Page Two

Faceforward presents the data exactly as it is in the originating data source. Many times there is a need to format the fields so that the data makes better sense. There are several methods for changing the properties of a field:

From the View Properties Panel:

Figure 7: The field properties button.

1. Select the Edit button next to UnitPrice.
2. Within the Format section on the right side of the pop-up window:
   1. Select Currency for the Type.
   2. Set the Decimal Places to 2.
   3. Select $ for the Symbol.
   4. Place a checkmark in the Use Commas box.
3. To apply the changes select Finish.
4. Right-click on ExtendedPrice, select the Properties button , and then go to step 2.
5. Right-click the Freight, select the Properties button , and then go to step 2.

From the column header:

Figure 8: Context sensitive field header menu.

1. Right-click the Discount column header, located at the top of the Grid area, and select the Properties button .
2. Within the Format section on the right side of the pop-up window:
   1. Select Percent for the Type.
   2. Set the Decimal Places to 2.
   3. Place a checkmark in the Multiply by 100 box.
3. To apply the changes select Finish.

In this example we will add the numbers in the ExtendedPrice column with the numbers in the Freight column to generate figures in a newly created column called Total. To accomplish this we will use the E3 Wizard.

Figure 9: The button to launch the E3 wizard.

1. Select the E3 button on the toolbar to start the wizard.
2. On the first screen:
   1. Choose New Calculated Field.
   2. Enter Total for the Name.
   3. Select Next to continue.
3. In the Field Properties screen:
   1. Double-click on ExtendedPrice to add it to the Expression field.
   2. Press the + key one time.
   3. Double-click on Freight to add it to the Expression field.
   4. Select Next to continue to the next screen.
4. Within the Format section on the right side of the screen:
   1. Select Currency for the Type.
   2. Set the Decimal Places to 2.
   3. Select $ for the Symbol.
   4. Place a checkmark in the Use Commas box.
5. To complete the wizard select Finish.

A new column header appears on the far right side of the grid. Depending on your screen resolution, you may need to scroll to the right to see the new column. Check a few rows to verify that the numbers in the new column are the sum of the ExtendedPrice and Freight.

The information in the grid can be sorted in ascending or descending order, according to a selected column (or columns). The column headers function as a toggle between the two sorting orders.

Figure 10: An arrow indicates the sort direction for the customer field.

1. Click one time on the Customer.CompanyName column header to sort the grid alphabetically ascending, with respect to this column.

2. Press Ctrl + Home to reposition the viewable data in the grid so that it is highlighting the first cell (alphabetically) in the selected column.

For the purposes of this tutorial, we will say that we only want to see the sales information for specific companies. Again, pay particular attention to the number of records displayed at the bottom left corner of the Grid area.

Figure 11: The visual filtering list for the customer field.

1. Move the mouse over the Customer.CompanyName header to reveal the small drop-down arrow at the very right end of the field.
2. Click on the drop-down arrow to display a list of all companies in the database.
3. Left click and drag on the bottom right corner to expand the drop-down menu so that it displays as many of the listed names as possible.
4. Remove the checkmark from the All box at the top of the list and select the following companies:

Companies
Around the Horn Bottom-Dollar Markets B' Beverages Chop-suey Chinese Consolidated Holdings Eastern Connection Ernst Handel France restauration Gourmet Lanchonetes Great Lakes Food Market	Hungry Coyote Import Store Hungry Owl All-Night Grocers Island Trading Lazy K Kountry Store Let' Stop N Shop Lonesome Pine Restaurant North/South QUICK-Stop Rancho grande	Save-a-lot Markets Seven Seas Imports Simons Bistro Split Rail Beer & Ale The Big Cheese The Cracker Box White Clover Markets

5. Select the Filter button to apply the visual filter.