---
title: "Frequently Asked Questions"
output: rmarkdown::html_vignette
vignette: >
  %\VignetteIndexEntry{Frequently Asked Questions}
  %\VignetteEngine{knitr::rmarkdown}
  %\VignetteEncoding{UTF-8}
---

```{r setup, include = FALSE}
knitr::opts_chunk$set(
  collapse = TRUE,
  comment = "#>"
)

options(rmarkdown.html_vignette.check_title = FALSE)

```

Below are some frequently asked questions about the **reporter** package. Click
on the links below to navigate to the full question and answer content.

## Index{#top}

* [What file formats does reporter support?](#types)
* [What fonts does reporter support?](#fonts)
* [What styling options are available in the reporter package?](#styles)
* [Is there a way to control page orientation?](#orientation)
* [Is there a way to control the units of measure?](#units)
* [Can I perform statistics with reporter?](#statistics)
* [Can I perform grouping with reporter?](#grouping)
* [Does reporter have a way to sort the report data?](#sort)
* [Does reporter have a way to filter the report data?](#filter)
* [Does reporter support superscripts and subscripts?](#super)
* [Do I have to include all the columns in my data on the final report?](#visible)
* [Is there a way to order the columns on my report?](#order)
* [Is there a way to format a variable?](#format)
* [Is there a way to control page breaks?](#breaks)
* [Is there a way to control page wraps?](#wraps)
* [Is there a way to set the width of a table?](#width)
* [Why am I getting an error when using curly braces in my footnotes?](#curly)
* [How can I get reporter to break/wrap long words?](#wordbreak)
* [Is there a way to insert my own custom RTF codes?](#codes)
* [How come my reports are messed up on Mac?](#mac)


## Content

### What file formats does reporter support? {#types}

**Q:** I can see from the examples that the **reporter** package can create
text reports.  Can it create any other types of reports?  PDF?  DOCX?


**A:** The **reporter** package supports TXT, RTF, PDF, HTML, and DOCX
output types.  

[top](#top) 

******


### What fonts does reporter support? {#fonts}

**Q:** I see a lot of Courier font in the examples.  Does **reporter** support
any other fonts?

**A:** The supported fonts depend on the output type selected.  Obviously for
TXT reports, no fonts are supported.  
The RTF, PDF, HTML, and DOCX output types support Courier, Arial, and Times New Roman.

[top](#top)

******

### What styling options are available in the reporter package? {#styles}

**Q:** The examples show little in the way of styling: fonts, colors, bolding, 
etc.  What options are there for adding styles to the report?

**A:** Styles and themes are now available for the HTML output type. 
Take a look at the [styles vignette](reporter-styles.html) for more information
about this exciting new feature.

For all other output types, the `titles()` function has parameters to bold the title
block, and set the font size independently of the main report.  Styling such
as that for HTML will
become available for other output types in the near future.

You may also add styling via code insertion.
See the vignette 
[Example 17: Code Insertion](reporter-codeinsert.html) for an illustration.

[top](#top) 

******

### Is there a way to control the page orientation? {#orientation}

**Q:** All of the examples I saw show a landscape page orientation.  Is there
a way to have a portrait page orientation?

**A:** Yes.  The `orientation` parameter on the `create_report()` function
accepts both "landscape" and "portrait" values.

[top](#top) 

******
### Is there a way to control the units of measure? {#units}

**Q:** All of the examples I saw show column widths specified in inches. 
Is there a way to specify them in metric?  What about by percentage?

**A:** The `units` parameter on the `create_report()` function allows you
to control the units of measure.  Valid values are "inches" and "cm" for 
centimeters.  The parameter accepts no other value.  The issue of setting
column widths by percentage has been raised, and is under consideration as
a future enhancement.

Note that this parameter sets the units of measure for every measurement 
on the report, not just column widths.  The units for margins, table width, 
plot width, etc. will all be understood to be in the units specified on the 
`units` parameter.  In other words, the whole report will be in either inches
or centimeters. You cannot mix measurement systems on a report.

[top](#top) 

******

### Can I perform statistics with reporter? {#statistics}

**Q:** With SAS® proc report, I can add statistics to my report.  Does the
**reporter** package have any statistical capabilities?

