TDF Reports can be modified to create user-defined reports, they are a powerful tool for the generation of layout reports that may be converted to common file formats for later use with standard Microsoft Office software.
The available TDF Examples can be found at: tcl-tdfreport.tcl for the standard TDF-report example. User should load input file : e.g. tcl-tdfreport.tcl and check the specific functions at the Main menu at File\Write TDF-Report:from 'CNF' or 'CNF_TCL' structure. The CNF-Package for generating TDF-Reports consists of:
- An interactive Table-Generator
- TDF-Edit: the TDF editor
- TDF-View: the TDF viewer:
- A converter: from TDF-Reports to rich-text-format (.RTF)
- CNF-Package: with source-code for user-defined report-scripts
The three steps for generating a TDF Report are:
- Generate TDF-Tables with RM-Sets: RM Bridge uses RMSets to generate tables.
- TCL-Script for the Report: TCL-File is used with the specific syntax. Create Structure generates the Template TCL-file
- Page-Format Templates: Parameterised Page-Format is implemented according to setting-functions and its views
Page templates are used for a uniform page layout. Headers, Text, Plot-files and other graphic file formats may be placed in the report, as well as Tables.All data is collected from the project database and the project directory respectively formatted and placed on the page layout as floating text. As the source of the report, Plot-files have to be created in RM Bridge and must exist in the working directory. Tables are generated within the report (for structural input data) or from RM-Sets (for results). The user may customize the predefined page template, or any new page template may be created using the TDFEditor.