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Individual Reports - Tables Within Tables

Spizzy01

By Spizzy01
in MIS Systems

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Spizzy01

Spizzy01

Posted
Posted

Hi All,

 

I'm trying to make some modifications to a template we use for student reports, however it simply doesn't want to play ball at all.

 

The way it is currently set up is that there is a 1 column table with multiple rows with report information within each cell like this:

 

[TABLE=class: outer_border, width: 500]

[TR]

[TD]Art

Baseline: - Prediction: - Effort:

Attendance:

 

Teacher Comment:

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Biology

Baseline: - Prediction: - Effort:

Attendance:

 

Teacher Comment:

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

However, we need to put the 'Baseline', 'Prediction' and 'Effort' sections into a table so it actually looks presentable, hence the requirement of a table within a table. The only problem with this is that because there is a table within a table the system refuses to 'Remove Report Sections that contain no Results'. So the areas of the report that have no data (the student doesn't study the subject) are still present after the report is generated, but the sections contain no data - just a blank table within a table.

 

What we're looking for/hoping for is something like this:

 

[TABLE=class: outer_border, width: 500]

[TR]

[TD]Art

[TABLE=width: 500]

[TR]

[TD]Baseline:

[/TD]

[TD]Prediction:

[/TD]

[TD]Effort:

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Attendance:

 

Teacher Comment:

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Biology

[TABLE=width: 500]

[TR]

[TD]Baseline:

[/TD]

[TD]Prediction:

[/TD]

[TD]Effort:

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Attendance:

 

Teacher Comment:

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

 

Does anyone know if this is at all possible? :) Any help would be greatly appreciated!

LosOjos

LosOjos

Posted
Posted (edited)

Each report section should be it's own table with only a line break between each closing/opening tag. If you get an error saying you can't put a report section tag inside a table, put the tag one line below, then delete the empty line. from your example, it would look like this (without the blank line separating the tables from the tags, can't remove it on here!):

 

<>

[table=width: 500, class: outer_border]

[tr][td]Art[/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Baseline:[/td][td]Prediction:[/td][td]Effort:[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Attendance:[/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Teacher Comment:[/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]

[/table]

<><>

[table=width: 500, class: outer_border]

[tr][td]Biology[/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Baseline:[/td][td]Prediction:[/td][td]Effort:[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Attendance:[/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Teacher Comment:[/td][td][/td][td][/td][/tr]

[/table]<>

 

Then when the report is generated, because the tags are removed the tables should get merged in to one with the empty subjects removed :)

Edited by LosOjos
  • Thanks 1
Spizzy01

Spizzy01

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Ah right... Thanks for that, I'll give it a shot.

 

Is the <> tag a hidden tag or something? It's not a selectable field from what's available in the list SIMS.Net provides, so I'm a little curious to know how you came to know about it? Is it in some form of documentation somewhere?

LosOjos

LosOjos

Posted
Posted
Ah right... Thanks for that, I'll give it a shot.

 

Is the <> tag a hidden tag or something? It's not a selectable field from what's available in the list SIMS.Net provides, so I'm a little curious to know how you came to know about it? Is it in some form of documentation somewhere?

 

No it's a standard tag, it's how you tell SIMS exactly what a section is so that it can remove an empty one. I did make a typo though, there should be a space between the two words i.e. "Report Section" (invalid XML, tut tut)

 

It's on the ribbon in newer versions of Office, can't remember where it is on older versions now though...

 

repsec.jpg

  • Thanks 1
CAM

CAM

Posted
Posted

Right Click -> Report Section -> Open/Close for non-ribbon Office. :)

 

Also make sure the sections don't overlap. So Open-Close-Open-Close not Open-Open-Close-Close

  • Thanks 2
Spizzy01

Spizzy01

Posted
  • Author
Posted
No it's a standard tag, it's how you tell SIMS exactly what a section is so that it can remove an empty one. I did make a typo though, there should be a space between the two words i.e. "Report Section" (invalid XML, tut tut)

 

It's on the ribbon in newer versions of Office, can't remember where it is on older versions now though...

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]22764[/ATTACH]

 

That moment when you could swear you had checked every possible tag available, but then get shown that you haven't - Gotta love those moments...

 

We have Office 2010, and I feel ashamed that I have never noticed this 'Report Section' option before and missed something so simple... That being said, it looks like this should work, so thanks for all your help guys!

vikpaw

vikpaw

Posted
Posted

I inherited some tables within tables, but don't mess with them cos they work.

You should be able to get what you want with extra columns in your design, and merging those that only need one, we do that as we have a page per subject, which does have report sections around it, and then within the page the table has multiple rows and columns.

 

I've never relied on tables auto-merging - that's scary! Word is bad enough with tables as it is.

 

I have this one type of report, where the table disappears off the bottom of the page, and if i want to edit it, i have to change to A3 paper size so i can see all the tags. Then put it back again.

LosOjos

LosOjos

Posted
Posted
I've never relied on tables auto-merging - that's scary! Word is bad enough with tables as it is.

