Preview a report

A report can be previewed in a desktop application (normally using SVG format) or in a browser.

To preview a report in the Genero Desktop Client (GDC), you normally use the integrated SVG format as the output. To preview a report in the Genero Browser Client (GBC), you normally use Genero Report Viewer for HTML5 by specifying Browser as the output.

Note: In the demo program OrderReport.4gl, the user has the option to output the report data to the "Genero Report Viewer". If the Genero Studio configuration is set to Desktop, this option displays the report in SVG format. If the Genero Studio configuration is set to Web, this option displays the report using the Browser output.

If the appropriate software is installed on the client, you can preview reports in other output formats using the fgl_report_selectPreview() function. See Table 1 for details.

Table 1. Previewing reports
Front end SVG Browser PDF Excel RTF OORTF HTML Image
GDC Integrated Not possible With Acrobat® Reader (or other PDF reader) With Microsoft™ Excel With Microsoft Word With Open Office (or any free Office) With any browser Not possible
GBC Not possible Integrated With Acrobat® Reader (or other PDF reader) With Microsoft Excel With Microsoft Word With Open Office (or any free Office) With any browser Not possible