Specifications
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Document Version 1.0 – Last Updated 10.18.2010
Creating an Extract Report
Example 12
Introduction
An Extract Report is designed to create output files that meet pre-defined specifications.
This feature is especially useful for creating delimited output that is more complex than a
simple comma-separated file (CSV), for creating a fixed-width file in which each field is
precisely positioned on a given line, or for creating an XML file. This could include files
that you might upload to a government agency, clearinghouse, or service bureau.
Extract Reports are somewhat similar in design to a Banded Report. Similar to bands
within a Banded Report, an Extract Report has sections, each of which can include
different data fields. However, in an Extract Report you can loop through as many
datasets as your report requires, and you can precisely control the position of your data in
the output file.
Unlike a Banded Report, there is no concept of a “page” in an Extract Report. Data is
simply streamed into an output file.
Figure 154 – Comparison of Extract and Banded Reports
Sections in the Extract Report
The output file from an Extract report is organized by sections. You can add as many
sections as you like to the Extract Report design. The definition of each type of section is as
follows:
Title - Always appears as the first section in the report. This section contains data obtained
only from the current record of each dataset referenced by the section. Looping through
the datasets to obtain data is not done for this section as only data from the current record
of each dataset is obtained.
Detail – Used to loop through an associated dataset. Within this section, Argos will create
one detail row for each record in the associated dataset. This is useful if you wish to create
a list of vendors, for example.
Report Formats
There are three report formats available:
Fixed - The width of each field is a user defined
fixed value.
Delimited - The width of each field is variable
with each field separated by a user defined
delimiter.
XML - Report output is in XML format.