Including Custom Properties in Sheet Index Report

The Sheet Index feature is quite flexible and customizable. In addition to the default sheet properties such as sheet number, sheet name, file name, etc., you can add your custom properties to sheets and folders in the sheet index. Say you want to add the project name column in the cover sheet, or mention the paper size of each sheet. This can be easily achieved using custom properties of sheet index. The recommended workflow to achieve this is as follows:

1. Create custom folders in the sheet index.
2. Add custom folder properties and sheet properties to the sheet index.
3. Add sheets to the sheet index.
4. Place the sheet index as a table.
5. Change the values of custom properties, as desired, for respective sheets and folders.
6. Update the table to get new values of the properties

Let us now look at the specific steps to achieve this.

1. Open the Sheet Index tab of Explorer and create custom folders in it by clicking the Create folder icon.
   
   
   
2. Open the Manage Sheet Index dialog by clicking the Manage Sheet Index icon.
   
   
   
3. Select the Folder tab and click the Add Custom Properties icon.
   
   
   
4. In the Add Property dialog that opens, enter Type in the Name field and Plan in the Default Value field.
   
   
   
5. Click OK.
6. Now, select the Sheet tab and again click the Add Custom Properties icon.
7. This time, enter the Name as Paper size and Default Value as A1.
   
   
   
8. Click OK to close the Add Property dialog and again click OK to close the Manage Sheet Index dialog.
9. Add sheets to the sheet index.
10. Start the Place table tool by clicking the Place sheet index as a table icon and place the table on the cover sheet. You will observe that the custom properties are included in the table.
    

Once you place the table, the sheet index report is created in the Reports dialog. In the Reports dialog, if you expand the Item Types property, you will see that the custom property items are automatically added.

To change values of custom properties:

1. Select the desired folder or sheet in the sheet index.
2. Right-click and select Properties to open the Properties dialog.
3. Edit the value of the custom property.
4. Refresh the table to update the values in the table.