Copyright: RptVw ® 1994-1995 DREC Software


Contents
RptView32 Version 6.1

Contents

Introduction

Welcome

Operating Environment

Version History

Future Enhancements

Purchasing / Licensing

Technical Support

Procedures

INI Settings

Language Customization

Downloading Mainframe Reports

RptView32 Real Estate

Opening a Report

Building Report View Pages

Paging thru a report

Adjusting the viewing area

Finding information on the report

Using BookMarks

Using Page Notes

Copying data to other applications

Parse N Copy to Spreadsheets and Database Applications

Saving portions of a Report to a File

Printing

Viewing Multiple Reports

Integration with Other Applications

Compression

Archiving

Embedding on Removable Media

Reference

Index

5/19/2001


Welcome

Welcome to RptView32, the Report Viewer and Print System. RptView32 allows you to view, print, and extract information from reports generated from other systems and stored as ASCII files on your PC or network drives. Mainframe generated reports (IBM, UNIX, COBOL, Fortran) can be downloaded and processed. ASCII reports generated from PC-based tools (such as dBase, Paradox) can also be printed to file and brought into RptView32.

RptView32 has two major differences from other ASCII file viewers. First, RptView32 has the unique ability to split the a viewed page by both row and column. With RptView32 you can scroll up and down in a report page and still be able to see the title and column headings. You can also scroll left and right and still row titles. As you move from page to page, the splits will dynamically refresh for each page.

Second, RptView32 has Parse N Copy functionality. While other viewers allow you to select and copy text to the Windows Clipboard, RptView32 goes further. You can PARSE your selected text to individual fields using RptView32's Parse N Copy feature. Parsed N Copied information can then be pasted in spreadsheet and database applications and populate individual columns and rows of the target application.

Thirdly, RptView32 has the ability to store and retrieve Page Notes. Like writing in the white space of a printed page, Page Notes can be saved and shared between multiple users. Bookmarks can also be retained and recalled. Printing can be performed on bookmarked pages.

Besides reading compressed reports that were available in the 16-bit version, RptView32 can now directly read from PKZip type archives. These archives can be password protected for additional security

RptView32 provides these major functions at hundreds of dollars less than other commercial products. RptView32 is network ready and can also be used on standalone PC's or in a remote computing environment.


Operating Environment

RptView32 is a 32-bit, Windows application. The program may be run on a standalone PC or from a network. RptView32 is compatible with Windows 9x,  WinNT 3.51/4.x, Windows2000, and WindowsXP.

See Also

INI Settings

Report File Structure


INI Settings

Master/User RPTVW32.INI

The Master INI file must reside in the same directory as the RPTVW32.EXE file. RptView32 can create a User INI file to override master settings to personalize the environment for each user. All entries in either INI are customizable by editing with any ASCII text editor such as Notepad.

You can also setup and maintain mulitple Master INI files. To use different INI files you must setup a Window's Shortcut and pass an INI filename on the Target line as part of the first parameter. The INI file  pointed to on the command line replaces the Master INI in the directory containing the Exe.

Example of Shortcut:
H:\RptView\RptVw32.EXE Ini=H:\INIfiles\RvIni01.INI
(this passes an Ini file)

You can also override the initial root directory where the reports are contained. A slash is required at the end of the directory to distinguish a directory path from an actual file.

Example of Shortcut:
H:\RptView\RptVw32.EXE Ini=H:\INIfiles\RvIni01.INI/g:\reports\
(this passes both an Ini file and a startup directory)
(The forward slash "/" is used as a delimiter. The backward slash "\" is required at the end of the directory to identify it as a directory not a file.)

H:\RptView\RptVw32.EXE g:\reports\
(this passes a startup report directory)
(The backward slash "\" is required at the end of the directory to identify it as a directory not a file.)

INI Entries

[Registration]

This section contains registration information that will be sent to you upon purchase. You can change this information by editing as explained above or by using the Register function found in the Help/About box. Please enter this information exactly as received.

RegInfoV6

Upon registration you will receive information about the Date of Registration, License Type, and Company RptView32 has been registered to.

RegNumV6

This is your product registration number.

[FILES]

FileFilter

The File / Open file filter pattern.

Example:
FileFilter=Reports (*.rpt;*.prn;*.txt;*.rva;*.zip)|*.rpt;*.prn;*.txt;*.rva;*.zip|Archives (*.rva;*.zip)|*.rva;*.zip|All Files (*.*)|*.*

(The text left of the "|" is the description in the list box. The text to the right is the actual filter patterns. Multiple list entries are delimited by a semi-colon ";").

ReportDir

The initial path pointing to the drive and directory containing the reports you would like to view using RptView32. This entry may point to the root directory of various subdirectories.

The ReportDir entry will accept the Universal Naming Convention. **IMPORTANT** If you use UNC's then the RVI (index files) must be stored in the same directory as the files (StoreIndicesIn=ReportDir).

Examples:	ReportDir=C:\REPORTS
ReportDir=\\servername\REPORTS

RptSettingsDir

The path pointing to the drive and directory that contains the report setting file for each report. Parsing Templates are stored in these files. These files are placed in a directory called RVRPTST. The directory is first created under the EXE directory. A user directory off the drive that contains the Windows directory may also be created if the INI entry AllowUserINI is set to Yes. If on a network, the directory should be located where the contents can be backed-up on a regular basis.

The RptSettingsDir will accept the Universal Naming Convention.

Examples:	RptSettingsDir=C:\RPTVIEW\RVRPTST
RptSettingsDir=\\servername\RPTVIEW\RVRPTST

PageIndiceDir

The path pointing to the drive and directory that contains the Report Page Indices files. These files contain each report's stored page pointers / indices for quicker processing of report files. The StoreIndicesIn entry in the [Page Indices] section of the INI tells RptView32 whether to use this path to store the Indice files or the path in the ReportDir entry of this section. A user directory off the drive that contains the Windows directory may also be created if the INI entry AllowUserINI is set to Yes. If on a network, the directory should be located where the contents can be backed-up on a regular basis.

EXAMPLE: 	PageIndiceDir=C:\RVINDICE

ReOpenDir

The path pointing to the drive and directory that contains the list of previously opened files. The path can be the same as the one in the RptSettingsDir entry. On a network, it should be a sub-directory off the user's home directory. The file that contains the list of previously opened files should not be shared between users. A user directory off the drive that contains the Windows directory may also be created if the INI entry AllowUserINI is set to Yes.

EXAMPLE: 	F:\RPTVW32

BookMarkDir

The path pointing to the drive and directory that contains the file of bookmarked pages of reports. The path can be the same as the one in the RptSettingsDir entry. On a network, it should be a sub-directory off the user's home directory. The datafile that contains the bookmarks should NOT be shared between users. A user directory off the drive that contains the Windows directory may also be created if the INI entry AllowUserINI is set to Yes.

EXAMPLE: 	F:\RPTVW32

NotesDir

The path pointing to the drive and directory that contains the file of Report Page Notes. The path can be the same as the one in the RptSettingsDir entry. On a network, it can be a sub-directory off the user's home directory if the notes are not to be shared among users. If the notes are to be shared, then the path should point to a directory that the users have "Write" authority to. A user directory off the drive that contains the Windows directory may also be created if the INI entry AllowUserINI is set to Yes.

EXAMPLES: 	F:\RPTVW32
G:\RPTVW32\PGNOTES

AddFileFilter

Controls whether new file filters will be added to the "Files of Type" drop-down list in the Open Dialog. "YES" allows the new filter to be added. "NO" does not all allow the new filter to be added.

EXAMPLES: 	AddFileFilter=YES
AddFileFilter=NO

[FONTS]

ViewFont

PrntFont

Both the viewing font and printing font can be changed. Make sure the font names are spelled correctly. Choose the name from the fonts available in Control Panel - Fonts. For proper alignment of columns choose a True Type fixed-width font like Courier New, verses a proportional font like Arial.RptView32 comes with two True-Type Fonts, RptVw.TTF and RptVwPrt.TTF. It is strongly recommended that these fonts be installed and used. They provide much improved viewing and printing. See your Windows documentation for installing fonts.

Examples:	ViewFont=Courier New	(Default)
PrntFont=Courier New	(Default)
ViewFont=RptVw
PrntFont=RptVwPrt

ViewFontSize

PrntFontSize

The default font size for viewing and printing can be set and the size can be changed in the Print Dialog for the active session.

Examples:	ViewFontSize=7	(Default)
PrntFontSize=7	(Default)

PrntFontsAvail

It has been discovered that under Windows NT 4.0 the RptVwPrt font provided will not show up in the font drop-down list in the Print dialog. The font is a fixed-width font and the drop-down list control was originally set to only show fixed-width fonts. For some reason it will not show up unless the control is set to show True-Type fonts (which the font is.) The font correctly shows up under Win9x. The RptVwPrt is a narrower font allowing you to get more characters on a line at a larger font size. To workaround the problem this INI entry will allow you to set the type of print fonts available.

