David;

My approach to reports is to create a class which has a SQL Select statement to create a cursor. I never use a data environment for a report. I have code that will either run the report or if no records are found, give a message to the user.

Many of my reports use at least two forms. Form one contains two list boxes - one for Report Titles and the other is for Report Details. As you click on a report title, the description changes. Form one is table driven so as reports are added it is simple to maintain. Double click on the report title or press the O.K button and it launches the second form. Form two allows the user to select print to screen, report or file. The user can press a Search Button and all records will be in a grid to be viewed. There are text boxes and combo boxes as fits the report. One such form can be used for detail or summary forms. The user can enter a date range, company name, or whatever is allowed/required. Then the Select statement is build when the Search Button is selected. Creating new forms or reports takes little time and is very flexable.

The combination of a report class and table driven is used in all my applications and has gotten me many contracts. I do not tell the client how long it takes - I just charge a fair price. By changing a few properties on an object of my report class, I am ready to go. It takes minutes to create a new form and the report takes as long as any other report methodology using Visual FoxPro. Everything is built in, like page 1 of n, etc.

I started this concept with FoxPro 2.0 and VFP has made it so much easier!

Tom