Chapter 4 Using the Report Editor

Report Templates

You can use a report template to generate a report for a selected model. Report templates are reusable, they list information to include in reports.

You can create your own template in a given language, modify it and save it in an RTP file. However, when you use a template created in a language different from the one you select to create your report, only user-defined items such as Title or Text paragraph will keep the language of the template. Other items will be displayed in the report language.

You can also use standard report templates that ship with PowerDesigner.

You can apply a template to a report when you create the report using the List of Reports or afterwards, using the list of report sections in the report property sheet.

For each report section, you can apply a different template, but all sections are always of the same type as the model, for which you generate the report.

The Report Template Editor is an independent module. It allows template creation and modification. You can open the Report Template Editor with no model attached to it.

A report template is an independent and reusable file saved on your hard disk, which indicates what information to include in your report.

You can use this file to quickly generate model reports or multi-model reports (several models in the same report).

With the Report Template Editor, you can:

Create a template
Modify a template
Save a template in a .RTP file

You can use standard PowerDesigner templates (see "Creating a report with a standard template" in the Creating Model and Multi-Model Reports chapter) or create your own templates.