you to set additional viewing or printing options for the report.

The Options page has two tabs at the bottom. The primary options control which printer WBAR will look for when the report is actually printed, the page orientation of the printer, the paper size, and the paper source. The secondary options tab looks like this.

Here you can select the range of pages to display or print. When you print, the printer properties may offer you additional printing options. Most printers allow you to select a range of pages you want to print allowing you to save paper if all you need are totals. If your printer supports multiple copies, line height, and collated copying, you may set those options as well.

You can display the report before you print it by clicking on the Preview button. The entire report is loaded into the preview window. You can navigate to the pages you want to see by using the slider at the right of the window or by using the arrow buttons at the lower left. Click on the magnifying glass to change the view size of the window. Click on the printer icon to send the report to your printer (the one you specified in the Options section.)

The report generator can also be used to export report data to other file formats. For example, your report could be copied to another file using a format that could be read by another program. A frequent use of this feature is to export to an Excel spreadsheet format. 

You can also email your report using the built-in Windows MAPI function. You must have MAPI email drivers installed on your system to email a report directly from the report generator.