Examples:
PrntFontsAvail=F     (fixed-width only; true-type, raster, etc.) (default)
PrntFontsAvail=T     (true-type only; fixed-width and proportional)
(Use of proportional fonts is not advised because columns will not align correctly.)
PrntFontsAvail=A     (all fonts; includes true-type, raster, and others)

ViewFontBold

The ViewFont can be set to either Bold or Normal. The default is Bold.

Example:	ViewFontBold=True

[View]

RvAppStartupSize

RptView32 can now be opened either in it's normal window state or maximized to take up the whole screen. Independent of screen resolution, the normal state will always take the full width of the screen. N = Normal, M = Maximized, L = Last Position and Size. (Value "L" writes the position and size to the Registry Key "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\DrecSoftware\RptView32". This is the only information written to the registry by RptView.)

Examples:	RvAppStartupSize=M	(Maximizedl - Default)
RvAppStartupSize=N	(Normal)
RvAppStartupSize=L	(Last Position and Size)

NumOfToolbarRows

The number of toolbar rows can be set to either 1 or 2.

Examples:	NumOfToolbarRows=1	(Default)
NumOfToolbarRows=2

StatusBar

The Status Bar can either be shown or hidden. The default is to show the status bar.

Examples:	StatusBar=Show	(Default)
StatusBar=Hide

GreenBarEffect

The GreenBarEffect tells RptView whether the viewing area will have alternating Colored lines with White or the default Windows setting for the Active Window.

Examples:	GreenBarEffect=MoneyGreen  (Default)
GreenBarEffect=LightBlue
GreenBarEffect=LightGray
GreenBarEffect=None (Default Active Window Setting)

PlainTextBufferSizeWhenGreenBarEQNone

The size of the page buffer used when GreenBarEffect=None. This allows for additional text lines per RptView Page before breaking to a new page when no page breaks are present.

Examples:
PlainTextBufferSizeWhenGreenBarEQNone=SMALL
PlainTextBufferSizeWhenGreenBarEQNone=MEDIUM (Default)
PlainTextBufferSizeWhenGreenBarEQNone=LARGE

CleanScreen

On startup, tells RptView32 whether to come up in Clean Screen or Regular display mode. Clean Screen hides the Tool Bar at the top and Status Bar at the bottom of the window to allow more lines to be displayed.  It also adds additional navigation functions to the Menu Bar.

Examples:	CleanScreen=N (Default)
CleanScreen=Y

HeaderFormat

Instructs RptView32 to remove or leave blank lines in the Header of the View Area. C = Compress Text, blank lines removed, U = Uncompressed Text, blank lines retained

Examples:	HeaderFormat=C (Default)
HeaderFormat=U

[Print]

TopMargin

LeftMargin

These margin settings will adjust the inset of the Left and Top margins of the Print function. Top and Left margin defaults can be set in either inches or cm's. Take care in setting the LeftMargin, you may loose text off the right side. The defaults are 0 inches. When set to 0 the actual insets will be recalculated based upon the print driver.

Examples:	TopMargin=0"	(Inches - Default)
LeftMargin=0"	(Inches - Default)
TopMargin=2.54cm	(centimeters)
LeftMargin=1.27cm	(centimeters)

LeftMarginWastePlusTenths

This entry allows you to adjust the distance from the Left Margin Print waste area in "tenths". The margin waste area is the area where printing will truncate. To accommodate extremely wide reports this entry may need to be adjusted to zero. Values are 0 through 9.

Example:
LeftMarginWastePlusTenths=1  (default)

LandPort

Portrait or landscape default can be for the Print function. Default is landscape.

Examples:
LandPort=L	(Landscape - Default)
LandPort=P	(Portrait)

StartPages

Sets the Start Pages options in the Print function to either Current Page or All Pages. Current Page is the default.

Examples:	StartPages=Current (Default)
StartPages=All

[ADMINISTRATION]

Open

The ability to open the Open Dialog can either be enabled, disabled, or hidden. r. Hiding the dialog is useful when RptView32 is launched from another application, directly opens a report for the user and you do not want to open any additional reports during that session.

Examples: 	Open=Enable
Open=Disable
Open=Hide

OpenDialog

There are two versions of the Open Dialog that are available. The Custom version allows access to reports stored in PKZip type archives. The Standard version is the normal Windows Open Dialog.

Examples:	OpenDialog=Custom 	(Default)
OpenDialog=Standard

ReOpen

The ability to open the ReOpen Dialog can either be enabled, disabled, or hidden from the user. Hiding the dialog is useful when RptView32 is launched from another application and  directly opens a report for the user and you do not want to have access to the feature during that session.

Examples: 	ReOpen=Enable
ReOpen=Disable
ReOpen=Hide

SaveReopenFileList

You may want to be able to reopen reports during the current session but to not save the list of previously opened reports. Setting this entry to NO will disable the ability to save the Reopen File list.

Examples: 	SaveReopenFileList=YES	(Default)
SaveReopenFileList=NO

SaveBookMarks

If you do not want to be able to save bookmarks between sessions then set this entry to NO.

Examples: 	SaveBookMarks =YES	(Default)
SaveBookMarks =NO

AllowNotes

If you do not want to be able to save Page Notes then set this entry to NO.

Examples: 	AllowNotes=YES	(Default)
AllowNotes=NO

Archive

If you do not want the ability to save reports to PKZip type archives, then either disable or hide this feature.

Examples:	Archive=Enable	(Default)
Archive=Disable
Archive=Hide

ParseNCopy

If you do not want the ability to select and parse data from the report before copying it to the Windows Clipboard, then either disable or hide this feature.

Examples: 	ParseNCopy=Enable 	(Default)
ParseNCopy=Disable
ParseNCopy=Hide

SaveToFile

If you do not want the ability to save part or all of a report to another file then either disable or hide this feature.

Examples:	SaveToFile=Enable	(Default)
SaveToFile=Disable
SaveToFile=Hide

Help

Enables, disables, or hides the Help system on the menu bar.

Examples:	Help=Enable (Default)
Help=Disable
Help=Hide

BookMarks

Enables, disables, or hides the BookMark functionality.

Examples:	BookMarks=Enable (Default)
BookMarks=Disable
BookMarks=Hide

CleanScreen

Enables, disables, or hides the CleanScreen feature.

Examples:	CleanScreen=Enable (Default)
CleanScreen=Disable
CleanScreen=Hide

AllowUserINI

RptView32 can create a user RPTVW32.INI file in the user's Window directory. Entries placed in the user INI are used to override parameters set in the master INI found in the same directory as the EXE. To allow for the creation of a user INI, set AllowUserINI to a YES, else set it to NO (default setting).

Examples:	AllowUserINI=No	(Default)
AllowUserINI=Yes

Entries currently allowed in the user INI are:
[International]
Language

[FILES]
RptSettingsDir
PageIndiceDir
ReOpenDir
BookMarkDir
NotesDir

AllowUserUpdtSettings

This entry enables or disables the user's ability to create / change report templates. Setting this entry to No will disable the user's ability to create / change report templates, etc.

Examples: 	AllowUserUpdtSettings=Yes	(Default)
AllowUserUpdtSettings=No

AllowChgGreenBarEffect

This entry enables or disables the user's ability to toggle the "GreenBar Effect" by removing the options from the Menu Bar. A default effect can be set in the INI file even if this entry is set to not allow the user to change the effect.

Examples: 	AllowChgGreenBarEffect=Yes	(Default)
AllowChgGreenBarEffect=No

[International]

Language

****This release of RptView32 does not provide International Language support. International Language support will be available in a later release.

The majority of menus, buttons, messages, etc. can be customized for the language (English, Spanish, German, etc.) of the user. The language can be set for all users in the Master INI and overridden in the user INI. The default language on first installing RptView32 is ENGLISH. Change this entry to match the language section found in the RVLANG.INI.

Examples:
Language=ENGLISH  (Default)
Language=SPANISH

[Page Indices]

RptView32 and its companion indexing programs can store the Page Pointers/Indices for reports to be viewed by RptView32. By storing these Indices, the time to navigate large reports is decreased dramatically. These Indice files have an extension of RVI. The companion indexing programs are bonus applications sent upon request for licenses of 10 Users or more.

RptView32 has the ability to perform page indexing dynamically in memory in the background after a report is opened and during navigation by the user. Performance will be degraded as the user navigates the report until the indexing is complete. During the background indexing, the number of Total Pages will be "????. When the indexing has been completed "Total Pages" will reflect the number of pages in the report as determined by page breaks.

SaveIndices

This entry tells RptView32 whether to save the Reports Page Indices to file after generation. If an RVI exists for the report, RptView checks to see if the report has changed since the last page indices were save. If it has, the indices are regenerated and saved to the RVI file. Used in conjunction with companion indexing programs, this entry can be set to NO to not allow the user to save the RVI files. The companion indexing programs can then be used daily to regenerate RVI files for all new and changed report files. The default is NO.

Examples:	SaveIndices=NO	(Default)
SaveIndices=YES

RptView32 has the ability to perform page indexing dynamically in memory in the background after a report is opened and during navigation. Performance will be degraded as the report is navigated until the indexing is complete. During the background indexing, the number of Total Pages will be "????". When the indexing has been completed "Total Pages" will reflect the number of pages in the report as determined by page breaks. For this reason you may want to set SaveIndices=NO.

