Version 11.

Module 12
Reports
Training Manual

VANTAGE TRAINING
VANTAGE TRAINING
VANTAGE TRAINING
VANTAGE TRAINING
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Printed by AVEVA Solutions on 14 January 2007

 Content

1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.1 Aim .................................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Objectives......................................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Prerequisites .................................................................................................................................... 4
1.4 Course Structure ............................................................................................................................. 4
1.5 Using this guide............................................................................................................................... 4
2 Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 5
2.1 Generating Reports ......................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Quick Reports .................................................................................................................................. 5
2.3 Report ............................................................................................................................................... 6
2.4 Starting to Use Reports................................................................................................................... 7
2.5 Running a Report from a Saved Template .................................................................................... 7
2.6 Creating a New Template .............................................................................................................. 10
Exercise.......................................................................................................................................................... 17

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 Chapter 1

1 Introduction
1.1 Aim
The Vantage Marine Outfitting database stores a large amount of 3D engineering information about your ship design.
You can extract this data both graphically, in the form of drawings, or in text form, by producing reports. This training
course describes the principles and practice of producing reports. At the end of this one-day session participants will be
able to generate many kinds of reports from Vantage Marine Outfitting.

1.2 Objectives
At the end of this training, you will:
• Quick reports to the Vantage Marine Outfitting command line or file
• More complex reports with sorting priorities, quantities and totals
• Creating report templates for project or company use

1.3 Prerequisites
To best understand the options available in Vantage Marine Outfitting Report tools, it is necessary to have
completed one or more of the following modules: M4, M5, M6, M7, M8 or M9.

1.4 Course Structure

Training will consist of oral and visual presentations, demonstrations and set exercises. Each workstation will have a
training project, populated with model objects. This will be used by the trainees to practice their methods, and complete
the set exercises.

1.5 Using this guide

Certain text styles are used to indicate special situations throughout this document, here is a summary;

Menu pull downs and button press actions. Are indicated by bold dark blue text.
Information the user has to Key-in 'Will be red and in inverted commas.'
Annotation for trainees benefit

Additional information

Pay close attention to

Refer to other documentation

System prompts should be bold and italic in inverted commas i.e. 'Choose function'

Example files or inputs will be in the courier new font, colours and styles used as before.

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 Chapter 2

2 Introduction
At the end of this session you will be able to:
• Generate Reports from VM Otfitting

2.1 Generating Reports

The PDMS database stores a large amount of 3D engineering information about your plant design. You can extract this
data both graphically, in the form of drawings, or in text form, by producing reports. This session describes the principles
and practice of producing reports.

You can produce a report by running a report template (REPORTS) or one based on your own selection criteria (QUICK
REPORTS) from within the Design module.

2.2 Quick Reports

The Create Quick Report form is displayed when you select Utilities > Quick Reports from the main bar menu. This
form allows you to create reports with only basic formatting and this template cannot be saved.

You can enter a filename for the output report. If you just want to see the report
on the screen, leave the File text box blank, or press the Term button, in which
case any filename given will be ignored. If Term is selected, a window will be displayed to show the results or the report,
unless there is already a form currently displayed to which the results may be written to.

Quick Report form

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 Output from above example

The options performed by the buttons on the quick Reports form are as follows:

Types:
PDMS element types can be specified.
For examples: Bran Mem valve gask flan

With:
This option is a way of narrowing down the report. Enter an PDMS expression, For example: abore gt 300 AND pspec of
owner neq ‘/A3B’

Columns:
These are the PDMS attributes to be output in the report. The attributes you specify will be used as headings to the
st
column. You can enter expressions, enclosed in round brakets. The following 1 example outputs the type, name, and
the first three characters of the owner's name.
For example: type name (substr(name of owner, 1, 3))
Other examples: name owner hpos tpos

Hierarchy:
Enter the element or elements at the top of the hierarchy that you want to report on. Because you can give a list of
elements, you must enter the slash character before each name, except for WORLD.
For example: /200-B-4 /250-B-5

Run the Report:

Click this button when ready to generate the report.

