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This is a two step process:

1. Print to file instead of paper
2. Use PC software to "reprocess" the data to produce the desired report

Using PC software to "reprocess" the data

General Tips

Customizing Reports from "List Some Data" from a Review File

Customizing Statistical Reports

Customizing Other Printed Reports

General Tips

• THINK FLEXIBLE REPORTS: With your report in data form, you are not tied to the content or format of Innopac printed reports. You can manipulate the data from a printed report to produce other reports, or format it differently, or send it to a different printer. You can either print reports, or keep the content in electronic form. Some examples of customization of reports:
  1. Numerical data can be put into a spreadsheet to produce numerical reports that you cannot get from Innopac
  2. Report content can be put into a database to produce useful reports
  3. Report content can be used to analyze collection information gathered from Innopac
  4. Report data might be exchanged with another library or a vendor
  5. Print can be sent to any printer the PC can send data to (e.g. remote networked laser printer), so you are not limited to printers that Innopac can send data to
  6. Size of printed report can be reduced by eliminating Innopac page breaks and reducing font size (e.g. fund activity report)
  7. "Desktop publishing" capabilities of wordprocessing can be used to enhance the appearance of the report
  8. Innopac reports requiring a wide carriage printer can be printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper by using landscape mode and reducing font size and/or margins
  9. Reports imported to a spreadsheet can be printed in landscape mode, to fit more columns on a page. Reducing the font size and adjusting margins can allow even more columns to fit on the page
• KEEP THE ORIGINAL: Keep a clean copy of your original "printed" file for as long as you are working on it.
• TRY UNTIL IT IS "RIGHT": Keep experimenting with processing. If an idea doesn't work out, delete the result and start over with your original data. If your original data isn't right, go back to Innopac, reselect fields, change field order, change your print options, etc. as needed and send "print" again. Don't accumulate files of "failed efforts."
• DOCUMENT WHAT YOU DID: When you have a process that gives the result you want, be sure to write down immediately what you did, step by step. Later, produce a more formal "set of instructions" for this process.
• FIND A METHOD AND STICK WITH IT: When you have a process that works, continue to use it. When you get new software or software versions, you may need to rework your process. For example, things that worked with Microsoft Office 4.3 software may not work the same way (or at all) with Office 97 software.
• USE WORD-PROCESSING "SEARCH AND REPLACE," COMBINE INTO MACROS AND REUSE: Identify regular changes you need to make throughout the report, and combine them into macros in your word-processing program. Reuse the macros every time you run the particular report, or use them in similar reports.
• USE SPREADSHEET TO PUT DATA IN COLUMNS: Spreadsheet (e.g. Excel) will import text as either delimited or fixed width. If reports "print" in columns, it can be opened directly as a spreadsheet. If text output is complicated (most "create list" reports), delimiters must be inserted by word-processing, then opened as spreadsheet.
• BEGIN AND END WITH TEXT FILES: The original "print" file will be a text file. In wordprocessing work on it as either a text file or a document, but at the end save it as a text (*.txt or *.prn) file. A spreadsheet program will import a text file, but not a document in wordprocessing format (e.g. *.doc file.)
• USE "COURIER" OR "COURIER NEW" FONT: Prints from Innopac that are in columns will only maintain the columns with courier fonts. If it is important to maintain the original columns, then the courier font must be used. You can use any font size, and columns will still be maintained.
• BE CAREFUL CHANGING DEFAULT PRINTER WHEN YOU HAVE WORD 97 OPEN: Changing the default printer while you are in Word 97 can sometimes cause Word 97 to crash. To avoid losing your changes, be sure that you only change your default printer either before you have made any changes to your .prn file, or after you have saved changes you have made.

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Customizing Reports From "List Some Data" From A Review File

EXAMPLE: PERIODICALS LIST

Printing to file and using PC software to manipulate the data has greatest application for reports created with "list some data" from a review file created with "create lists." This is an example of converting text output in paragraph format from "list some data" from "create list" review file to columns.