UseIndices

This entry tells RptView32 NOT to use any saved RVI files when opening a report. With this entry set to NO and SaveIndices set to NO, use of RVI files is completed disabled. The default is YES.
Examples:	UseIndices=YES  (Default)
UseIndices=NO

StoreIndicesIn

This entry tells RptView32 and companion indexing programs which path to use to store RVI files.
Only two possible settings are available:
StoreIndicesIn=ReportDir	(Default)
StoreIndicesIn=PageIndiceDir

The default is StoreIndicesIn=ReportDir. (This is opposite of the 16-bit version.) Which path to use is dependent on how the actual report files are named. You can store the RVI files with the reports using the setting StoreIndicesIn=ReportDir if you are ABSOLUTELY sure that the names of the files excluding the extensions are completely unique. In other words, if in the same subdirectory you have two reports named MYREPORT.G00 and MYREPORT.G01, RptView32 would save a file named MYREPORT.RVI for both files. This would cause RptView32 and companion indexing programs to regenerate and save the RVI each report is opened. In this scenario you could not use the ReportDir setting. Why would you use such a naming convention? Say you wanted to save 6 months of rolling history. G00 would be the current month, G01 would be month minus one, etc. (For those of you from the IBM mainframe world, you will recognize this as similar to generation datasets.)

If you are not sure there are unique file names, then set StoreIndicesIn=PageIndiceDir.  This will use the path indicated in the PageIndiceDir entry of the [Files] section as the root directory to a complex structure of subdirectories created to store the RVI files.

ExcludeExtensions

This entry tells RptView32 and companion indexing programs to not save RVI files for report files with extensions included in the list. In addition, other files with extensions like BAK, INI, LOG, etc. are automatically excluded.

Example:	ExcludeExtensions=TXT;DOC


Report File Structure

Report files must be ASCII files. The report can have unlimited pages. A RptView32 page is made up of all the data between two form-feed control characters embedded in the report.  It is possible to have what looks like multiple pages on a RptView page depending on where form-feed characters were placed in the report file when it was created.


Version History

Version 6.1.0.0 and above

•	Added Clean Screen feature

•	Ability to open an Archived Report from the Windows Explorer

•	Saving and restoring of last RptView Window Position and Size

•	Ability to handle JCL reports

•	Additional INI Setting options

•	Windows XP compatibility

Version 5.1.0.0 to 5.1.0.3

•	Changed default for SaveIndices to NO.

•	Expanded Find to use Multiple String Criteria.

•	Added GreenBar Effect to Viewing Area.

•	Added additonal Command Line options for View and Print Font Size.

•	Improved Windows2000 compatibility.

Version 4.1.0.0 to 4.1.1.5

•	Modified line spacing for printing, added new INI settings to control availability of print fonts and manage left print margins.

•	This is the first release of the 32-bit version. Many new features were added such as four-way splitting of the view area, saving to and reading reports from PKZip type archives, saving Bookmarks, and Page Notes.

Version 3.1 to 3.3

•	Added new command line parameters. Added ReportDir to User RPTVIEW.INI. Added ReadAhead functionality to allow immediate opening of reports. Improved compatibility with Windows 95 and WinNT 3.51. Minor changes to Print processes. Correct handling of the ANSI print suppresion carriage control character. Additional functionality for integration with other applications. Corrected temporary file deletion bug  for WinNT & Win95 short filenames. Added All Pages to Print and Save To File functions. Improved removable media compatibility.

•	Incorporated file compression to reduce the size of report files.

Version 1.2 to 2.3

•	Corrected print problems for various print drivers.

•	New INI settings to control printing, viewing, placement of toolbar, and prompting for Header.

•	New functionality to allow for integration with custom developed programs.

•	Added ability to save page pointers / indices to file to speed up report opening. Corrected other minor bugs.

•	Added Parse N Copy functionality which takes selected or highlighted text from a RptView header or body and parses the text into individual fields and copies the parsed data to the Window's Clipboard. The data can then be pasted into such applications as spreadsheets and databases.

•	Added directories to store files that contain report settings for storing information such as Parsing Templates.

•	Changed Browse Menu to Edit to conform to Windows standard and represent additional functionality.

•	Added ability to customize menus, buttons, messages, etc to the language  (English, Spanish, German, etc.) of the installation or user.

•	Will now create a user RPTVIEW.INI file in the Windows directory of the user.

•	Added Save To File functionality to allow saving of portions of the currently opened report to a separate file.

•	Redesigned Menu Bar to bring in compliance with Windows standards. Minor changes to the ToolBar. New functionality to create Program Manager Groups and Icons. Program Manager Icon Command Line argument to preset the Number of Lines in the Header at program startup. Improved handling of <CR><LF><FF> combinations.

•	The method for handling report files containing ANSI carriage control characters was changed to process the files in place without doing a physical conversion of the file. The same is also true for Plain Text files.

•	The previous version assumed that the viewed file contained form feed characters (ASCII value 12)  to separate pages. This version will permanently convert ANSI carriage control characters if present or add form feed characters depending on what is found in the file when opened.


Future Enhancements

If you have any suggestions for enhancements, please contact DREC Software at the address listed below:

DREC Software
1633 West A Street
Lincoln, NE USA 68522-1259.

or EMail via Internet at either	DRECSFTWR@AOL.COM.


Purchasing and Licensing
Purchasing / Licensing

If you received an evaluation copy of RptView32, you will find that it is a fully functional. Registered versions of the product will not contain the word UNREGISTERED in the title bar.

Pricing is as follows (US Dollars)
Full
Single User	$95
10 User	$575
50 User	$925
100 User	$1,425
Single Server, Unlimited User	$1,725
Multiple Server and Company-Wide Licenses are also available.

The above licenses are for internal company/organization use ONLY.

A Distribution License is available if your intent is to distribute RptView32 with your reports to your external clients.

Please use the file RVRFQ.WRI to request a quote for the Multiple Server, Company-Wide, or Distribution Licenses.

Free upgrades are provided for the first six months.

Upgrades may be purchased at approximately 55% of the current list prices.

Upgrade
Single User	$55
10 User	$320
50 User	$510
100 User	 	$780
Single Server, Unlimited User	$950

The Annual Subscription has been discontinued as of December 1, 2000.

A Trade-Up option is now available for existing clients. During the first six months after purchase you can "trade-up" (ex. 10 user license to a 50 user license) for the cost of the difference of the list price of the new license minus what was paid for the original license.

Pricing is subject to change. These prices are effective April 1, 2001. Always contact DREC Software for current pricing before initiating a purchase.

To register and license RptView32, complete the order form found in RVORDER.TXT and mail or fax with your Purchase Order to:

DREC Software
1633 West A Street
Lincoln, NE USA  68522-1259.
Phone: 402-890-7760  Fax: 402-477-7964

Credit Card Orders -

You can order with MasterCard, Visa, or AMEX directly from DREC Software by:
    Fax	402-477-7964

    or mail	DREC Software
1633 West A St
Lincoln, NE USA 68522-1259.


Technical Support

If you encounter any problems, have questions, or have suggestions for enhancements, please contact DREC Software at the address listed below:

DREC Software
1633 West A Street
Lincoln, NE USA 68522-1259

or EMail through the following services

AOL 	DRECSFTWR

Internet at
DRECSFTWR@AOL.COM

or by Phone:
Voice:	402-890-7760
Fax:	402-477-7964

Please include your Version number when contacting DREC. (Found in About Box under the Help Menu.)

The latest version and other information can be found on the website:

http://www.drecsoftware.com


Language

****This release of RptView32 does not provide International Language support. International Language support will be provided in a later release.

You may now customize the RptView32 environment to meet the language needs of the installation or each user. Through language entries placed in the RVLANG.INI found in the same directory as RPTVW32.EXE, the majority of menus, text, buttons, messages, etc. can be presented in Spanish, German, etc. in place of the default language of American English. RVLANG.INI can be edited using any text editor such a Notepad.

RVLANG.INI STRUCTURE

The structure of the entries in the RVLANG.INI is as follows:

[<language>]
<field name>=<text>

Example:
[English]
lg_File=&File

The <language> is the target language of the users. The Language entry in the International section of the master or user RPTVW32.INI must match a section defined in this RVLANG.INI.

The <field names> are predefined and ALL FIELD NAMES MUST BE INCLUDED in each section and the names MUST NOT BE CHANGED, When an underscore <_> character is found in the field name, it indicates that the field is also used as a short-cut key (example: Alt-F) in a menu, button, etc. and a short-cut character should be defined in the <text>.

The <text> is the chosen word, phrase, sentence in the language for the section that corresponds to the default English equivalent. An <&> should be placed in front of the character that will be used as the short-cut key (example: Alt-F, &File.)

CREATING A NEW LANGUAGE SECTION

To create a new language section, copy the ENGLISH section to any place in the INI and alter to meet your target language.

SECTION CUSTOMIZATION

Except for the rules defined above, language names and field name text is the choice of the installation. If you want, you may even mix languages together in one section. Possible situations would be to use the English words for File, Exit, OK if your users are familiar with these English words and their short-cut keystrokes. The remainder of the entries could then be in the target language. You could then call the language [English-<language>] or whatever name you want.