**A:** No.  The focus of the reporter package is on creating a printable
report in multiple output types.  There are many R packages to generate
statistics.  If you want statistics in your report, run your desired statistical
functions, and add the result to the input data.

[top](#top)

******

### Can I perform grouping with reporter? {#grouping}

**Q:** With SAS® proc report, I can group my data in the reporting procedure.
Does the **reporter** package have grouping capabilities?

**A:** No.  There are already several ways to group data in R.  It is best
to group data with one of the existing functions before sending into the 
**reporter** package.  Note that group rows can be emphasized on the
report using the `dedupe`, `blank_after`, and `label_row` parameters on 
the `define()` function. 
See [example 2](reporter-table.html) and [example 3](reporter-stub.html) 
from the vignettes for a demonstration 
on how to use these parameters.

[top](#top) 

******


### Does reporter have a way to sort the report data? {#sort}

**Q:** I have some data to report on, but it is not sorted the way I want 
for reporting. Does **reporter** have any way to sort the data?

**A:** No.  There are many ways to sort data in R. It is therefore 
recommended to sort the data before sending it into the **reporter** package.

Generally speaking, the input data should be fully prepared for reporting.
The **reporter** package will take your input data pretty much as-is and 
create a report in the desired output file format.  Any data manipulation
should be done prior to reporting.

[top](#top)

******

### Does reporter have a way to filter the report data? {#filter}

**Q:** I have some data to report on, but it is not filtered the way I want.
Does **reporter** have any way to filter the data?


**A:** No. There are many ways to filter data in R. It is therefore 
recommended to filter the data before sending it into the **reporter** package.

[top](#top) 

******

### Does reporter support superscripts and subscripts? {#super}

**Q:** I want to add some superscripts and subscripts to my report.  Does
reporter have a way to do that?


**A:** Yes. The reporting functions recognize Unicode superscript and subscript
characters.  These characters may be entered as a 4-digit Unicode code. 
For instance, the 
code "\\U00B2" specifies a superscript two.  See the 
[superscript and subscript vignette](reporter-super.html)
for further explanation on this topic.

[top](#top) 

******

### Do I have to include all the columns in my data on the final report? {#visible}

**Q:** I have some data to report on, but it has more columns than I want to
show in the report. Does **reporter** have any way to remove some columns
from the report?

**A:** Yes.  There are two ways to remove a column from the report.  The first
is to use the `show_cols` parameter on the `create_table()` function.  This 
parameter accepts a vector of column names to include on the table.  

The second way is to use the `visible` parameter on the `define()` function.
Setting this parameter to FALSE will hide that variable on the report.

[top](#top)

******

### Is there a way to order the columns on my report? {#order}

**Q:** The variables in my data are not ordered exactly as I want them
to appear on the report.  Is there a way to control column order?

**A:** Generally it is better to prepare your input data so that everything
is ordered the way you want prior to reporting. But there is a way
to order the columns if they are not in the desired order.  You can use
the `show_cols` parameter on the `create_table()` function to do this.
Simply pass a vector of column names to the `show_cols` parameter, and put
the column names in the order you want them to appear on the report.  

Note that if you are using `define()` functions, the order of these functions 
have no affect on the order of columns on the report. 

[top](#top)

******

### Is there a way to format a variable? {#format}

**Q:** I have variable in my input data that is not formatted.  I want to apply 
a format to it; say, round to 1 decimal place and add a percent sign.  Is there
a way to format a variable?

**A:** Yes. You can use the `format` parameter on the `define()` 
function to identify a format for a variable. The format passed to this 
parameter should be a valid format for the 
[`fapply()`](https://fmtr.r-sassy.org/reference/fapply.html) function from the 
[**fmtr**](https://fmtr.r-sassy.org) package. 
See the [`fapply()`](https://fmtr.r-sassy.org/reference/fapply.html)
documentation for additional information.

[top](#top)

******

### Is there a way to control page breaks? {#breaks}

**Q:** Overall, the **reporter** package does a good job of determining
when to break to the next page.  However, sometimes I want to control exactly
when the page break occurs.  Is there a way to do that?

**A:** Yes. You can add a variable to your input data that has the desired
page number for each row.  Then use the `page_break` parameter on the `define()` 
function to identify that variable as a page break variable.  The package
will then use that variable to break pages, instead of the automatic 
paging variable.

