External text file

Since version 14.1 it is possible to insert new report items which enables to display content of file stored on hard drive.

The content can be displayed as plain text, formatted text or as a table. This can be set using the property Output format.

Formatting of text from external file

Plain text

Enables to display content of the file as unformatted text. It is intended to be used for displaying of outputs from old programs.

Please note that wrapping of plain text is done according to the source text. It is wrapped only in case there is a "ENTER" character in the source text.

Formatted text

The formatting of the text is done using the same formatting tags as are used for item Formatted text.

The text is automatically wrapped to fit the page width.

Table

It is also possible to convert text into simple table. The text is split into columns by " " (space) character. Each row in the source text represents separate row.

Example:

A B C

One two three four

Red Green Blue Brown White Black

1 2 3 10 15 20

Embedding

External texts can be inserted as link to file on the hard drive or as "Embedded".

Link to file on the hard drive: When the texts are inserted as a link their validity status informs about changes in the source file on the hard drive. They are marked as invalid when the source file changes. Then during regeneration their content is updated and redrawn. Those text files do not increase the size of the project but they are not displayed when the project is opened on different computer and the report item is regenerated.

Embedded text file: Embedding of the text file means storing of its source file inside the project. Such text files are independent on the files on hard drives. They are displayed correctly when the report item is regenerated on another computer. Those text files increase the size of the project