POINTING TO A LANGUAGE

The International/Language entry in the master RPTVW32.INI or the user RPTVW32.INI must match a language section found in the RVLANG.INI. If user INIs are created, each user INI can be customized for his or her language of choice.

NOTES:

1 	Certain windows will only be presented in the English language. Sometimes these are by my chose (Example About RptView). Others are because a window was outside my control (file open windows). These were custom controls over which I do not have control of the text. I hope this will not be confusing.

2 	The HELP system will always be in English.

3 	The language sections that I have provided may be incomplete in their translations. I am not a language expert and using the tools I had at hand, I did my best to translate single words and simple phrases. I did not even attempt to translate sentences.

IF YOU DO MAKE USE OF THE LANGUAGE CUSTOMIZATION OPTION, I WOULD TRULY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD SEND ME A COPY OF YOUR LANGUAGE SECTIONS. Either email or mail your changes to me. (Email and mailing addresses can be found in the Technical Support area of this Help file.)


Downloading Mainframe Reports

RptView32 does not contain the functionality to download report files from non PC / Network devices such as IBM mainframes. To bring your reports down to your PC / Network drive, please follow your company's procedures for performing this function.


RptView32 Real Estate

RptView contains several areas of screen real estate that you need to be familiar with.

Menu Bar

At the top is a menu bar that contains File, Edit, View, Tools, and Help menus.

Tool Bar

On the top is a toolbar of buttons to select various RptView32 functions such as Print, Copy, Find, etc. The Bar is scrollable. It can have one or two visible lines.

Status / Function Bar

At the bottom is a Status / Function bar that contains a Notes button and report name or description.

Also in the bar is a Go To Page function where you can enter a page number and go directly to that page. The current page is always shown. Listed at the end of the bar is the total number of pages in the report.

To the left of the Go To Page is a Repeat Find button. This button allows you to repeat a search once it has been initiated. The button is initially disabled (grayed out) and is enabled when a search has been initiated.

Report Viewing Area and Splitter Bars

In the middle is the report viewing area. This area can be split into four panes. From the viewing area you can select report data for copying to other applications or for printing. Titles, columns headings and row titles can be locked by using the mouse to drag the splitter bars.

Popup Menu

Right mouse clicking in the viewing area will bring up a popup menu that gives you a shortcut to many major functions.

See Also

View Area Splitting


View Area Splitting

The view area can be split on both row and column.

Splitting is accomplished by using the mouse to drag the row and column splitter bars. As the mouse is released a pop-up window is displayed that allows you to set the split position for:

First Page
All Pages
Odd Pages
Even Pages
Last Page.

Selecting positions that you want depends on structure of your report.

See Also

Sync Columns


Sync Columns

When splitting the viewing area on a column (splitting vertically), you can decide whether to keep the left column of the right viewing area synchronized with the right column of the left viewing area. If the columns are not synchronized you will be able to scroll the left column of the right viewing area past the right column of the left viewing area.


Opening A Report

Reports can be opened through the Open Dialog, Reopen Dialog, the Windows Explorer, or HTTP/FTP download after File Associations have been set.  These dialogs use the file filter found in the RPTVW32.INI which is located in the same directory as the EXE. This filter is customizable by editing the INI file with any ASCII text editor such as Notepad.

See Also

Report File Structure

INI Settings

Open Dialog

Reopen Dialog

Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer, HTTP/FTP Download


Open Dialog

The default Open dialog is a custom window allowing you access to reports stored in PKZip archives. The upper window within the dialog look like the normal Window's Open Dialog. The lower portion has advanced options for working with archived reports.

If you select a file in the upper window that has an RVA or ZIP extension, then the contents of the archive will be displayed in the lower window. If an archive description was associated with the archive it will display next to Archived Reports label. If a password is required the Password label will say Password: Required.

If a description was associated with the report, it will be listed in the Description column of the Archived Files list. The columns in the Archived Reports list can be sorted by clicking on the column headings.

To open a non-archived report:
1. Select the report in the upper file list.
2. Click the Open button.

To open an archived report:
1. Select the archive in the upper list.
2. Select the report in the lower Archived Reports list.
3. Enter a password if required.
4. Click the Open button.

After opening a report, you may want to modify the Report Description in the Status / Function bar at the bottom of the main window. This description is used in the Reopen Report Dialog.

Note: If you decide that you will not be using archiving in your environment then you can revert the Open dialog back to the standard windows dialog by setting the following Master INI entry OpenDialog=Standard.

See Also

Reopen Report Dialog

Archiving

Report Description


Reopen Report Dialog

The Reopen Report dialog allows you to reopen previously viewed reports. The list is initially sorted in descending Last Opened order. It can be resorted by clicking on any of the various column headers.

If a report was opened from an archive a Password maybe required.

If you try to open a report and it no longer exists you will receive an error message saying the "File is no longer available. Would you like to remove it from the list?".  You can also remove entries manually by selecting them in the list and clicking the Remove Entry button.

If you want to modify the Report Description, edit it in the Report Description box and click the Modify Description button.

To reopen a report:
1. Select the report in the list.
2. Enter a password if required for an archived report.
3. Click the Open button.

See Also

Open Dialog

Archiving

Report Description


Archiving

RptView16's report compression system has been replaced with a new archiving system that uses PKZip technology.

Report files can be archived into PKZip archives either from RptView32 or using any PKZip type tool. RptView32 can directly read from these archives. For report security reasons the archived files are unzipped into memory instead of being unzipped to temporary files. This is performed in background processes that allow you to immediately navigate through a report. A password can be associated with an archive to provide additional security.

To display the Archive dialog:
1. From the Menu Bar, select File / Archive.
               OR
2. Scroll down the TOOLBAR to find and click the Archive button.

You can either create a New Archive or Add to / Replace an existing Archive by toggling the options. If you select Add to /Replace an existing Archive then select the archive you wish work with from the list.

NOTE: If you wish to open a report stored in an Archive through the Windows Explorer, HTTP/FTP download, or from the command line, only store ONE report per Archive.

By default the Archive Name is the report name you are viewing for a new archive. You may want change the name if you are going to be adding additional reports to the archive.

You can enter an Archive Description for a new archive. You can also enter a Report Description with the report being added to a new or existing archive. The Report Description defaults to the Path and File name of the report and should be changed to better describe the report. These descriptions are displayed and can be sorted on in the Open and Reopen dialogs.

A Password can be associated with the archive. Check Password Required and enter the password twice. All reports in an archive must have the same password.

The archive Extension defaults to RVA but can be switched to ZIP if you like. The RVA extension adds additional visual security to the archive but it is still a Zip archive and can be opened with any PKZip compatible utility. The RVA does indicate that it was created from RptView32 or one of its companion programs.

Click the Archive button to archive the report. You will need to close the Archive dialog and display the Open dialog to open the report from the archive. (Note: If after you have opened an archived report you click File from the menu bar you will notice the Archive menu is unavailable. This is because you cannot archive a report that has been opened from an archive.)

Considerations:

1. When archiving from RptView32 or other companion programs, additional files (such as index files RVI) are added to the archive. To pick up these additional files, the master INI entry [Page Indices] / StoreIndicesIn must be set to ReportDir. This is the new default for RptView32. RptView16 was just the opposite. You will need to review your installation to determine if you want to switch this option. Future advanced indexing options may require that StoreIndicesIn=ReportDir.

2. Unzipping into memory uses the Windows Swap File to store objects that will not totally fit into memory. PC's should have a minimum of 32meg of memory (64 is probably better). Depending on the uncompressed file sizes the PC's local hard drive should have adequate free space for the Windows Swap file to expand. They probably should at least have 200meg of free space. When you close RptView32 Windows will shrink the Swap file back. Because of this you may experience some system slow down. You may also want to consider changing the Swap file options to create a permanent Swap File. If you do, make sure you make the file large enough to accommodate your needs.

3. Unzipping is done in background processes allowing the user to begin working with the report immediately while the unzipping is working. For very large reports, certain functions such as the Find or view area splitting may function slightly differently and be slower for a short period of time.

See Also

Opening a Report

Compression


Compression

RptView16 and it's companion batch compressing and indexing programs have the ability compress reports to conserve disk space. Depending on the report, compression ratios of 50% to 90% of the original report can be achieved.

The compression methods in RptView16 have been replaced with a new Archiving System in RptView32. RptView32 can read files compressed by the previous compress method. For more information about the new archiving system see the topic:

Archiving


Report Description

The Report Description is a customizable text string that helps describe the report. It is used in the Reopen Report dialog to help find and sort reports.

It is also displayed in the Status / Function bar at the bottom of the main window. Clicking on the "…" button next to the description displays a dialog where you can modify the description.

See Also

Reopen Report Dialog


Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer HTTP FTP
Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer, HTTP/FTP Download

Reports can be opened from the Windows Explorer or HTTP/FTP Download once a File Association has been created for the File Extension/Type that is being used for the reports. Once the association has been created, then a double-click of the report in the Windows Explorer will open the report in RptView32. An Internet File Download, Open will work the same way.

