Controlling Break Fields for "Totals Only" in Report Definitions

While SB+ provides many report parameters as @RV.xxx (stored in common variable OTHER( 8 )), one of the useful items that is not available is the "Totals Only" flag. I usually use the break lines to provide nice formatting/spacing, but this format looks terrible if someone chooses to run a Totals Only report instead of a Detail report. In the past, I've had to write two different reports. I just found a way to provide the control I need in a single report.

There are two @RV.xxx items that make this possible. @RV.LINE has the detail line to be printed. @RV.BREAK.CNT has a sequential break section number to print. If both of these are 1, it means that the first break section is being printed as the first line of the report. I found I could use this to control my break sections.

First, in the Process at Start for the report, I need to set a control flag, e.g., USERDATA(1), to zero. Then, in the Process Before Break slot, I added this test [Edit: Added @RV.PAGE]:

IF (@RV.PAGE+0) = 0 AND @RV.LINE = 1 AND @RV.BREAK.CNT = 1 THEN @USERDATA(1) = 1

At this point, @USERDATA(1) can be tested as a "Totals Only" flag.

Here's a sample of how this is useful. I have a report that prints Invoices for a Customer. The (trimmed) layout is:

C Cust # Invoice # Invoice Amount D XXXXXX XXXXXXXXX 999,999,999.99 B -------------- B XXXXXX Total 999,999,999.99 B G ============== G Grand Total 999,999,999.99

With this layout, a detailed report looks great, with "footer" lines before each total. However, if I run a totals only report, each customer's summary takes three lines, including a leading "footer" line, which looks terrible. With the new flag, I can close this up by adding Conditional fields on the non-data break lines with this condition:

IF(@USERDATA(1),1,0)

When I do this, the Totals Only report has just one line per customer, and just the single footer before the Grand Total.

[EDIT] If the Grand Total line is on a page by itself, I can also supress the row of Equal Signs by using IF(@RV.LINE=1,1,0)

Personally, I think IBM should add this flag to @OTHER( 8 )/@RV.xxx list, but at least there's a solution available until that happens.

--Tom Pellitieri