Note that, by default, **reporter** will still break 
the page if the number of rows on a page exceeds the calculated line count. If
you want to disable the automatic paging, and have 100% control
over when page breaks occur, turn automatic page breaking off using 
`report_option(auto_page = FALSE)`. 

You can also control the line count on a page using the `line_count`
parameter on the `options_fixed()` or `report_options` functions. 

For a full explanation of the page breaking options, See the vignette 
[Example 18: Report Options](reporter-report_options.html).

[top](#top)

******

### Is there a way to control page wraps? {#wraps}

**Q:** Overall, the **reporter** package does a good job of determining
when to wrap a page when it is too wide.  However, sometimes I want to 
control exactly when the page wrap occurs.  Is there a way to do that?

**A:** Yes. You can use the `page_wrap` parameter on the `define()` 
function to identify a variable to wrap on. See [Example 6: Page Wrap](reporter-wrap.html) 
in the documentation for an illustration of how to wrap pages.

You can also turn the automatic
page wrapping off completely with `report_options(page_wrap = FALSE)` or `create_table(page_wrap = FALSE)`. See [Example 18: Report Options](reporter-report_options.html) for more
information.

[top](#top)

******

### Is there a way to set the width of a table? {#width}

**Q:** I see there are several ways to set column widths.  However, I just 
want to set the width of the entire table, and have **reporter** figure out
the column widths proportionally.  Is there a way to do that?

**A:** Yes. You can use the `width` parameter on the `create_table()` 
function to set a width for the entire table. The width should be specified
in the units identified on the `units` parameter on the `create_report()`
function.  See the `create_table()` function documentation for more information
on the `width` parameter.

[top](#top)

******

### Why am I getting an error when using curly braces in my footnotes? {#curly}

**Q:** I'm trying to use curly braces in my footnotes.  For some reason, I
keep getting an error.  Why?

**A:** The curly braces are delimiter characters for the glue function, which
is automatically run on titles, footnotes, and labels. You can use the curly
braces to reference a variable or run a function from within string. To avoid
the error, you can escape the glue functionality by doubling the curly braces.
In other words, use "{{mystring}}" instead of "{mystring}". 

If you're inserting 
code into your report with `report_options(allow_code = TRUE)`, please also 
double the curly braces if needed. See [Example 17: Code Insertion](reporter-codeinsert.html)

You can also turn off the glue functionality globally by setting 
`options("reporter.glue" = FALSE)`.

[top](#top)

******

### How can I get reporter to break/wrap long words? {#wordbreak}

**Q:** I have some very long words in my data.  I want **reporter** to break them,
and wrap to the next line.  Is there a way to do that? 

**A:** No.  The **reporter** package will not break words.
What you should do is pre-process the column with the long words, 
and break it yourself.  You can use the `nchar()` function to check the character
length of the words.  Then insert a new line or blank space at the point where
you want to break. Once the words are broken where you want, send the data
into **reporter**.

[top](#top)

******


### Is there a way to insert my own custom RTF codes? {#codes}

**Q:** I'm trying to insert some RTF codes into my report, but they always
come out visible on the output.  Is there a way to insert them directly
into the RTF, without **reporter** interfering?

**A:** Yes.  **reporter** normally prevents such code insertion. But you
can allow it by setting `report_options(allow_code = TRUE)`.  The "allow_code"
option will work for RTF and HTML.  See the vignette 
[Example 17: Code Insertion](reporter-codeinsert.html) for an example.

[top](#top)

******


### How come my reports are messed up on Mac? {#mac}

**Q:** I'm trying to create some reports with **reporter** on a Mac, but
they seem to be consistently messed up.  RTF is really messed up and DOCX
doesn't come out right either. How can I fix it?

**A:** The **reporter** package was developed on Windows, and tested on Linux.
Those two platforms are supported best.  On a Mac,
TXT and PDF output types should be reliable. As for RTF and DOCX, they will work
or not depending on which editor you are using. RTF
and DOCX are best interpreted on Microsoft Word for Mac. For HTML, the content
produced will be correct, but usually the page breaking is off.  The reason
is because Safari has different defaults and different interpretations of some
HTML tags and styles. You can improve the HTML output by viewing on Chrome for Mac.

[top](#top)

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