Customizing FlexTables - moving, adding, and removing columns


	Applies To

	Product(s):	Bentley WaterGEMS, Bentley WaterCAD, Bentley SewerGEMS, Bentley SewerCAD, Bentley CivilStorm, Bentley StormCAD, Bentley HAMMER, Bentley PondPack
	Version(s):	08.11.xx.xx
	Environment:	N\A
	Area:	Output and Reporting
	Subarea:	N\A
	Original Author:	Jesse Dringoli, Bentley Technical Support Group

Problem

How can I add or remove columns from my FlexTable?

How can I customize FlexTable reports?

Solution

First, use the yellow edit button at the top of the FlexTable to choose which fields you would like to be displayed in the FlexTable.

This will open the dialog below, which will show the available columns on the left and the columns that are already in the FlexTable on the right.

You can now add columns by select the property from the Available column and click the Add button (">"). To remove unnecessary or unneeded columns, highlight the property from the Selected column and click the Remove button ("<"). You can also move the position of a column in the FlexTable by clicking the up and down arrows beneath the Selected column.

In addition to this, WaterGEMS/WaterCAD V8i SELECTseries 6 and the SELECTseries 5 release of the storm and sewer products (such as SewerGEMS), you can add and remove columns in another way. By right-clicking on a column header you can select "Remove Column" to remove the column from the FlexTable. In addition, you can select "Add Column" and then choose a column to include, as shown in the screenshot below:

Creating reports from FlexTables

You can create a report from a FlexTable by select the Report button in the FlexTable. You may want to use some of the steps above to add or remove columns to make the report manageable when printing.

In addition to adding and removing columns, you can also change the name of the column header by right-clicking on the column header and choosing "Edit column label". Also, you can click and drag the separator between each column header to change the column width. To customize the appearance of the Print Preview further, you can modify the header/footer and margin sizes under Report > Report Options.

If the appearance of the flextable report is still unsatisfactory, you have two options. First, you could copy the entire flextable to clipboard by clicking the gray cell at the top left corner and then click the copy button. You can then paste in an external application such as Microsoft Excel and format/print from there. In addition, you can export the file as a .CSV file by clicking the Export to File button in the upper left of the FlexTable. The .CSV file type can be opened in Excel as well.

The other option, which is available in versions 08.11.01.xx and greater, is XML reporting. In the FlexTable, when clicking the report button, choose "Report in XML". You can then apply a custom style sheet and thus have better control over the FlexTable printout.