### Dragging and Dropping Information into a Custom Report

As was described in the "Custom Report Generation" topic, you can drag features and other items from the Edit window in Summary Mode into the Custom Report Editor.

Example of Dragging a File Header object onto the editing area (the Page object)

When you drop an item into the editor, the appropriate label for that feature, as defined by the Page object's Rule Tree Editor, automatically gets created:

Example of a Dropped File Header object

Replacing Information by Dropping on top of Existing labels

If you drag an item on top of an existing label like this:

Example of Dropping a Dimension on top of an Existing Label

PC-DMIS will replace the label with the dropped item:

Example of the Updated Label

Dropping a Floating Label by using the ALT Key

If you drag and drop an item on top of an existing label while pressing the ALT key, like this:

Example of Dragging on top of a Large Page-Size Label

PC-DMIS will NOT replace the information in the label with what you dropped. Instead, it will float the new label on top of the existing label.

Example of Dropping onto a Large Page-Size label with ALT Key Pressed

You will find this useful if you have a large custom label that covers much of the page, and you want to place new labels on top of that label, instead of updating it.

Dropping Data on a CADReportObject

If you drag a feature or dimension on top of a CADReportObject, like this:

Example of Dropping a Dimension on top of a CADReportObject

PC-DMIS will add the appropriate label object and leader-line for the dropped object on top of the CADReportObject. The label displayed depends on the label specified in the CADReportObject's Rule Tree Editor, not the Rule Tree Editor for the Page object.

Example of a Dropped Dimension on top of a CADReportObject

Dropping Data on an Analysis Object

If you drag a dimension on top of a Analysis object, like this:

Example of Dropping a Dimension on top of an Analysis Object

PC-DMIS will display the graphical analysis information for the dropped dimension inside the Analysis object.

Example of a Dropped Dimension on top of an Analysis Object

Dropping Data on a Histogram Object

If you drag a dimension on top of a Histogram object, like this:

Example of Dropping a Dimension on top of a Histogram Object

PC-DMIS will display the histogram information for the dropped dimension inside the Histogram object.

Example of a Dropped Dimension on top of a Histogram Object

Dropping Data Items

If you expand an item's list in the Summary mode to where it displays the different data items, you can drag and drop these data items directly onto the Page object or into a cell of the GridControlObject.

Example of Dropping a Data Item of a Feature's Theoretical X Value into a GridControlObject Cell

PC-DMIS will automatically display the appropriate dropped value:

Example of the Dropped Data Item

If you look under the hood, you can see that PC-DMIS automatically uses the appropriate reporting expression to display the dropped data:

Example of the Data Item's Expression

Using expressions, instead of a hard-coded value means that if this data item changes for some reason, it will automatically get updated in your report when you re-execute or redraw your report.

Invalid Drop Areas

If you try to drop an item on top of an invalid object (for example if you drag a Feature or Dimension on top of a Text object), when you drag the item on top of the object, PC-DMIS will change your mouse icon to display a red "not allowed" icon to show you that you cannot drop that item there.

Example of an Invalid Drop Area for a Dragged Dimension

Using SHIFT and CTRL Keys When Dropping

While performing the drop of a command (such as a feature or dimension), if you hold down the SHIFT or CTRL keys and you release the button, PC-DMIS does the following:

- SHIFT key - PC-DMIS will insert a CommandTextObject for that item. This lets you display the information for that item in a textual, non-table format.

- CTRL key - PC-DMIS will display an Open dialog box allowing you to select a different label template for the item.

When performing a drop of a data item, if you hold down the CTRL key PC-DMIS displays not only the evaluated expression for the data item but the descriptive string of text from the Summary mode preceding it as well.

Dropping Multiple Items

You can drag and drop multiple items at once from the Edit window's Summary mode. This is useful if you want to quickly add several items into your report.

- To select an entire list of consecutive items, click the first item, press SHIFT on the keyboard and click the last item. All items in between are selected.

- To select or deselect individual items to or from your existing selection, press and hold the CTRL key while clicking on items.

Once you have selected a list of items, simply drag and drop them into the editor.