The general process is:

1. Print the Innopac report to a file
2. Use a word processor to divide each record into fields by inserting a character that functions as a marker at the end of each field, and retain a hard return at the end of each record
3. Use a spreadsheet program to get the data into columns (you may be able to do this in Word "convert text to table" instead, but the spreadsheet probably works better)
4. Use a word processor (tables and formatting) to make the result look nice

The specific process is:

There are eight steps to preparing this kind of custom report. The process is illustrated by an example of producing a printed periodicals list.

1. ENVISION YOUR FINAL REPORT: Decide what your final product should look like, what data should be in it, in what order, etc.
1. List of periodical holdings containing title, location, holdings (in that order) printed as a table with three columns, with titles in upper case
2. DESIGN THE REPORT YOU GET FROM INNOPAC. Type of report, type of record, fields included, etc. Sort the records, select fields in order you want them; choose a subset if you want.
• Use "create list" to select review file
• Select record set: all unsuppressed check-in records with selected locations
• Sort by bib record title, then check-in location
• "list some data": (bib) title; (check-in) location; (check-in) "lib has"
3. CONFIGURE THE PRINT:
• Print each field on a separate line (default)
• Print one line between records (default)
• Change line 6 to display meaning instead of code (to get labels for locations in printed list)
• Leave other defaults as they are (change titles in upper case if desired)
4. PRINT OUTPUT TO FILE ON PC
   • Use most effective method
5. MAKE CHANGES TO OUTPUT WITH A WORD PROCESSOR. The goal is:

1. To insert a character to be a field delimiter between fields in a record
2. To retain a hard return at the end of each record

• Examine output to make sure that it meets expectations; if it does not, delete file and "print" again to file
• Identify what needs to be changed and how to use "search and replace" to make consistent changes throughout the file; combine search and replace commands into macros; reuse macros in different reports.

  In the process detailed below, use "search and replace" to change the first character string to the second. (Character codes below are those used by Word.)

• make page as wide as possible (not essential - easier to see what is going on but does not affect result)
• remove hard page breaks (search and replace ^m with [blank])
• remove unwanted words and characters (e.g. text in location label)
• replace record separators (2 hard returns) with temporary character, e.g. hard page break (^p^p to ^m)
• insert field separators, e.g. tab (period space ^p to ^t) (NOTE: this string may not always be so regular; if any fields end with something other than period space hard return this variation must be dealt with)
• remove remaining unwanted hard returns (^p to nothing)
• replace temporary record separator characters with hard returns (^m to ^p)
• delete "the" at the beginning of titles (^p The space to ^p)
• save as text file
  RESULT: tab is the delimiter separating fields; hard return is separator between records
6. CREATE COLUMNS WITH SPREADSHEET: If too many errors, analyze cause of errors and start over in word processing with revised "search and replace" strategies. If few errors, manually fix; save as spreadsheet file
• Open file with spreadsheet program as delimited TEXT file, indicating when asked which character was used as field delimiter; data will be in three columns
• Check fourth column for processing errors and decide if processing can be improved to reduce errors, or if errors should be manually fixed in spreadsheet or word-processing file
• Save as spreadsheet
7. "DESKTOP PUBLISH" WITH WORD PROCESSOR." Spreadsheet file will open as a table. Format columns, fonts, borders, etc; add page numbers, headers, footers, etc.
• Open spreadsheet file
• Reselect your printer which prints to paper and set it as the default in order to get fonts and sizes available for that printer. If you do not, you will not be able to use the fonts available to your printer.
• Format table: set column widths, margins, fonts, headers, footers, etc. as specified in printed instructions YOU WROTE THE FIRST TIME YOU DID THIS (or combine into macro)
8. PRINT REPORT: When satisfied with the result, send final version to printer

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EXAMPLE: ARCHIVING ORDER RECORDS TO FILE

(Example of creating a file of archive data which is accessible and searchable. Existence of archive allows for deletion of older order records, freeing up limited order record capacity.)