Not only can a report file be associated with RptView32, but so can report Archive files that contain the reports. If you use RptView32's Archive extension (RVA) and associate this extension with RptView32, then a double-click of the Archive in the Windows Explorer will open the report from inside the archive. A password protected Archive will display a prompt box to enter the password.  NOTE: AN ARCHIVE CAN ONLY CONTAIN ONE REPORT.

(See your Windows Help system of your specific operating system for steps on associating files with programs.)


Building Report View Pages

When initially opening a file, RptView32 tests for the presence of ASCII form feed characters and ANSI control characters.  If either is found, RptView32 will build an index of pages for quick access to the report. If neither are found, RptView32 will present the first 64k of the report as a plain text file placing as much of the report content as possible in the maximum viewing area allowed.

Currently, RptView32 can identify the following types of form control characters.

•	ASCII Form Feed - <FF> (Hex 0C) which causes a page eject before printing the line that contains the form feed.

•	ANSI Carriage Control Characters - These characters are present in the first column of each line of reports downloaded from such sources as IBM or UNIX mainframes. These characters are:

   1       	= page eject
   blank 	= single space
   0     	= double space
   -       	= triple space
  +	= suppress print

Conversion of these characters will be done before each report page is displayed for view.

For a report to be identified as having ANSI Carriage Control Characters the  Page Eject character (1) must be present in the FIRST COLUMN OF THE FIRST LINE of the report and no ASCII <FF> characters are present.

Line Control Characters

All report lines should terminate with ASCII <CR><LF> (Hex 0D OA). RptView32 can handle varying combinations of <CR>,<LF>, and <FF>.

Non-Displayable Characters

RptView32 will remove extraneous <CR> characters if they are located directly next to another <CR><LF> or <FF>. Other types of non-displayable ASCII characters will be cleaned away or mapped to other characters before displaying a page.


Paging thru a Report

There are two levels of paging or scrolling through a report.

In the Current Page

To scroll left or right in the current page, use the horizontal scroll bars at the bottom of the viewing area. The Heading and Body will scroll together. To scroll up or down in the Body of the current page use the vertical scroll bar to the right of the Body. You can also activate the Body by clicking in the Body and use the PageUP and PageDown keys on the keyboard.

Report Paging

The viewing area represents report information one page at a time. There are several ways to page up and down thru a report or go directly to a report page.

Page

One Page Up or Down

1 	From the TOOLBAR, click either the Pg Up or Pg Dn buttons
OR

2 	From the Menu Bar, select Edit / PageUp or Page Down.
OR

3 	From the keyboard, press the Ctrl+PageUp, F7 or Ctrl+PageDown, F8 keys.

See Also

Going directly to a page


GoTo Page

Page

From the bottom Status / Function Bar, click the page number in the box, type the page number you want to go to and click the Go To button or press the ENTER key on the keyboard.

You may also type "L", "l", "B", "b", "E" or "e" to Go To the last page of the report.  Likewise  "F", "f", "T" or "t" will take you to the first page of the report.

Hint: You actually do not need to click in the page number box. You can just start typing and RptView32 interact with your keystrokes.


Adjusting the viewing area

ToolBar

The height of the tool bar can be set to one or two rows.

Status Bar

The status bar can be hidden.

GreenBar Effect

The viewing area can be toggled between alternating Colored lines with White or the default Windows setting for the Active Window.

To toggle these settings from the Menu Bar select View / GreenBar Effect and then select a color or None.

The default in the INI file is MoneyGreen. (See INI Settings for changing this entry.)

Zoom

Viewing area character size

The size of the characters in the viewing area can be increased to improve readability or decreased to see more of a page. To change the size of the characters:

1 	From the TOOLBAR, click the Zoom In or Zoom Out buttons.
OR

2 	From the Menu Bar, select View / Zoom In or Zoom Out.

View Font

The font used in the viewing area can be changed. Only True-Type, fixed width fonts can be used. Scroll the Toolbar to find the drop-down list for the fonts.

See Also

View Area Splitting

Sync Columns


Finding information
Finding information on the report

You can search for character strings from the Find window. To activate the Find function:

1 	From the TOOLBAR, click the Find button
OR

2 	From the Menu Bar, select Edit / Find.
              OR

3 	Press the F2 function key on the keyboard.

You can search with up to three(3) search criteria using booleans. Your search can start from the current page or the top of the report. A history of each search is retained in the Find History list.

Find string
Enter up to three(3) strings you want to search for. The string can include upper and lower case characters, special characters, and spaces. Select either "AND", "OR" or 'NOT" as part of your search. The search sequence is left to right. Multiple search strings look for the combination of strings on one page.

Find History
A history of each search is retained in the Find History list. You can recall a previous search from the list and repeat a search or modify a previous search at anytime.
To recall a previous search:
1. Scroll the Find History list box if necessary.
2. Select the search from the list.
The search will appear in the appropriate Find boxes with the booleans set . You can modify the search once it appears.

Find Start from
Your search can start from the current page you are viewing or from the top of the report.
Select either the
from current Page
OR
Top of Report
radio option buttons.

Find
To begin a search, click the Find button. The search will be initiated. If the find is successful the main Find window will be closed and the Repeat Find button on the Status / Function bar will be enabled to repeat the search.

For multiple search strings, the first string found on a page in the left to right order of the search will be the one highlighted.

Searching with multiple strings will take longer than with a single string.

Canceling a Search in Progress
Click the Stop icon to cancel the search.

Clear History
You may clear the History list box of previous searches at any time by clicking the Clear History button.

See Also

Repeat Find


Find Repeat Find
Repeat Find

Once a search has been initiated, the Repeat Find button on the Status / Function Bar will be enabled to allow you to continue the search. To repeat a search:

1 	Click the Repeat Find button on the Status / Function Bar
OR

2 	From the Menu Bar, Select Edit / Repeat Find
OR

3 	Press the F3 function key on the keyboard.

Canceling a Search in Progress.
Click the Stop icon to cancel the search.

To initiate a new search, click the Find button on the TOOLBAR.


Bookmarks

There may be times as you view a report that you would want to return to previous pages. Page Bookmarks can be useful to help you return to previously viewed pages. The Bookmark window can be used to set a bookmark for a page and to jump to a page previously marked with a bookmark.

Bookmarks are saved between sessions unless disabled through an INI setting. A description can also be attached to bookmark to assist in searching for previous bookmarks.

To activate the Bookmarks window:

1 	From the TOOLBAR, click the Book marks button
OR

2 	From the Menu Bar, select Edit / Bookmarks.

Adding a Bookmark
To add a bookmark:
1. Click the Add button. The Bookmarks window will reduce in size allowing you to see more of the page and to copy text from the page to paste into the Description.
2. Select the text in the viewing area, click the Copy button on the TOOLBAR, and click Paste Description in the Bookmarks window. You can also type a description.
3. Click the Save button to save the bookmark. The window will restore to its normal size.
4. To cancel adding a bookmark, click the Cancel button.

Searching for a Bookmark
To search for a bookmark:
1. Click in the Search box.
2. Begin typing the description you are looking for. The list will begin reducing to bookmark descriptions that match what you have typed.
3. You can also scroll through the Bookmark Description list looking for descriptions visually.

Go To a Bookmarked page.
1. Select a bookmark in the List.
2. Click the Go To Page button to go to the marked page. The Bookmarks window will close and RptView32 will go to the page selected.

Changing a Bookmark Description
To change a bookmark description:
1. Select a bookmark you wish to change in the Bookmark list at the bottom of the window.
2. To reduce the size of the Bookmarks window, click the Change button. The window will reduce in size allowing you to see more of the page and to copy text from the page to paste into the Description. Copy and paste text in as described in the Adding a Bookmark above.
3. Or just click in the Bookmark Description box and begin typing changes.
4. Click the Save button to save the changes. If the window was reduced in size it will restore to its normal size.
5. To cancel changing a bookmark, click the Cancel button.

Deleting a Single Bookmark
To delete a single bookmark:
1. Select a bookmark you wish to delete in the Bookmark list at the bottom of the window.
2. Click the Delete button.
3. You will receive a Confirmation window allowing you to cancel the deletion.
4. Click the Yes button to delete the bookmark.

Clearing all Bookmarks for a report
To clear all bookmarks for a report:
1. Click the Clear All Bookmarks button.
2. You will receive a Confirmation window allowing you to cancel the deletion.
3. Click the Yes button to clear all the bookmarks.


Page Notes

One of the missing things in having an electronic version of a report is the ability to write notes on the page for later reference. RptView32 allows you to "write in the white space"  (so to speak) of a page. Multiple notes can be kept on a page.

Depending on the location of the Notes Directory as set in Master INI entry NotesDir, notes can be either local to a user or shared among users.

When a note is present for a page, the Notes button in the Status / Function Bar at the bottom of the main window will turn Red and will continuously blink.

