02. About Layers

Learn more about layers to understand how you can control how reporting components are displayed and how your report is styled.

Layers add a third dimension to your Pages report – giving you control over the order in which report components are ‘stacked’ vertically.

Think of layers as separate panes of glass, stacked one on top of the other. Each layer is transparent until you add components to it. The components on the top-most layer, will cover those on the layers below.

Designing your report

This allows you to decide how components overlay each other – this is particularly useful when adding design elements (for example, background images or headers & footers) to a Pages report over which you can then place reporting elements.

Adding drill functionality

Layers also allows you to add drill-through functionality to a Pages report by ‘hiding’ all but the top layer. By configuring the drill option on Crosstabs, Charts, Gauges and Text elements, you can pass the context of the drill from one layer to the next.

Adding a new layer

1. In the Report Structure Panel, click the title of the page to which you want to add a new layer.
2. Click the Add Layer icon on the Dynamic Toolbar.

Renaming a layer

1. In the Report Structure Panel, click the title of the layer that you want to rename.
2. Click the Rename icon on the Dynamic Toolbar. This displays the Rename Layer dialog.
3. Enter the new name in the Name filed.
4. Click the Apply button.

Changing a layer’s settings

1. In the Report Structure Panel, click the title of the layer for which you want to change the settings.
2. Click the Layer Style icon on the Dynamic Toolbar. This displays the Layer Styles dialog.
3. Change the settings as required:

• Hidden – check this box if you want the layer don’t want the layer to be visible when the report is run. This is useful if you only want to make the layer accessible if it is drilled to.
• Opacity – Use the slider change the visibility of the layer, with the transparency increased by moving the slider to the left.
• Ignore Clicks – check this box to disable drill through for all components on the layer in run mode.

4. Click the Apply button.

Changing the order of layers

The topmost layer in the Report Structure Panel when editing your Pages report is topmost layer displayed when your report is run.

By default, when you add a new layer, it is added to the bottom of the list in the Report Structure Panel – meaning it will be covered by all of the content on the layers above it.

To change the order of layers:

1. Click the up or down arrow, displayed on the right-hand side of the for the layer that you want to move.