“My zero dollar line is not printing even when I remove the X0!” – Desperate Customer
Just about every month, I get a call or an email from a client trying to print a $0 line in Management Reporter. Since my own Google search for the solution doesn’t turn up much helpful advice, I would like to provide the definitive guide for printing (or not) accounts and totals with zero balances.
First stop is the Settings tab on the in the Report Definition:
We can think of this as the light switch that turns on the reading lamp by your favorite chair across the room. If the switch is on, then it is possible the lamp will come on. If the switch is off, then the light will never come on. Applying this logic to our report, if this box is checked, then it is possible, to get a zero amount line to print. If it is unchecked, then the zero amounts will never print.
“Why do you say it is only possible to get the zero dollar lines to print? ”
I’m glad you asked!
A reading lamp can be turned on and off with its own switch. This is true only if the main light switch across the room is on. If that switch is off, it doesn’t matter if the lamp’s switch is in the on or off position – the light will never come on.
In the same way, if one ever wanted zeroes to print, then we must turn on the master switch above. Then we need a way to deal with them on a per row basis.
Our second stop is the row definitions screen:
Column G is where we do Print Control including suppressing zero amount columns. The X0 option turns on and off printing the zeroes IF the “Display rows with no amounts” option on the report definition screen is checked. If “Display rows with no amounts” is unchecked, this option has no effect.
So here is what the combinations look like:
This third one is the one that gets most report writers. They remember to remove the X0, but they do not remember to go check the “Display rows with no amounts” box.
Conclusion: The only combo to get a $0 line to print is to check the “Display rows with no amounts” and leave the X0 print control option off the rows where we desire to see a $0.
Need some assistance with Management Reporter? Conexus SG is here to help.
Butch Adams
Conexus SG
Dallas, Texas
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