Clicking on the Notes button will Show or Hide the Notes Area at the bottom of the main window. From the Notes Area you can do the following:

1. Click the Notes - Add button to display the Notes Dialog from which you can Add, Change, Delete, and Search for notes in the report.
2. Scroll the Notes Title list to read multiple notes on a page. Every note must have a title. The title is used to search for notes in the Notes Dialog.
3. Clicking the Edit Current Note button will place you into edit mode and you change the note directly in the Notes Area.
4. Resize the height of the Notes Area. The Notes Area by default displays 2 lines. The height can be adjusted using the mouse to drag a splitter bar that is at the top of the Notes Area.

Notes Dialog

Adding a Note
To add a Note:
1. Click the Add button. The Notes Dialog will be resized so you can see more information on the page.
2. Enter a title in the Notes Title. All notes need a title. The title is used to search for notes.
3. Enter the text of the note into the Notes edit box.
5. Click the Save button to save the note. The dialog will restore to its normal size.
6. To cancel adding a note, click the Cancel button.

Searching for a Note.
To search for a note:
1. Select either Notes for this Page or Notes for All Pages.
2. Click in the Search box.
3. Begin typing the title of the note you are looking for. The list will begin reducing note titles that match what you have typed.
4. You can also scroll through the Notes Title list looking for titles visually.

Go To the Page containing the note.
1. Select a Note in the List.
2. Click the Go To Page button to go to the page containing the note. The Notes dialog will close and RptView32 will go to the page selected.

Changing the Text of a Note
To change the text of a note:
1. Select a Note you wish to change in the Note Title list at the bottom of the dialog.
2. To reduce the size of the Notes Dialog, click the Change button. The window will reduce in size allowing you to see more of the page.
3. Click in the Notes edit box and begin typing your changes.
4. Click the Save button to save the changes. If the window was reduced in size it will restore to its normal size.
5. To cancel changing a note, click the Cancel button.

Deleting a Single Note
To delete a single note:
1. Select a Note Title you wish to delete in the Note Title list at the bottom of the dialog.
2. Click the Delete button.
3. You will receive a Confirmation window allowing you to cancel the deletion.
4. Click the Yes button to delete the note.

Clearing all Notes for a Page or a Report
To clear notes:
1. Select either Notes for this Page or Notes for All Pages.
2. Click the Clear Notes button.
3. You will receive a Confirmation window allowing you to cancel the deletion.
4. Click the Yes button to clear all the notes.

 Closing the Notes dialog
To close the Notes dialog, click the Close button or press the ESC key on your keyboard.

See Also

INI Settings


RvCopy
Copy

Unformatted and unparsed information from the viewing area can be copied to the Windows Clipboard and pasted into other applications.

Select the information in any of the viewing areas:

1 	From the TOOLBAR, click the Copy button
OR

2 	From the Menu Bar, select Edit / Copy
OR

3 	From the keyboard, press Ctrl+C.

See Also

Parse N Copy to Spreadsheets and Database Applications


Parse N Copy

The Parse N Copy feature takes selected or highlighted text from a RptView32 window and parses the text into individual fields and copies the parsed data to the Window's Clipboard. The data can then be pasted into such applications as spreadsheets and databases explorers. The data will be spread across multiple columns and rows in the receiving application.

Parse N Copy is an interactive process requiring the user to select the data that is to be parsed and copied. It is NOT an automated process that runs through a report parsing multiple pages.

To display the Parse N Copy Toolbar:
1. Click the P Copy Bar… button on the TOOLBAR
               OR
2. From the Menu Bar, select Edit / Parse N Copy Bar.

(Any split windows will disappear to allow you to select information.)

The simplest Parse N Copy steps are:
1. In the Parse N Copy Toolbar, make sure the Template is set to "(No Template)".
2. Scroll the Parse N Copy Toolbar to where you can see the "Parse N Copy From View Area" group box.
3. Select / highlight partial, full, or multiple lines in the viewing area.
4. Click the COPY button in the "Parse N Copy From View Area" group box.
5. Task Switch to the receiving application (spreadsheet or database) and execute the Paste function.

That's it! Your data should have spread itself across multiple columns and rows depending on what you selected.

HOW DOES RptView32 PARSE SELECTED TEXT.
There are two methods of Parse N Copy functionality, No Template and Template. Parsing templates can be created to include / exclude columns of data from the selected text. (See Parse N Copy Settings for instructions on how to create and use a Template.)

The No Template method parses based upon the following criteria:
1. Data is parsed into separate fields when two or more spaces are found between data in the selected text.
2. Data that can be recognized as numeric is unformatted to remove special symbols such a currency, commas, etc. Special formatting such as CR (credit) are converted to negative signs. Percentages are converted to their decimal equivalents.

**Important Note** This release can only work with English (U.S.) formatted numbers.

See Also

Parse N Hold

Parse N Copy Templates


Parse N Hold

Parse N Hold provides you with the ability to parse multiple selections of text on the same page or across different pages. Each selected area is held until you decide to send it to the Clipboard.

HOW DO I PARSE N HOLD
From the Parse N Copy Toolbar:
1. Scroll the Parse N Copy Toolbar to where you can see the "Parse N Copy From View Area" group box.
2. Select / highlight partial, full, or multiple lines in the viewing area.
3. Click the Parse N Hold button.
4. Select another area of text on the same page or a different page and click Parse N Hold a second time.
5. Repeat Step 4 as many times as necessary.
6. Click the Copy Held button.
7. Task Switch to the receiving application (spreadsheet or database) and execute the Paste function.

Clear Held
Clicking this button clears the buffer that holds the Parse N Held text.

Parse N Hold Options
Each selected area of parsed text can be placed on a new row or added to the same row depending on the setting found in the Parse N Copy Settings Window.

The options are:
1. Advance to New Row.
2. Continue on Same Row.

The standard setting for most Parse N Hold events should be the Advance to New Row. Continue on Same Row should normally be used with No Template when you want to place random selections of data on the same row in your spreadsheet or database.

See Also

Parse N Copy Templates


Parse N Copy Templates

Parse N Copy templates provide you with the ability to create custom parsing templates to include / exclude columns of data from the text areas selected for parsing and copying. You can also choose how the data is treated; Character, Numeric - Unformatted (remove currency signs, commas, etc.) or Numeric - Keep Format (retain currency signs, commas, etc.) **Note** (Either Numeric treatment converts special Positive / Negative symbols to positive or negative numbers. (e.g. DB / DR / CR (Debit / Credit symbols.)

A parsing template can be added to the Available Templates list and saved for future use. The template can be made the active template for the remainder of the viewing session. Also the template can be set as the default template. The next time the report is opened, the default template is active for any Parse N Copy events.

See Also

How Do I Create A Template

Using An Existing Template

Setting A Template As The Default

Modifying An Existing Template

Removing A Template

Why Have Several Templates For One Report

INI Settings


How Do I Create A Template

Before you begin creating a new template, I would suggest that you review several pages of the report to understand your data and find a page that best fits the extract that you want to perform. You may even want to print this page and make notes.

To create a new template perform the following steps:
1. From the Parse N Copy Toolbar click the Template button and click New.

2. Enter a name for the template in the New Template window. (Maximum characters are 20 and spaces are permitted between words.)

3. Click the Default check box if you wish to make this template the default template for the report.

4. Scroll down one row of the Parse N Copy Toolbar until you see Parse N Copy Design.

5. To identify the data column that you want to include in the parsing, select / highlight the values in the report viewing area. Make sure you pick adequate blank space around the value to pick up the largest possible value for that column.

6. Click one of the following three buttons to include that area of the report in the template mask.
- Character (C) - Treats the area as character. What you see is what you get.
- Numeric - Unformat (U) - Treats the area as numeric and completely converts the area to a pure numeric value. (Currency signs, commas, etc. are removed. Percents are converted to their decimal equivalent. DB / DR / CR (Debits / Credits) symbols are converted to positive / negative numbers. Negative signs at the end of a value are placed in the front.)
- Numeric - Keep Format (F) - Formatting symbols (currency, percent symbols) are retained. Only special symbols representing positive / negative values are converted.
The area below the Parse N Copy Toolbar is the Template Design Box. The first line shows the type of format. The second line represents the column blocks to be parsed. Column blocks can bump up to each other.

7. After you have identified at least one column in the template, click the Save button to save the changes. Clicking the Save button saves the Parse N Copy template to a file named <reportname>.RVS in the directory identified in either the Master/System or User RPTVW32.INI file. (See INI Settings.)

8. To clear a selected column, select / highlight columns in the Template Design Box. Click the Clear Selection button. Make sure your selection includes both end brackets.

9. To include more column blocks, repeat steps 5 and 6 above and click the Save button to save the template.

10. This template is now the active template.


Using An Existing Template

To use an existing template:

1. Select a template from the drop-down list.


Setting A Template As The Default

A template may be chosen as the active template each time the report is opened.

To set a template as the default:

1. Select the template from the drop-down list.

2. Click the Default check box.

3. Click the Save button.


Modifying An Existing Template

To modify an existing template:

1. Select the template you want from the drop-down list. The template mask will appear in the Template Design Box.

2. Follow the steps outlined in How Do I Create a New Template to make changes to the template mask.

3. Click the Save button to save the changes.


Removing A Template

To remove a template from the report:

1. Select the template you want from the drop-down list.

2. Click the Template button.

3. Click Delete.


Why Have Several Templates For One Report

You may want different templates to select different columns based upon the needs of the target application. You may want a template to extract detail of a report and another for totals where the make up of the columns are different.


