Creating a report template

One of the best ways to save time with ModFit LT is to design one or more reports to use as templates. You can open a template and use it as the starting point of your analysis, with your customized comments, graphics, and layout.

In this tutorial, we will design a simple report using ModFit LT's built-in text and graphics tools.

• Launch ModFit LT.
• Click the Open FCS button on the Home tab. Choose one of the sample files, and then click Open to load it.

You will see a histogram, but no results. In order to display the results, we have to analyze the data.

• Click the Auto button to automatically analyze the sample. Once finished, ModFit LT will show us the results in textual format.

Suppose that we want to create a report that looks something like the one pictured below.

We have added four objects to this report and moved things around a bit. The top of the report contains a circle, arrow, and title text, and there is a new free-form text object in the lower half of the report.

We will build a report template like this simple example.

Building the example

• Adjust the Zoom so that you can see the whole report page on the screen.
• Click the histogram graphic and drag it down the report page about two inches.
• Move the legend down about two inches.
• Click the results text and drag it down the page, as well. Align the top of the text with the top of the graphic.
• From the Insert tab, click the Ellipse tool . This will insert an ellipse object onto the report page.
• Move and size the ellipse to resemble the example.
• Double-click the new ellipse object to edit its properties.  Change the Fill Color to a color you like, and click OK.
• Click the Arrow tool on the Insert tab . An arrow will be inserted into the report.
• Drag the arrow so that its tip is next to the right hand side of the circle. Then, click and drag the other end of the arrow across the page to form a horizontal line.
• Click the Text tool on the Insert tab . The Edit Text dialog will appear.  Click the Properties button.
• Click the Label Font to display the font dialog. Increase the font size to 26. You can change the font and color as well. Click OK when you are done adjusting the font.
• Type "My Very Own DNA Report" (or some other title that suits you) into the text edit box, then click OK. The text is inserted into the report.
• Move and resize the text so that it is positioned correctly over the arrow.

OK, we have just one more item to add.

• Click the Text tool once again. In the Edit Text dialog, type a comment that you might make about the data you analyze. Then click OK.
• Move this last text to the lower portion of the report page.

Great. You are done. All that is left is to save the report under some name that we will remember.

• From the File menu, click the Save Report Template button. In the Save Template dialog, enter the name "PRACTICE".
• Click the Save button.

Using the template

The report template has been saved. So how does one use a report template? It is really quite simple.

Any time you create a new project in ModFit LT, use the Open Report Template command in the File menu to open your customized report template.  After opening your template, use the Save Project button on the Home tab to save your report template as the project's report template.

If you want to use your custom template without creating a project, simply use the Open Report Template command in the File menu to open your customized report template. Once the report template is loaded, open a new data file, and analyze it. All of the results in the template reflect the new sample.

If you want to protect your reports from someone accidentally overwriting them, you can make them "read-only". If someone accidentally tries to save a report by the same name, ModFit LT will require the user to choose a new name for their report.

Note: If you have saved reports with a previous version of ModFit LT, you should load them into this version of the program and save them again to upgrade them to the latest version format.

Summary

You can design report templates that include graphics, text, and the layout you want. Templates can be opened in ModFit LT and used as the starting point for the analyses you do with the program. They can save you time and energy, since you design them only once and use them over and over again.