All reports have two components: a layout component
that defines the report appearance and a query component that defines
report data. Understanding these components will help you design
effective reports.
Layout
A layout is a set of pages that defines the
appearance and formatting of a report.
Queries
Queries determine what data items appear in
the report. Sometimes you want detailed rows of data, which you obtain
by using a simple SELECT statement. Other times you must calculate
totals or averages using summary functions and grouped columns or
must apply filters to show only the data you want.
