Report Control Screens

Screens are a large part of the system and you need to learn how to use them efficiently. There are three types of screens in LubeSoft: Information Entry Screens, Report Control Screens, and Information Viewing Screens. The procedure for using each of these types of screens is the same throughout the system.

This article describes the details of a typical Report Control Screen. The exact format of the Report Control Screen is specific to each report. Because reports vary in content, the information you can specify varies from report to report. In addition, not all fields are found on every Report Control Screen. For example, the Summary Only field only appears for those reports that offer both a detailed and summary version. Information about the Report Control Screen for each report, including the default values, is included in each report article. Detailed instructions on the information in specific reports and how you can use those reports can also be found in the Lubrication Reports and LubeSoft Reports articles.

Your POS system uses Report Control Screens to give you control over what information is printed on the reports. The fields on a typical Report Control Screen allow you to specify the following information.

• The range of dates or items to include on the report.
• Whether the report shows the time it was printed.
• Whether the report includes information in detailed or summary format.
• Whether the report prints on both sides of of the paper (duplex).
• The printed report orientation (portrait or landscape).
• The total number of lines available on a page and the number of printed lines that appear on a page.
• Whether the report should be sent to the printer, displayed on your screen, or saved to a file.

The following is an example of a typical Report Control Screen. The available fields are discussed in detail below.

Callout	Menu Option	Function
1	Report Ranges	Most reports allow you to select a range of information. For example, you can request information for certain dates, items, or transaction types. Some reports give you multiple ranges, which further reduces the amount of information on the report. Note: If you leave all the ranges blank, some reports may print all available information. This can result in a long report. See the individual report articles for the default ranges for each report. To specify a range, you fill in the low and high end values in the Low and High fields. This can be the earliest and latest date, the lowest and highest number, or the first and last word alphabetically. For example, to print a report for November 2002 you enter 11/01/2002 in the Low field and 11/30/2002 in the High field. Note: You cannot press the up or down arrow keys to move between fields on a Report Control Screen. If you make a mistake, use the [F9] key to return to the first entry field.
2	Print Time on Report?	Printing the time helps you identify the most current report when the same report is printed more than once during a day. This field defaults to Y to print the time on the report. If you do not want the time to print on a report, type N. We recommend that you always print the time on a report.
3	Duplex	This field appears for terminals that have report type 2 enabled in the Set Up Printer Controls screen. Duplex mode enables printing on both sides of the paper. Note: This will only function on printers that support Duplex mode.
4	Number of Printed Lines per Page	This value tells the computer how many lines to print on each page of the report. A typical 11-inch page can contain up to 66 lines, but this field defaults to 60 to allow three-line margins at the top and bottom of the page. If you type 0 (zero) in this field, the report header does not print and the form feeds do not work.
5	Total Number of Lines per Page	This field indicates the length of the paper in the printer. A typical 11-inch page contains 66 lines. Your system interprets a 0 or 66 in this field to mean that standard 11-inch paper is loaded in the printer. Because a 66 causes a form feed to take more time, accepting the default, 0, is recommended.
6	Print Report To	This field tells the computer where to send the report. The following list contains the different selections available for this field. 0 Printer – Sends report to the terminal’s default report printer immediately. (Default) 1 Screen – Provides an on-screen view of a report. This can be used as a preview before you print it or when a hard copy of the report is not needed. The function keys at the bottom of the on-screen version allow you to move around to view the entire report. 2 Disk file – Useful when you want an electronic copy of the report. If you select this option, you receive a prompt to enter the name of the report file. The file that is created can be copied to a USB drive or viewed later. This option is for advanced computer users. If you use this option, we suggest you precede your report name with /tmp/. For example, at the prompt to enter the report name for a customer list, you might type /tmp/custlist. This is a good storage directory for temporary files.
7	Summary Only	This field appears for reports with both detailed and summary versions. To print the summary version, enter Y in this field. Enter N to print the detailed report. We recommend printing a summary report under normal conditions. Print a detailed report only if you need detailed information in a report.
8	Landscape	This field appears for terminals that have report type 2 enabled in the Set Up Printer Controls screen. It prints horizontally on the paper.
9	Command Line Options	The line at the bottom of the screen contains commands to print the report and to save or change the report settings. Save – Press [F4] to save the current settings for the report. This is useful if a report is generated repeatedly with the same options. Do not save date selections because they may not be useful in the future. Start – Press [F7] to submit the report to print on the printer, on the screen, or in a disk file. (Reports print in the order they are submitted.) Again – Press [F9] to return to the top of the screen. This allows you to change any of the information you have entered on the screen before you submit the report.