A format trigger is a PL/SQL function executed before an object is formatted.
A trigger can be used to dynamically change the formatting attributes
of the object. For example, you can use a format trigger to cause a value to
display in bold if it is less than zero. Another example is to use a format
trigger to use scientific notation for a field if its value is greater than
1,000,000.
A format trigger can fire multiple times for a given object, whenever Reports Builder attempts to format the object. Consider the case where Reports Builder starts to format the object at the bottom of a page. If the object does not fit on the page, Reports Builder stops formatting and reformats on the following page. In this case, the format trigger will fire twice. It is therefore not advisable to do any kind of "persistence" operation, such as logging, in this trigger.
The Reports Builder SRW built-in package contains PL/SQL procedures with which you can quickly change the format attributes of an object. These include procedures to:
change the border pattern and color of an object
change the interior pattern and color of an object
change the font size, style, weight, spacing, and justification of a field or boilerplate text
change the format mask of a field
access a fields value
See Format trigger
Creating or editing a format trigger
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