A field is a category of data within a record. Fields are similar to individual cells in a table or spreadsheet. A field may span multiple columns or rows and its position is determined relative to the upper-left corner of the record.
A record is similar to a row of data. A record may span a number of lines in a report and fields may be located on any of these lines.
For additional information about how data is organized, see About Data.
Types of records in report files include the following:
| • | Detail records, which include the kind of information that typically appears in a body row of a table or spreadsheet. A Detail record represents a single record type. Your data must include only one Detail record. |
| • | Header records, which include the kind of information that typically appears in headers. At the end of the definition process, fields in Header records are added to each subsequent Detail record in a new, flattened data file. Your data can include more than one Header record. |
| • | Footer records, which include the kind of information that typically appears in footers, such as subtotals. At the end of the definition process, fields in Footer records are added to each preceding Detail record in a new, flattened data file. Your data can include more than one Footer record. |
You can specify that Header or Footer records are to be treated as transparent records. Analyzer ignores transparent Header or Footer records when they split Detail records.
As you define records and fields, the preview of your data in the Print Image File Definition panel is updated automatically.