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QikKids 4 allows for the addition of customised layouts and modification of most printed items, including receipts, statements, rolls, account slips and reports.
This section outlines the basic steps required to customise existing reports and/or create your own reports. Please note that doing this assumes considerable familiarity with Microsoft Access, particularly the process of creating and editing reports. In the case of creating new reports knowledge of SQL and the ability to create queries in Access is also required. Apart from this document, we do not provide any official support for custom reports, however we do operate a paid service for customising stationary to your requirements, and offer informal support in the QikKids Programming Forum.
The most recent source for custom.mdb is available upon request by emailing: support@palmtech.com.au. You will be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement on obtaining this. All report editing and creation will be done within the custom.mdb database which contains the source files for all the customisable reports in standard.mde. To edit the custom.mdb file, you should hold down the left shift key and double click to open.
The general procedure for creating and using Custom Reports in QikKids 4 is as follows:
The above steps are explained in further detail below.
Creating Customised Reports
You will need the full version of Microsoft Access 2003 installed on the computer that will be used to create the customised reports. Once created and compiled, the custom reports can be used by any computer running QikKids.
It is suggested that you always use an existing QikKids report as the basis of your modified report. (However, it is possible to create your own reports from scratch if you have the necessary SQL knowledge and experience with Access.)
First you need to identify the report on which your custom report will be based on. To do this, open tblObjects and find the report number for the report you will edit. Then go to the Reports tab, open the required report in Design View, and edit as necessary. Save the modified report.
Once you have created your custom reports, you will need to modify tblObjects. If you have simply altered existing reports you just need to delete all entries EXCEPT for the items that have been modified. You can also change the name of your custom report in tblObjects.
Note: If you leave these entries, many reports will be listed twice inside QikKids.
If you have created any new reports these will need to be added to tblObjects. The ObjectID must be a number in the range 1-9999 and the appropriate ClassID must be selected from the drop-down box.
Tip: The ClassID will determine where in QikKids your customised report will be available. Find a similiar built in report and use the same ClassID
Ensure the Visible checkbox is ticked and give your report a name - this will be the name displayed in QikKids. The only other columns you might need to edit are the StartDate and EndDate checkboxes if either of these parameters apply to the report, and the Landscape checkbox if the report should be printed that way. The actual report itself must be renamed in Access to match the ObjectID it has in tblObjects.
You should delete all of the unmodified reports from custom.mdb to reduce the size of the database, but do not delete any queries, tables or modules. Also take care not to delete a sub-report used by a modified report eg. if you change the Statement (#28) then you'll need to keep its sub-report, rptStatCCBSummary. It is suggested that you keep a copy of the original custom.mdb. That way, if any subsequent customised reports are required they can be imported at a later date from the original database.
Back up your custom.mdb file when you have finished, then compile as custom.mde. Both of these utilities are found in Access under Tools, Database Utilities.
Finally, copy the custom.mde file into the QikKids directories (usually c:\program files\palm technology\qikkids4) of all the computers that will need to use the custom reports.
Using Customised Reports
When QikKids is run you should find your custom reports listed beneath existing QikKids reports in the appropriate screen. The name displayed will be the name you gave your report in tblObjects, prefixed with *. If you can't find the report check the entry is correct in tblObjects. In particular, check that the report itself has been named with its ObjectID from the table, that the ClassID is correct (perhaps your report is showing up in the wrong screen) and that the Visible box has been checked.
This screen shows that each of the Contacts reports has a customised version, and there is a new report, Detailed Contacts (current bookings).