2.3 Report
The template specifies what the report will contain, whether it will be sent to the screen or a file, and how it will be laid
out.

There is a directory of example reports supplied with the product. This can be found in the directory
$PDMSUI/REPORTS. Under this directory is a TEMPLATES directory. This contains sample templates which can be
used to generate standard reports. The templates are PDMS macros. The best way to see how they are defined is to
select Utilities> Reports > Modify from the main menu, and look at the settings for the fields on the forms displayed.
Templates have the file extension .tmp, and the corresponding reports have a file extension .rep.
Most of the examples are based on the sample project supplied with the product.

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The sample templates produce the following types of report:

nozz_sched
This is a Nozzle schedule , which lists all Nozzles sorted by name, and shows the P1 bore, connection type and
direction, and the position of each Nozzle.
line_list
This report will list Branches, sorted by the name of the Pipe which owns them. The Pipe Specification, the Head and
Tail bores and the Head and Tail references are given.
pipe_mto
This report shows material information for all Branch members, sorted by type, Detail Text and Material Text. The Tube
length and quantity of each component are totalled. There is an Imperial version of this report template.
tube_mto
This report totals all Tubing. The Specification Reference, P1 Bore, Detail Text and Material Text are shown.
steel_mto
This is a material take-off list for structural components.
valve_list
This report is an example of selective reporting.
centre_line
The centre-line length of each Branch is listed. There is an Imperial version of this report template.
tube_gradient
This report gives the gradient of each tubing component.
catalogue_param
This report lists Branch members, with their CATREFs and the parameters of the CATREFs.
catalogue_ptgmref
This report lists Branch members, with their CATREFs followed by the PTREFs and GMREFs of the CATREFs.
tube_area_vol
This report uses derived properties to report on the area and volume of tubing.

2.4 Starting to Use Reports

You will usually have a library of report templates set up for you, but you can produce and run a report template by
selecting Reports > Create, filling in the New Report Template form to specify what you want to report on and then
pressing Apply on the form, which will run the report.

2.5 Running a Report from a Saved Template

You may already be familiar with creating a report by running a saved report template. If not, try this introductory
exercise. Select the following

Utilities > Reports > Run

You will see a File Browser, showing the contents of the directory REPORTS.
Select the TEMPLATES directory. Now choose the report template required eg. pipe_mto.tmp and press the OK
button. The Report Details form will be displayed. On this form the user will need to complete all fields. The information
requested by this form is dependent on the settings of the Runtime Prompts form, defined during the template creation.

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The information required by this form is totally dependent on what has been defined within the Template. We will look at
what other questions could be asked by this form later under Create. In the above case the following fields should be
completed.

Filename:
If you specify a filename, the report will be sent to the given file in the current directory. If you leave this field empty, the
report will be sent to the screen

Hierarchy:
Here you should specify the elements where report should start its searches. The report will be produced for all these
elements and elements owned by them.

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Types:
Here you should state all element Types that are to be reported on. The report will be produced for all the elements
given.

With:
Defines the criteria that must match the elements before they will be reported on. This is sometimes referred to as a filter
but works in the same way as the other occurrences in PDMS.

Volume:
Allows the setting of Limits. The report may be generated on elements that are Completely or Partially within the limits.

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From:
Allows you to specify where the search will take place. The Default is MDB

2.6 Creating a New Template

To create a new template we need to select the following options from the top bar menu. This is true for all graphical
modules and applications.

Utilities > Reports > Create

This will cause the New Template form to be displayed. It is from this form that all the details associated with the
creation of a standard report template will be defined.

The New Report Template form, shown below, covers several important areas which need to be completed even for a
simple template. These are Destination, Selection and Columns.

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Destination
Destination allows you to specify whether the report is output to Screen or to a File. This is achieved by the selection of
the Screen button. On will write the report to any commands type window and Off will send the report to the filename
specified by the Filename text field.

