Building a Form

Introduction

This example will demonstrate how to create a DataBlock (consisting of a form and a Dashboard) for the Employee Sales report shown earlier in this document.  The report contains sales information for selected employees within a specified date range.  The user executing the report selects employees of interest from a list-box and enters a date range into date objects.

The DataBlock uses the Employees, Orders, Order_Details, and Products tables within the Sample MS Access Database.  The steps for creating the DataBlock are as follows:

Add DataBlock Icon to Explorer

Log into Argos and navigate to the location where you would like to add the DataBlock. Right-click and select New >> DataBlock. Rename the “New DataBlock” to something of your choosing. Notice that Argos also created a system dashboard underneath the DataBlock. The system dashboard is represented in the Explorer with this icon .

Select a Database Connection

Choose the appropriate database connection from the Associated Connection/Pool drop down. If you only have permission to use one database connection, it will default to that connection automatically and no selection will be required. If you have permissions set to use more than one database connection then see your system administrator to find out which to use.

Add a Description, Author, and Notes

In the figure above, note the phrase <click here to set the description> at the top of the figure above.  Click on the phrase to enter a description for the DataBlock. 

You can also click the blue info icon in the upper right corner, and click Author to edit the author of the DataBlock.  The default author is set to the Argos user name of the person currently logged in.

You can also click the green plus sign next to “Notes” at the bottom of the figure to add any number of notes.