FINAL REPORT:
PURPOSE: Create searchable access to order information in records which will be deleted from the Innopac. Use "search" capabilities of word-processing to find particular records in future.
FORM: Same as print from "list some data" from "create lists," with some customization as desired, e.g. removal of page breaks, adjustments of font, margins, headers, footers, etc.

1. Determine criteria to be used to identify and select order records to be deleted
2. Determine which fields from order record should be part of the archived record
3. Determine order in which you want records stored; order cannot be changed later, unless records are moved to a database
4. "Create list" of those order records
5. Evaluate list to make sure that selection criteria gave desired result
6. Sort records as determined above
7. "List some data": select fields as determined above
8. Print to file
9. Customize document as desired in word processing
10. Save file in word processing and also in TEXT format, to ensure that future word-processing programs will be able to read the data
11. Save files to a floppy disk and store in a safe place; make as many copies on as many disks as makes you feel comfortable that long-term access to the data will be ensured

This method is simple and is not time-consuming. If it were necessary to provide more flexible data, one could develop a strategy for using word-processing "search and replace" to insert delimiters, with the ultimate goal of importing records into a database. Although doable, this method would be a lot more work to develop. It is not clear that information needs regarding old order records would require more sophisticated capabilites than are available in word-processing.

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Customizing Statistical Reports

EXAMPLE: FINANCIAL REPORT SPREADSHEET
Example of importing numerical data into spreadsheet to be basis for additional calculations and reports.

• Statistical reports print in "fixed width" columns
• A spreadsheet program can easily import "fixed width" columns to spreadsheet columns
• You can adjust where the column breaks need to be when you are importing the text file
• Remove all dollar signs in wordprocessing, where it is easy to remove all at once. Data will import as text, not numbers, if dollar signs are not removed, and they are more difficult to remove once they are in the spreadsheet.

FINAL REPORT:
PURPOSE: spreadsheet with fund report numbers for additional calculations, e.g. forecasting, comparison with parent body report, etc.
FORM: columns

1. RUN DESIRED FUND REPORT
2. PRINT REPORT TO FILE
3. OPEN FILE WITH WORD-PROCESSING
   • "Search and replace" to remove all dollar signs
   • Save as .prn or .txt file
4. OPEN FILE WITH SPREADSHEET
   • Text import wizard will appear; select fixed width; you can adjust where column dividers should go by clicking on scale to add or remove dividers
   • If the division of columns is not satisfactory close file (do not save) and try again
   • When satisfactory, save as spreadsheet file
5. CUSTOMIZE TO YOUR NEEDS
   • Add, subtract, or move columns and formulas as desired to enhance reporting on spending

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Customizing Other Printed Reports

EXAMPLE: FUND ACTIVITY REPORT

FINAL REPORT:
PURPOSE: Reduce number of pages in print of fund activity report (only useful if it is not important to have each fund on its own separate pages)
FORM: Same as print from Innopac, but smaller font, no manual page breaks
This process reduced my print to 35% of its original size (from 171 pages to 60 pages)

1. Select "generic/text only" printer as default
2. Run the fund activity report
3. Do not key in any page heading (it would appear on every page)
4. Print to "attached" printer
5. When dialog box appears, name your .prn file
6. To Innopac message "Was printout OK?" answer "N" (NO)
7. Open Word Processing (example uses Word)
   1. Open saved .prn file
   2. Reselect the printer to print to paper in order to get available fonts
   3. Combine in a macro:
      • Edit, Replace hard page break (^m) with nothing
      • Edit, Select all
      • Select font Courier or Courier New, size 8
   4. Add descriptive header or text at top of document to identify it
   5. Add page numbers
   6. Save file as word document
   7. View word document to make sure it looks OK; then send to printer
   8. Make sure that printed document is satisfactory
8. Run fund activity report again
9. Print to file, but cancel print when you get dialog box for filename
10. To Innopac message "Was printout OK?" answer "Y" (YES)
11. Complete the fund activity report process to clear the files

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Revised March 26, 2002