To send the report to a file you must select one of the buttons located under the File on the form. All these buttons are
mutually exclusive. As stated before, the Screen option will send the report to a commands type window, the others will
create a file containing the report. Selection of the New button will mean that a new file of the name defined in the
Filename text field will be created. This means that if the file already exists then you will be given an error message
accordingly. Overwrite will create a new file if one doesn’t exist or will overwrite the contents of the file if it does. Lastly
is the Append button. This will add your report to the end of the contents of the file defined by the Filename text field.

Selection
The Selection options allow you to specify the type of item you want to report on, along with the level in the database
hierarchy below which the selection will be made and any particular selection criteria you may have..
The text field Type(s) allows you to define the element Gtypes that you wish to report on.
With text field allows for the defining of selection criteria, thus a more selective form of reporting can be achieved. For
example if we were reporting on branches we might choose to only report on branch that had their Pspec set to /A3B-
TRA.

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The Hierarchy field is simply used to define the start point for the report search. This eliminates checks to elements
above the start point in the hierarchy so reducing the time taken.

New Columns
Every report consists of a number of columns. The next stage is to define your columns by their content. To create a
new column select the New button to the right of the Columns. The selection of this will cause the Creating Column
form to be displayed.

Creating Column form

The Expression text field defines the contents of the column. You can enter a PDMS attribute or pseudo-attribute here.

The Sorting button will allow you to choose one of the methods for listing the column contents. In the above picture the
sorting has been defined to list alphabetically. The case of the letters is also taken into account.
The setting of sorting criteria will cause the Precedence button to be set. Each time you create a new column and set its
sorting criteria it will be given a Precedence number. This determines the order in which the sorting is carried out.

By selection of the Units button you can select one of the units option, when appropriate.

The Column Layout button will cause the Layout for Column xx form to be displayed.

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 Layout for Column xx form
Spaces before column is the number of spaces between the end of the previous column and the start of the current
column. The effect will be affected by the Justification. The Column width
is the number allowed for the column. If you do not give a value, the width of the widest entry will be used. The
Justification can be set to Left, Centre or Right.

The Numeric Display allows you to define if you wish to use Decimal or Fraction in your column output. These two
buttons are again mutually exclusive. Depending on the selection you can enter the number of Decimal Places to be
used or the Denominator. Note that the Denominator will be reduced if possible.

The Style button only affects how feet and inches are displayed. Leading Zeroes can be On or Off.

Using the Text Display options you can specify the characters used to specify Unset text. In this field you can define
the text string that will be displayed if the item to reported on is Unset.

The Headings can be set as On, Off or Page. The On option (default) will display the expression used as the column
heading. Off will show no column headings and Page is only used for file reports where the special page details have
been set via the Page option on top of the New Report Template form.

Heading Text can be set to:

Expression Text: This will use the expression entered in the Expression text field on the Creating Column form.

Default: Will use the full PDMS attribute name if possible.

Custom: You can enter your own text for the column heading in the text area. You can insert several lines of text.

Values can be selected from the form as On, Off, 1st or Sub. On will give the result of the expression for every element
that passes the selection criteria. Off no values will be shown. This can be used for reports which give only subtotals or
totals. 1st If this is sorted, this option can be used to display only the first occurrence of the result of a particular
expression. Sub will only output when a subtotal appears in one of the other columns.

Subtotals can only be produced for columns containing numeric data.

Totalling can only be produced for columns containing numeric data.

The last options on the Creating Column form are the two buttons below Column Layout. Selection of either the
Previous Column or Next Column buttons will cause the column that you are currently defining to be added to the New
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Reports Template form in the area under the columns buttons. The selection of Previous Column or Next Column is
dependent totally on if you wish the new column to be before or after the currently highlighted item. The form will also be
retained ready for your next column definition. If you select the OK button your column definition will be entered after the
current item, and the form will be closed.

Modify Columns
The Modify button will call the Modifying Column form for the currently highlighted. This will be the same as the form
displayed by the New button. The operation of the Previous Column or Next Column will be as before. The OK button
will close the form and update the New Report Template form.

