How To Use @Include In Reports

The @include command is used in reports to tell Collect! to include the contents of a file when it parses a Report Body. The include files are simple ASCII text, with a *.txt extension. You may also embed database field printable information codes in the text and Collect! will parse them correctly.

These files make it very easy to quickly customize a whole series of letters or reports, as changes to the text file will affect any report that calls that file with the @include command. You may use this for templates, styles, or for loading any frequently used report component into your reports before printing.

Place the @include command at the beginning of a new line in the report. Do not place any other code or text on the same line. Place the @include command at the place in the report where you want the contents of the include file to be placed.

Examples:

1. Simple letter header

Contents of sample include file, "header.txt"

@Line(73,935,730,935,0,1,0,0,0) @T

@!@=@cd.na<@=@!
@H @=@cd.ph@=
@LM(124)

@de.na
@de.ad< @de.a1<
@de.ci<, @de.st<
@de.zi<

To place this header in a report, place this line at the top of the report body.

@include header.txt

2. Web Host report include file

Contents of sample include file, "buttonsearch.txt"

<div class="menu">
<table class="buttons" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tr>
@varSearchType* = @tvarTitle
@varClass* = "tabon"
<td class="@varClass">
@varSearchType< |
</td>
@varClass* = "taboff"
<td class="@varClass">
<a href="search.html"> Search Again |</a>
</td>
@varClass* = "taboff"
<td class="@varClass">
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>

To use this code in a Web Host report, include the following command in the report body.

@include buttonsearch.txt

The report system looks for include files in two ways, depending on whether or not Web Host is serving the report request.

1. When generating reports with the Web Host, the system looks for the @include file in the HTML folder hierarchy, starting with the operator's folder and moving up to the User Level folder, and then finally, if the file is still not found, into the global user folder. This allows you to simplify and standardize your web page reports.

2. If reports are being run from Collect! when not in Web Host mode, then the report system looks for include files in the Collect! application's Styles folder. This allows for common information on reports to be stored in one file and used on various reports, for example, a company letterhead.

Include With If Statements

You can use IF statements with the @include command to load files conditionally when your report prints.

Example:

@include header1.txt if ( @de.cn = 92 )

@include header2.txt if ( @de.cn = 98 )

@include header3.txt if ( @de.cn = 101 )

This example loads a different header file depending on the Debtor's Client.

Conditional @include statements must be evaluated before the report is run. This means you cannot put them inside a loop within the report. For instance, if you printed a report to all debtors and tried to put the example code shown above inside the @de no total loop, it would not be able to evaluate the different conditions. However, conditional @include statements work very well in batch letter processing, so that you can output different headers for different clients' debtors as shown in the example script above.

Summary

The @include command is used in reports to tell Collect! to include the contents of a file when it parses a Report Body. This make it very easy to quickly customize a whole series of letters or reports, as changes to the text file will affect any report that calls that file with the @include command.

When using @include, keep include file names simple like "header.txt." Do not include a full path when using the command in your report. Simply place your include files in the Styles folder of your Collect! application.

There are many examples of include *.txt files included in your Collect! installation. Look in the Styles folder for include files used in Collect! sample reports and in the Html folders for include files used with Web Host reports. Examine the sample reports in the Report Definition Lists to see how these include files are used.