Modifying the Background Properties of a Report

To modify the appearance of a report, or the display properties an object in a report:

  1. Open the report you want to modify.
  2. You must select an editable object in the report to be able to edit its properties. Click on an object to select it and to view its Properties in the docked properties window. To open a floating Properties window, either double-click on the selected object, or select Edit > Properties.

    The Properties tabs and options displayed for editable plot objects varies depending on the report type (for example, whether 2D rectangular, Stacked, or 3D), and can include the following:

    • Cartesian – this lets you edit the scrollbar and thumb properties for 2D rectangular plots.
    • Header – this lets you edit the Properties for the text displayed at the top of the report, including the Title font, Company Name, Show Design Name, Subtitle Font. The plot title is tied to the report's name and is not a Header property. If you change the report name in the Project tree, plot title synchronizes. The Company Name and the Show Design Name check box are grouped in the Properties dialog as Subtitle. Edits to the Subtitle Font Property affects both of them.
    • General – this dialog (or General tab for other Report properties windows) lets you edit the background color (the perimeter around the trace display) for the plot, the contrast color (the trace display background), the Field width, the Precision, the Visual Detail level, and whether to use scientific notation for marker and delta marker displays. (X and Y notation display is set separately, in the Axis property tabs.) An Auto Scale property on by default and when enabled scales text in plots and colorkey (contour plot, field plots in 3D modeler) for high resolution screens.
    • Legend – this lets you edit the Properties for whether to Show Trace Name, Solution Name, and Variation Key. At least one of these three must be selected. You can also edit the Font, the background color of the Legend box, the Border Color, the Border Width, Grid Color (for the lines between Trace descriptions), and the Grid line width. Also see Modifying the Legend in a Report
    • Color Key – for 3D plots, to control the appearance of the color key (colors, transparency, border appearance, fonts, number format, Min and Max, field width and precision.
    • Contour – for 3D plots, to control the appearance of the color map, including map type, ramp color, spectrum, IsoValType, levels, number of contours, and values shown.
    • Stacked – for stacked plots, properties for X scrollbar, thumb properties, and stack layout, auto fit, and stack height.
    • Traces – you can select traces either in the Legend or on the plot. The properties for traces include: Color, Line Style, Line Width, Trace Type, whether to Show a symbol, Symbol Frequency, Symbol style, whether to Fill symbol, symbol color, and whether to Show arrows. See Editing the Display Properties of Traces.
    • X, Y, or Z Axis – the defaults for most of these values are set in the Report 2D Options Axis tab.
      • Display name – check box for whether to display the axis name.
      • Specify name – check box for specifying the Axis name.
      • Name – this describes the axis to which the following properties/options refer. These are selected in the Report dialog.
      • Axis Color – set the color by double-clicking to display the Set color dialog box. Select a default or custom color and click OK.
      • Axis Font – click the cell to display the Edit Text Font dialog box. The dialog lets you select from a list of available fonts, styles, sizes, effects, colors, and script. The dialog also contains a preview field. OK the selections to apply the font edits and to close the dialog.
      • Show Units – this specifies whether to display units.
      • Window (section)
        • Window Mode – can be Axis range, Continuous moving window, or Step moving window.
        • Window Width (in) – provide an integer value for the previous selection.
      • Manual Format (section)
        • Number format – select from the drop down menu, Auto, Decimal, or Scientific notation.
        • Field Width – enter a real value.
        • Field Precision – enter a real value.
    • X, Y, or Z ScalingTab – These properties provide control over scaling.
      • Axis Scaling – use the drop down menu to select scaling as Linear or Log. For the Y axis, all zero or negative values are discarded before log scaling is applied.
      • Specify Min – check box
      • Min – text entry in same units as axis units. Saved as SI internally.
      • Specify Max – check box
      • Max – text entry in same units as axis units. Saved as SI internally.
      • Specify Spacing – check box
      • Spacing – text entry in same units as axis units. Saved as SI internally
      • Manual Units (section)
        • Auto Units – use the check box compute the correct units for the axis.
        • Units – click on the cell to select from a menu of available units if you have not checked Auto Units.
      • Infinity Visualization (section)
        • Map Infinity Mode – check box.
        • Each axis now can be set to treat infinity values in a user defined way. When you check the Map Infinity Mode, any infinity values in the input data get the infinityMap value (negative infinity get the value*-1 and positive infinity the positive value specified). This can be useful if there are zeros, or very small values that can be treated as zero, in the data, for example, dB Gain.

        • Map Infinity To – enter a real value for the Map Infinity Mode.
    • Grid – properties for grid labels and grid style, appearance, line styles, color, major and minor lines, and scaling. For the 3D rectangular plots, there are separate tabs for the XY, YZ and ZX axes.
  3. Edit the properties, and click OK to apply the changes.

Related Topics 

Modifying Reports

Working with Traces

Discarding Report Values Below a Specified Threshold

Modifying the Legend in a Report

Editing the Display Properties of Traces

Creating Custom Report Templates and Defaults

Setting Report2D options