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Feature Request: Key Block and Report Editor

Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 4:42 pm
by chris.si
Hi
Finally I have switched from MacLux Pro to LX series, I appreciate it but I would love to be able to personalize key block and reports.

So my question: is there a way to customize key block and reports further than LX Beams seams to allow? Or might there be in future?



And thanks for your work, I keep telling students and friends about LXSeries!

Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:12 pm
by admin
The key block in LXSeries is not the same as in MacLux Pro. In LXSeries, the key block is a special kind of a group of graphic objects.

As long as the key block remains grouped after it was created, it can be updated automatically based on symbols used in the plot.

You can select an automatically generated key block and choose Format->Ungroup. Doing this causes the key block to become just a collection of graphics in the drawing and you can arrange it any way you wish.

Note that symbols shown in the key block are just path objects and will not have data attached nor will they appear in any report. (The same result as is obtained by converting a regular symbol using the Format->Convert->Symbol to Graphic command.)

Once a key block has been ungrouped, it is no longer recognized. So a Format->Insert->Add/Update Key Block command will cause a new key block to be generated.

The only contemplated change is to have each key entry have a checkbox indicating if it should be included in the key block or not. The only other customization is in the preferences where you can select the number of rows when a key block is generated.

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2011 9:38 pm
by lanternz
Admin might have also mentioned that you can also save your reports in csv format so that they can be opened in your favorite spreadsheet format and made as personalized as you like.

Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 7:50 pm
by admin
Not only can you export reports, you can customize them within LXBeams.

Report setups are stored as templates within a plot file and can also be exported to a library for use in other plots.

Any list based report like a channel list can have columns added or deleted using the menu commands in the View->Report menu. In any report, the columns can be rearranged by dragging the table column header. In the same manner, clicking a table column header allows you to change the font for that column using the regular fonts panel (Format->Font->Show Fonts).

Other options for a report such as the sort keys and their order as well as the font used for printing the header information can be edited in the Report Options sheet (View->Report->Report Options).