Save To File

Save To File allows you to save portions of the currently opened report. You can save to a new file, or write over or append to an existing file. The Save To File toolbar will show the name of the file you are saving to and the size of the file as you add to the file.

To activate the Save To File Toolbar:

1. From the Menu Bar, select File / Save To File.

                OR

2. Scroll the TOOLBAR down until you find the Save To File button and click on it.

Uses for Save To File

You can use Save To File to manually break a large report into smaller reports. Another use would be to save total information to a separate report.

Basic Steps for Saving to a File

1 	Click New File to open a new file to save to.

2 	Select Pages or Text you want to save.

3 	Click the Add to File to add the Pages or Text to the file.

4 	Click Save File to periodically save the file and create a temporary backup to assist in Undoing new additions.

5 	Click Close File to close the file when completed.

Current Page

Selecting Current Page will allow you to add the page you are viewing to the file.

Selected Text

Select the text in the viewing area that you want added to the file. If you also want a Form Feed Character to precede the selected text, click on Form Feed Before.

All Pages

Select this option and all pages of the report will be written to the file.

Pages

Pages will allow you to save a range of pages. When Pages is first clicked, From and To will be set to the current page. From and To will automatically adjust as you change pages in the viewing area. This allows you use the Find or Bookmark functions to assist in setting the range of pages to be saved.

The Set Page button next to Pages allows you to reset the From and To page numbers to the currently viewed page.

Add to File

Click Add to File to add the current page, selected text, or range of pages to the file.

New File

Clicking New File will open a dialog Drive / Directory / File window. Select a drive and directory where you want to store the file and type a  name for the new file.

Note: If you are running from a network you may need to select a directory that you have Update rights. See your Network Administrator if you need assistance.

Open to Overwrite an existing file

Clicking Open to Overwrite an existing file will open a dialog Drive / Directory / File window. Select a file that you want to overwrite.

Open to Append to the end of an existing file

Clicking Open to Append to the end of an existing file will open a dialog Drive / Directory / File window. Select a file that you want to append to. Additional information will be added to the end of the file.

Save File

Clicking Save File will commit the additions to the file and allow you to Undo further additions to the file.

Undo

Clicking Undo will revert the file contents back to just after the last time you saved.

Close File

Clicking Close File will close the file not allowing further additions.

Delete File

Delete File will let you delete the currently open file or any other file from a file selection window.

Exit

Exit will close the Save To File Toolbar. If you did not save the file you were working on you will be given the opportunity before exiting.

Notes:

The data contents of the file will be same as the original report. ANSII carriage control characters will be converted to the standard ASCII Form Feed and Carriage Return / Line Feed Characters. Unnecessary or non-standard control characters will be removed or correctly converted.


RVPrint
Print

The purpose of RptView32 is to minimize the use of paper reports. There are times when paper is required. From the Print window, you can print the current page, selected text, a range of pages, bookmarked pages, or all pages.

To activate the Print window:

1 	From the TOOLBAR, click the Print button
OR

2 	From the Menu Bar, select File / Print.
              OR

3 	3. Press the F6 function key on the keyboard.

RptView32 can print reports that were originally formatted for 8 Lines Per Inch. Also, depending on the font used and margin settings, 132 column reports may be able to be printed in Portrait mode. RptView32 comes with several custom True-Type fonts that provide improved viewing and printing.

See Also

Range

Copies

Page Setup

Printer Setup


Print Range

You can print the Current Page, Selected Text, Pages From / To, All Pages, or Bookmarked Pages. Select the corresponding print option button for the range you would like to print.

Current Page

Prints the current page you are viewing.

Selected Text

Select the text in the Heading or Body area that you want to print.

Pages From: / To:

Select this option and enter the From and To page numbers. If you want to print only one page different from the current page, enter the page number in the From.

All Pages

Select this option and all pages of the report will be printed.

Bookmarked Pages

Select this option and all the bookmarked pages will be printed.


Print Copies
Print Copies and Exit after printing

Copies

You can enter the number of copies you would like to print. The default is 1.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Copies will not function if the Windows printer driver you are using does not support mulitple copies. Check the Printer Setup for the current print driver to see if there is an option to set the number of copies.

Exit after printing is done

If checked, closes the Print dialog when after the printing is completed. If unchecked, the Print dialog stays open after printing is completed.


Print Page Setup

Print Font Name and Size
You can change fonts for printing. Only fixed-width fonts are shown in the drop-down list.

The default font size allows for a 132 column report page to print completely on one 8 1/2 x 11 inch, landscape page. The font size can be adjusted for the current session.

If you know your report contains less lines or you are printing selected text,  you can adjust the font size to improve readability.

Also, if your are using the font RptVwPrt provided with RptView32, you should be able to print a 132 column report in portrait mode as long as the left margin is set to 0.

Print Orientation
The default print orientation is Landscape. This allows for printing of a typical mainframe report page. You can change the orientation to Portrait if you know the information you are printing will fit correctly on the paper.

Toggle between Landscape or Portrait to pick the orientation.

Print Margins
You can adjust the Print margins in either inches or centimeters.

Print Printer Setup
Select Printer Setup to change printers, paper sizes, etc. These changes are only effective for RptView32 and will not alter the current Windows Printer Setup.

Certain options such as number of pages and orientation are controlled from the Print window and not from the Printer Setup windows.


Print Printer Setup
Printer Setup

Select Printer Setup to change printers, paper sizes, etc. These changes are only effective for the current session and will not alter the current Windows default Printer Setup.

Certain options such as number of pages and orientation are controlled from the Print window and not from the Printer Setup windows.


Viewing Multiple Reports

RptView32 does not allow you to view multiple reports within the same session. To view more than one report, start additional RptView32 sessions. You can then size each RptView main window and place multiple reports side-by-side to perform comparisons, etc.

See Also

Opening a report


Integration with Other Applications

RptView32 can be integrated with other custom applications that can create and store reports on disk in ASCII format. RptView32 can be launched from within a program using the syntax of the Command Line found in a Windows Shortcut. Your development language must be able to support launching of other Windows programs.

RptView32 can also be setup as a Helper application in Internet Browsers.

The command line used within your launching function would look something similar to the following example:

C:\RPTVIEW\RPTVW32.EXE C:\RPTVIEW\REPORTS\SAMPLE.RPT 6 12345

Command Line Components:

<EXE> C:\RPTVIEW\RPTVW32.EXE
(Path to RptView32 executable)

<INI OVERRIDE> INI=C:\INIFILES\RVINI01.INI/
(The INI file on the command line overrides the Master INI in the directory containing the Exe. The forward slash "/" is used as a delimiter.)
(With a report file) INI=C:\INIFILES\RVINI01.INI/G:\REPORTS\REPORT.RPT

<REPORT FILE> C:\RPTVIEW\REPORTS\SAMPLE.RPT
(Path to report file saved to disk as an ASCII file)
OR
<STARTUP REPORT DIRECTORY> C:\REPORTS\
(Sets startup report directory for File Open Dialog. Trailing slash "\" is required to identify it as a directory path and not a file.)
NOTE: An Archive (RVA, ZIP, etc.) containing ONE report can also be opened from the command line. The Archive can be password protected. A prompt box will be displayed to enter the password.

<NUMBER OF LINES IN HEADER> 6
(Number of lines in Header. Can be set to 0)

<WINDOW HANDLE>
12345
(Handle to main window of program launching RptView32. If this parameter is passed, RptView32 will bring to top the launching program when closed. It will also act similar to a Modal window, meaning that if the user tries to task switch back to the calling application, RptView32 will stay on top.)

<HEADER FORMAT>	C  (Compressed Text, blank lines removed)
U  (Uncompressed Text, blank lines retained)
X  (Placeholder, use default which is Compressed Text)
(Instructs RptView32 to remove or leave blank lines in the Header of the View Area.)

<PRINT ORIENTATION>	L (Landscape)
                                          P (Portrait)
                                          X (Placeholder, use INI Setting)
(Instructs RptView32 to override the Print INI Setting.)

<PRINT FONT SIZE>	Integer between 3 and 16, inclusive.
                                          X (Placeholder, use INI Setting)
(Instructs RptView32 to override the PrntFontSize Setting.)

<VIEW FONT SIZE>	Integer greater than 5
                                          X (Placeholder, use INI Setting)
(Instructs RptView32 to override the PrntFontSize Setting.)

Also, if the report file should be treated as a temporary file which should be deleted after being viewed by RptView32, set all three characters of the file extension to the  "~" character.  (Example: MYREPORT.~~~). RptView32 will delete the file when either a new report is opened within the session or when RptView32 is closed.

Placeholders are required for parameters in the middle of the command string when trailing parameters are needed.

