Following a Methodology

Designing a report is a development project, albeit a small one. As with any development project, it helps to have a methodology, or sequence of steps, to follow that will lead you successfully through the process of designing a report with a minimum of fuss and backtracking. For example, when designing a report, it makes no sense to worry about formatting the data until you have first decided what data to include.

This chapter presents a micro-methodology for developing reports with SQL*Plus that has worked well for me. It divides the design process for a simple report into the following steps:

1. Formulate the query.
2. Format the columns .
3. Add page headers and footers.
4. Format the page.
5. Print it.

Dividing the design process into discrete, logical steps reduces the amount and the complexity of the information you must keep in your head at any given time.

For more advanced reports, such as a master-detail report, you may want to perform additional steps:

• Add page and line breaks.
• Add totals and subtotals.

Work through report design in a methodical manner. Often the temptation is to start typing in commands. Resist this temptation .