 

If you remove all line/paragraph breaks between tables in Word, it will automatically merge the tables. It can be quite irritating but can also come in handy some times - like SIMS, it's a case of recognizing when it's a help or a hindrance! :)

 

I have this one type of report, where the table disappears off the bottom of the page, and if i want to edit it, i have to change to A3 paper size so i can see all the tags. Then put it back again.

 

Sounds to me like the table has been set not to break pages ("Table Properties > Allow Table to Break Pages")

CAM

CAM

Posted
Posted
I've had stranger: One template prints off fine for the first 100 students and the rest of them it chops the top line off from a table (annoying as I was using it as a separator for headings and the text below). Bizarre Individual Reports moment... :confused:
  • 1 year later...
Chrish5

Chrish5

Posted
Posted
Anyone have any thoughts on why the 'Remove Report Sections that contain no Results' will have stopped working on Individual Reports that ran fine last year?
Spizzy01

Spizzy01

Posted
  • Author
Posted

This was an issue that came about with the Spring release this year - the fix for it was a workstation patch that had to be applied to any machine using the 'Individual Reports' within SIMS.

 

The specific file from Capita was called 'AM7-and-Profiles-Report-Tag-Patch.EXE'.

 

This ended up fixing it for us and several other schools we support.

 

I still have the patch to hand, but I'm not in a position to say for sure that your problem is the one stated above. That being said, I would give it a try anyway - It's a workstation patch so it will have no effect on your database.

  • Thanks 1
Chrish5

Chrish5

Posted
Posted
Thanks for that. We're supported by the LEA but they haven't got back to me yet (only been 2 days so far) so thought I'd look into it myself. Deployed via Solus 3 so will let you know if it works or not.
Spizzy01

Spizzy01

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Oh, I didn't realise the issue had happened again.

 

The issue has returned to all the workstations that were originally patched for us, assuming due to the Summer update. You would think they would've implemented the same fix in the new release... Gotta love Crapita sometimes.

 

I will also apply the patch and let you know if it works again - fingers crossed.

AliWoodley

AliWoodley

Posted
Posted

Not sure if this will help?

 

01/05/15

Assessment Manager and Profiles Report

 

 

 

We have been made aware of an issue around the report tags used in SIMS version 7.162 (Spring 2015).

 

What does this mean?

If you have “Hide rows with no Results” or “Remove Report Sections that contain no Results” selected as options for these reports, errors will be present in the generated output.

 

Who will be affected?

Any user who generates Assessment Manager or Profile Individual Reports on their workstation.

 

Who will NOT be affected?

If you are a user who only views reports already generated by another member of staff, then you will not be affected.

 

This issue is only applicable to the computer on which the reports are generated.

 

How are we fixing this?

This is a fix that only needs to be applied to the workstation which manages the report generation in the school. It is not possible to fix this with a database patch. We have prepared, tested and now released a SIMS Workstation Package.

 

We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause you. Please read the applicable information attached for SOLUS3 or SOLUS 2 users

 

 

 

Files

 

Report fix for SOLUS2

Report fix for SOLUS3

vikpaw

vikpaw

Posted
Posted
Oh, I didn't realise the issue had happened again.

 

The issue has returned to all the workstations that were originally patched for us, assuming due to the Summer update. You would think they would've implemented the same fix in the new release... Gotta love Crapita sometimes.

 

I will also apply the patch and let you know if it works again - fingers crossed.

 

They do state that it's a workstation issue, not fixable in the DB. So I'd expect it to stay broken, however it appears running an update has overwritten your workstation patch...?

Perhaps this could have been avoided - if any Capita devs are lurking.....

It could potentially be windows or office updates too, can't quite remember all the original details.

Spizzy01

Spizzy01

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
That's true. Which update have you run @Spizzy01

 

Ah, that's most likely 'my bad'. I call the updates by which Census they give you access to.

 

So the Spring update was likely the autumn update, and the Summer update was likely the Spring update. Because it was apparently so long ago, I think I was under the impression that the latest update (7.162) had reapplied the workstation 'fault' where the Individual Reports do not remove sections where no data is present but in actual fact it was always only a problem with this latest update. (Sorry guys, Friday afternoon!)

 

I have no idea how the issue has managed to return, I applied the patch originally in April and somehow it has come back. The only other patch we have applied since then was the 'Date Selector Patch' in May, so unless applying that patch reverts the changes of the old one - I have no idea.

 

I have reapplied the AM7 patch which has fixed the issue and I can still select dates. So everything is back to norm' on my side.

Edited by Spizzy01
Spizzy01

Spizzy01

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Is it possible SIMS Applications was re-run?

Are you using SOLUS 3? Maybe it re-applied something...

 

We don't use SOLUS, but I will run a few tests when I get a few moments to see if I can replicate the problem (aside from running SIMS Applications again).

 

Could well just be an isolated incident, or as you say SIMS Applications could've been reinstalled since applying the patch. I may have tried a number of things when the 'Date Selector' issue came about last month, although it doesn't look like that is the case - 99% of the files in my SIMS installation directory haven't been updated since March when we installed 7.162.

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