Please note the column number being modified will be shown as part of the form name.

Moving Columns
If you have created your column in the wrong order or if you wish to change the order, this is achieved by the selection
of the Move button on the New Reports Template form. This will display the Move Column form.

Move Column form

The number of the currently highlighted column will be displayed next to the From. You can now select any of the
column position which are displayed by the To button. Once the new column position is selected press the OK button.
The Order shown in the column area of the New Reports Template form will now be modified.

Delete Columns
To delete a column, select the column to be deleted on the New Reports Template form. Once highlighted select the
Delete button. You will now be asked to confirm that you want to delete this column.

Delete Confirmation Form

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System Command
At the bottom of the New Reports Template form is the text field marked System Command. This text field allows you
to give a system command that will be run when the report has been completed. For example you might wish to direct it
to your printer via your print command eg. ’lpr (vtext(!filename))’

Hierarchy
This button will display the Hierarchy form. This form is used to specify which part of the hierarchy you want to report
on. The information entered into this form will be used to populate the Hierarchy field on the New reports Template
form.

Hierarchy Form
The Volume button allows you to specify if only elements that are Completely within or Partially within the given
volume are to be reported on. Selection of either of the above options will cause the Report Volume form to be
displayed. This form works in the same way as the other volume area forms used within Design and Draft.

Report Volume Form

When you define the volume to use, the default will take the elements from the current MDB. You may, by using the
From options, choose to obtain the elements from your current Drawlist or Obstruction list instead.

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New Reports Template
Returning to the New Reports Template there are the bar menu options still to be explained. These are

Bar Menu Option from the REPORTS Template form

File: Allows you to save your current definition to the filename which was selected from the file browser or to enter a
new filename for it to be stored as. It is advised that templates are given the extension .tmp. It is also advised that you
have a sample report to show users the type of report format they can expect from this template. Sample reports are
given an extension of .rep.

Page Info: This is used to set up page information such as Header, Footer, Introduction, Summary or Page Length.
Please note that any of these options are only displayed on reports that are sent to file and not if sent directly to the
command line window..

To create a header select the Header option from Page Info. This will display the Header form.

Header Form
To define your Header enter the required text or PML expressions into the text area of the form and select OK.

A Footer can be created in exactly the same way as the Header.

The Introduction option will display a large text window and is used as before. Please note that in this case the text
entered will only be displayed at the start of the report.

The Summary option will display a large text window and is used as before. Please note that in this case the text
entered will only be displayed at the end of the report.

The Page Length option allows the definition of the number of lines that will constitute the page length. This number
must be between 5 and 500.

Page Length Form

Options: This has two choices, Runtime Prompts and Report Format.

The Runtime Prompts option will display the Runtime Prompts form. This form is used to define what information the
user will be asked before the report may be run.

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 Runtime Prompts Form

The buttons selected on this form will be added to a prompts displayed on the Reports Details form which the user
must complete to be able to complete the report. These form will contain any definitions that have been given within the
template or left blank.

Selection of Report Format will cause the Reports Format form to be displayed.

Report Format Form

Format
This allows you to choose either the Normal or CSV options. The Normal option will produce a report in the standard
PDMS reports format

However, by setting the option to CSV (Comma Separated Variable) you will produce your report in a format that can
be read into a spreadsheet package. You can specify the field separator and text delimiter. Values shown in the report
are recognised as text only if the Units option on the Creating Column form is set to Off.

Exercise
1. Run the report nozz_sched and line_list to show the type of output created.

2. Create a report to list all the pipes with spec A1A. Create columns to display Name, Pspec, Hbore, and Tbore.

3. Create a line list report as shown overleaf, experiment with the sorting facility and notice the way it changes the
output.

element that you wish to add, then use the Add button so that it is now shown in the obstruction list.

When adding any element to the obstruction list all elements and primitives below the specified item are automatically
incorporated into the list.

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