Other Examples:

C:\RPTVIEW\REPORTS\SAMPLE.~~~ 6 1234 U L

C:\RPTVIEW\REPORTS\SAMPLE.RPT 0 0 C P
(No handle, zero lines in header)

C:\REPORTS\ 0 0 X L
(Sets startup Report Directory for File Open. Use placeholder default/ini settings for Header Format.)

C:\RPTVIEW\REPORTS\SAMPLE.RPT 6 1234
(Defaults/ini settings are used if any trailing parameters are not included.)

You should also review the Administration section of the Master INI  and disable or hide any features that you do not want available.


Embedding on Removable Media

RptView32 can be embedded directly on a removable media such as CD-ROM, Zip Disks, etc.

It is suggested that you install RptView32 and all of its required files at the root directory of the removable media but this is not necessarily required.

The Master RPTVW32.INI must be included on the removable media and should be pre-configured before installation. Please review the INI Settings of this manual or the Help system. The following INI Setting changes should be considered.

[FILES]
ReportDir
RptSettingsDir
PageIndiceDir

The Drive Letter should be removed from these settings in the Master RPTVW32.INI to allow portability to different PC's or servers that may assign a different drive letter to the removable media device.

Example:
[FILES]
ReportDir=\REPORTS
RptSettingsDir=\RPTVIEW\RVRPTST
PageIndiceDir=\RVINDICE

RptView, will automatically assign the Drive Letter of the removable media device where the RptView EXE is located to each setting's path.

[ADMINISTRATION]
AllowUserUpdtSettings
AllowUserINI

If you have configured the Master RPTVW32.INI to allow the user to save Parsing Templates, save Bookmarks, and save Notes ([ADMINISTRATION] / AllowUserUpdtSettings=Yes), then it is recommended that the [ADMINISTRATION] / AllowUserINI setting be set to Yes.
[ADMINISTRATION]
AllowUserINI=Yes

This will allow the users to store files to a local or network drive and change other settings (such as Language) in the User RPTVW32.INI stored in the user's Window directory.

[Page Indices]
SaveIndices
StoreIndicesIn

[Page Indices]
The SaveIndices setting should be set to NO.
SaveIndices=NO
This will assure that RptView32 does not try to write back to the removable media.

The StoreIndicesIn setting should be set as follows:
StoreIndicesIn=ReportDir
Use this setting on both your PC/Server in the RPTVW32.INI fixed media where you are originally configuring the files and the RPTVW32.INI configured to be stored on the removable media. You can then store both reports and RptView32 Index files in the same directory(s).


Index

#

4-Way Splitting

4-Way Splitting of View Area

A

active template

AddFileFilter

Adjusting the viewing area

ADMINISTRATION

AllowNotes

AllowUserINI

AllowUserIni

AllowUserUpdtSettings

Embedding on Removable Media

INI Settings

ANSI

Archive

Archived Reports

Archives

Open Dialog

Reopen Report Dialog

Archiving

ASCII

Building Report View Pages

Compression

Report File Structure

B

BAK

Bookmarks

BookMarks

BookMarks

INI Settings

Bookmarks, Printing

Bottom of Report "L", "l', "B", "b", "E", "e"

Building Report View Pages

C

Carriage Control Characters

CD-ROM

CleanScreen

Clear Held

COBOL

Command Line

Compression

Archiving

Compression

Contents

Copies - Print

Copy

Copy Held

CRLF

Ctrl+PageDown

Ctrl+PageUp

Custom applications

D

Data Extraction Programs

Database

Default Template

DeleteBackup

Down loading reports

Downloading mainframe reports

E

Edit - Find

Embedding on Removable Media

End of Report  "L", "l', "B", "b", "E", "e"

Enhancements

ExcludeExtensions

EXE

Exit after printing is done

Explorer

F

FF

FILE - Print

File Associations

Opening a report

Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer HTTP FTP

File filter pattern

FileFilter

Find

Compression

Finding information

Find - Edit

Find Repeat Find

Finding information

First Page

FONTS

Form Feed

Building Report View Pages

Report File Structure

Fortran

FTP Download

Opening a report

Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer HTTP FTP

Future Enhancements

G

Generation Reports

German

GoTo Page

GoTo Page

RptView32 Real Estate

GreenBar Effect

Group

H

Header

INI Settings

View Area Splitting

HeaderFormat

Help

Hiding the TOOLBAR

History - Page

How Do I Create A Template

How To

HTTP Download

Opening a report

Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer HTTP FTP

I

IBM Mainframe

Information Bar

INI Overrides

INI Settings

INI Settings

Language

INI Settings for Archiving

Integration with Other Applications

International

Internet Browser

Integration with Other Applications

Opening a report

Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer HTTP FTP

Internet File Download - Open

Introduction

L

LandPort

Landscape

Language

INI Settings

Language

Last Page

LeftMargin

LeftMarginWastePlusTenths

Licensing

LightGray

M

Mainframe reports

mask - template

Master INI

INI Settings

Integration with Other Applications

Menu Bar

Modal

Modifying An Existing Template

MoneyGreen

Multiple Reports - Viewing

N

No Template

Parse N Copy

Parse N Copy Templates

Notes

Number of Lines in the Header

O

Open

Open Dialog

OpenDialog

OpenDialog INI Setting

Opening a report

Opening Reports from the Windows Explorer HTTP FTP

Operating Environment

Ordering

P

Page

Paging thru a report

Report File Structure

Page History

Page Notes

Page Splitting Positions

PageDown Key

PageIndiceDir

Embedding on Removable Media

INI Settings

PageSettingsDir

PageUp Key

Paging

Paging thru a report

Parse

Parse N Copy

Parse N Copy

RvCopy

Parse N Copy Templates

Parse N Hold

Parsed

ParseNCopy

Parsing Templates

Password protection of Archives

PgD - TOOLBAR

PgU - TOOLBAR

PlainTextBufferSizeWhenGreenBarEQNone

Popup Menu

Portrait

Print

Print - FILE

Print Copies

Print Margins

Print Page Setup

Print Printer Setup

Print Range

PrntFont

PrntFontsAvail

Problems

Procedures

Purchasing

Purchasing and Licensing

Q

Questions

R

Reference

Registering

Registration

Removable Media

Removing A Template

Reopen

Reopen Report Dialog

Repeat Find

Find Repeat Find

Finding information

Report Description

Open Dialog

Reopen Report Dialog

Report Description

Report File

Report File Structure

ReportDir

Embedding on Removable Media

INI Settings

Right mouse

RptIndex

Compression

INI Settings

RptSettingsDir

RPTVIEW.INI

Embedding on Removable Media

Language

RptView32 Real Estate

RPTVW32.INI

RVA

Archiving

Open Dialog

Reopen Report Dialog

RvAppStartupSize

RvCopy

RVI

RVLANG.INI

INI Settings

Language

RVPrint

S

Save To File

Compression

Save To File

SaveBookmarks

SaveIndices

SaveReopenFileList

SaveToFile

Scrolling thru a report

Setting A Template As The Default

short-cut key

Showing the TOOLBAR

SoftWindows

Spanish

Splitter Bars

RptView32 Real Estate

View Area Splitting

Spreadsheet

StartPages

StoreIndicesIn

Support

Sync Columns

System Requirements

T

Technical Support

Template

Parse N Copy

Parse N Copy Templates

Template Default

template mask

Temporary report files

TOOLBAR

ToolBar

TOOLBAR - PgD

TOOLBAR - PgU

Toolbar Height

Top of Report "F", "f", "T" or "t"

TopMargin

Trade-Up

U

Unix

Upgrades

UseIndices

User INI

Using An Existing Template

V

Version History

View

VIEW - Hiding & Showing

VIEW - Zoom In

VIEW - Zoom Out

View Area Splitting

View Font

ViewFont

Viewing area

Adjusting the viewing area

Paging thru a report

Viewing Area

RptView32 Real Estate

View Area Splitting

Viewing Multiple Reports

W

Welcome

Why Have Several Templates For One Report

Why use RptVw

Windows 95

Windows Explorer

WinNT 3.51

WinNT 4.0

WinNT Problems

Z

ZIP

Archiving

Open Dialog

Reopen Report Dialog

Zoom In - View

Zoom Out - View


Clear Held

Clicking this button clears the buffer that holds the Parse N Held text.

See Also

Parse N Hold


Copy Held

Clicking this button releases the held parsed text to the Window's Clipboard.

See Also

Parse N Hold


Body

The area of a  page being viewed that contains the the primary data content of the page.


default template

The parsing template that is active when the report is first opened.


file filter pattern

Example( *.rpt;*.txt)


Header

The area of a  page being viewed that contains the locked title and column headings.


Heading

The area of a  page being viewed that contains the locked title and column headings.


mainframe report page

A typical mainframe report page contains 132 characters per line and 55 to 60 lines per page.


No Template

Default parsing criteria used when no Custom Template is the active template.


page

All the report data between two form-feed control characters embedded in the report.


RVS

Extension used for files that store various report setting information.


template mask

A string mask of special characters that represents the areas of a template line that are included ./ excluded from the template. Also shows the format treatment of each selected column.


ToolBar

The bar on the right side of the view area that contains quick access buttons yo most used functions.


viewing area

The area of RptVw that contains the heading and body of the report you are currently viewing.