Destinations

What Is a Report Destination?

Why Are There Different Destinations?
Word Processor

Email
Web Browser
Text File

Web File or Web Folder
Printer

Preview


Reports

Sidebars
The List Window

Web Publishing

What Is a Report Destination?

The destination of a report is the place where the report is going or directed.

A report destination is indicated, and changed, using the Destination button which appears...

When clicking the Destination button, the items that appear in the pop-up menu depend on the report. Different reports have different destinations. The various destinations are discussed below.

Why Are There Different Destinations?

Reunion creates many different reports.

The basic content and structure of any particular report will be consistent, regardless of destination.

For example, the register report has a unique structure (it begins with a person and flows forward in time, and includes certain pieces of information along the way). So when the destination of a register report is your word processor, its contents will be very similar to the same register report created for your web browser. If you make a book in Reunion and it's based on the same register report, its contents will be similar too.

Having said that, different destinations serve different purposes and offer different features as a vehicle to present the report.

A register report generated for a word processor will have a different presentation and features compared to the same register report made to be viewed with a web browser on a computer or smart phone. Further, a book designed as a PDF document and based on the register report will have a different feel and options, taking advantage of the PDF format. In summary, different report destinations are provided for flexibility: to take advantage of different ways to present, view, and share a report.

Destination: Word Processor

Rather than reinvent the wheel, we have designed Reunion to communicate directly with your word processor. The concept is simple: when you create certain reports, one of your choices is to open the report in your word processor. If you choose this option, Reunion will assemble the proper information, save the report to disk (as a file located in the current Reports folder), and then open the report in your word processor where you can see, edit, and print the report using the familiar tools of your favorite word processing program.

To change your word processor, visit the Report Settings.

Once the report is in your word processor, you can take advantage of its tools. For example...

To automatically open a report in your word processor, select your word processor from the Destination button. When you do this, the button at the bottom of the Report window will change to Open with [name of your word processor] because you are about to open the report in your word processor.

Reports destined for your word processor are created in the file format known as RTF (Rich Text Format). Using the RTF file format, Reunion can automatically apply attractive formatting to reports before sending them to your word processor, for example...

More information about word processor compatibility issues is here.

Printing a Report Using Your Word Processor

If the destination of a report is your word processor, the report will be printed, if desired, using your word processor. Once a report has been passed from Reunion to another application (word processor), printing is handled by the other application, not Reunion.

If you are having difficulty printing a report using your word processor, please consult the word processor's documentation and/or contact the developer or their support group for assistance.

Destination: Email Application

To attach a report to an email message, click the Destination button and choose the name of your email app (typically Mail).

The default or preferred app for handling email may be changed using the Mail app's General Settings. Doing so will cause Reunion to send reports to whatever app is specified in Mail's General Settings.

However, it's not possible for Reunion (or any app) to automatically attach reports to a message in browser-based email sites (like Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.). Users of browser-based email who desire to send Reunion reports to others will need to save reports to a file and then attach the report file to the email message using whatever means are provided by the browser-based email utility. See "Destination: Text File, Web Folder" below.

Destination: Web Browser

To open a report in your web browser, click the Destination button and choose the name of your web browser. The button at the bottom of the Report window will become Open with [name of your web browser]. When clicking this button, you'll be asked to name the file/folder that will be used to save the report, and the report will automatically open in your web browser.

To change your web browser, visit the Web Settings.

See Web Publishing for a complete discussion of web-related report features.

If desired, you can print using your web browser. Once a report has been passed from Reunion to another app (web browser, in this case), printing is handled by the web browser, not Reunion.

Destination: Text File

To save a report to disk but not open the file anywhere automatically, click the Destination button and choose Text File. The button at the bottom of the Report window becomes Save Text File. When clicking this button, you'll be asked to name the file. The report will be saved to disk. Pay attention to where you save the file, in case you want to attach it to an email message, upload it to your web site, or open it later.

Reports saved with a destination of Text File are saved in RTF (Rich Text Format). Using the RTF file format, Reunion can apply attractive formatting to reports. These reports also use Unicode encoding. If you attempt to open report files using an application that does not support RTF or Unicode, you may notice strange characters after the file is opened or imported.

Destination: Web File or Web Folder

To save a report to disk but not open the file in your web browser automatically, click the Destination button and choose Web File/Folder. The button at the bottom of the Report window becomes Save Web File/Folder. When clicking this button, you'll be asked to name the file/folder. The report will be saved to disk, either as a single file or folder. Pay attention to where you save the file/folder, in case you want to attach it to an email message, upload it to your web site, or open it later.

A "Web Folder" destination is available when sharing more comprehensive reports (for example, a register report or a series of family group sheets). The Web Folder is a collection of HTML, CSS, and image files linked together and saved in a folder on your hard drive. By default, it's located in the Documents/Reunion Files/Reports folder.

A "Web File" destination is available when sharing most sidebars and lists. In this case, one HTML file is created and it contains the list, CSS elements, and related images — all rolled together. This applies to...

More information about web publishing appears here.

Plain Text Output

Note: This option only applies to list-style reports, such as: People list, Results list, Events report, Statistics report, etc.

If you need to output a list-style report in plain text (i.e., with no RTF formatting), hold down the Option key when you click the Share button. This will enable one additional item in the Destination menu called Plain Text File. You may want plain text files if, for example, you desire to manipulate a list in a text editor or spreadsheet app (like Excel) that does not support RTF formatting.

Destination: Printer

The following reports/charts can be printed directly* from Reunion and thus offer a "Printer" or "Print" destination...

These documents will have one of the following options...

*Note: any document/sidebar/list that you don't see listed in this section can be printed; however, the printing is accomplished via another app, such as your word processor where gaining the flexibility of a dedicated app for word processing makes more sense than printing the report directly from Reunion.

Use Preview!

When you choose to print any report or chart directly from Reunion, the standard macOS Print window will appear. We suggest that you click the PDF button in the Print window and choose Open PDF in Preview. Doing so will let you see exactly how a report will look before printing.

We also suggest that you experiment with other options hidden in the PDF button in the macOS Print window, as macOS provides many additional features. (See the image above.)

Limitation of Person and Family Group Sheets

Person and family group sheets whose destination is printer include graphic lines to separate blocks of information. By contrast, person and family group sheets whose destination is your word processor, are comprised of text and no graphic lines.

Person and family group sheets whose destination is printer have a limitation compared to other destinations (web or word processor): only one line is printed for each fact field. If this becomes a problem for you, you might want to consider entering longer facts in a Misc. Notes field (or any other Note field) and then entering "See Misc. Notes" in the Memo field for the fact.

Also, by default, dates and places are combined in a single line. However, in both the person and family group sheet layout windows, you can have Reunion put places on a separate line. Learn more.