Adding a predefined inquiry column

Inquiries contain these types of columns:

Columns that automatically appear when you open the standard inquiry
Columns you can add to an inquiry by simply selecting them from a list (predefined columns)
Columns you can create by writing a formula

To add a predefined inquiry column

Right-click a column heading where you want to add the new column, and click either Add column to the left or Add column to the right. The Column Properties window appears.
Click in the Column field, and select the column that you want to add.

You can select a regular column or a key field column.

In the Heading field, change the name of the column, as needed.
In the Width field, change the width of the column in inches, if needed. Use decimals such as .50 for one-half of an inch.
You can display inquiry data for only a specific time period.
Do one of the following depending if the column contains text, numbers, or dates:

If it contains

Do this

Text

Click the Text Format tab.
To wrap text to the next line within a column, select the Wrap text check box.

Be sure to select this check box to see all the text for some columns such as Address or Phone Numbers.

To show only the beginning of all the text that can appear for an entry in the column, select the Limit number of characters displayed check box. In the Characters Displayed field, enter the maximum number of characters to show for an entry in this column. If you leave it blank, all characters appear.

Numbers

Click the Number Format tab.
Change the number of decimal places you want to show, if needed.
In the Negative Amount field, either leave the selection to show negative amounts with parentheses or select to show them with a minus sign.
If you want zero amounts to appear as a blank, leave the Blank if zero check box selected. To show zeros for zero amounts, clear the Blank if zero check box.
If you want to print a total line, leave the Show totals check box selected. Otherwise, clear the check box.
The formula for the column must be in the format of either A/B or A/B * 100. Otherwise, an error message appears and you cannot save the column until you correct the formula or clear the Percent column check box.

To indicate that the values in the column are percentages, select the Percent column check box. This ensures that the percentages total correctly.

Dates

Click the Date Format tab.
In the list, click the date format that you want for dates in the inquiry.

As needed, link the column to another inquiry.
Click OK.

Note:

If you add columns containing the same information but with different date ranges (for aging, for example), you can click the Properties button on the Inquiry toolbar and set conditions on them.