Customizing a Characterization Report

Beginning with PLTS 2016, all of the formatting tools available within MSWord® can be used to create customized reports. You can start from an existing MSWord document and edit it or start from a new one. Once the content is added and formatted, MSWord content controls and PLTS tags are inserted into the MSWord file that map the PLTS data to the report template. The report is then generated from the PLTS screen.

• Showing the Developer Tab
• Opening a Template or Document
• Inserting and Formatting Plain Text Content Controls
• Inserting and Resizing Graphics
• Inserting and Formatting a Trace Data Table
• Inserting and Formatting a Markers Table
• Generating a Report Using a Customized Template
• List of PLTS Tags

Showing the Developer Tab

The Developer Tab Controls group is used to insert various content controls and PLTS tags. This tab is not visible by default. The following procedure shows how to show the Developer Tab in MSWord.

1. Start MSWord.

2. Click on File tab then Options.

3. Select Customize Ribbon then check Developer.

4. Click on the Developer tab to view the content controls.

5. In the Developer tab, click on Design Mode to make the content control fields visible.

Opening a Template or Document

The following procedures show how to start from an existing template or create a new one from a blank document. You can also start from any MSWord document, add new content and content control tags, then save it as a Word document file. This is a convenient way to embed measurement data into any existing document.

1. Click on the File tab.

2. If you want to start from an existing template or create a new one from a blank document, perform the following:

   1. Click New.

   2. From the Available Templates, select an existing template or click on Blank document to create a new one.

3. If you want to start from an existing MSWord file, perform the following:

   1. Click Open.

   2. Navigate to the location of the file.

   3. Click on the Open button.

4. Click on the File tab again.

5. Click Save As and navigate to a location to save the file.

6. Type a name for the file.

7. In the Save as type drop down menu, select Word Document to save the file as a document.

Inserting and Formatting Plain Text Content Controls

Plain text content controls are used to insert data anywhere within an MSWord file and can then be formatted using the tools in MSWord.

1. Ensure that the content control fields are visible in MSWord as described in Showing the Developer Tab.

2. Position the cursor where you want to insert the plain text content control. This can be anywhere within a paragraph, table cell, etc.

3. In the Developer tab, click on the Plain Text Content Control icon.

4. Ensure that a place holder has been inserted into the MSWord file.

5. In the Developer tab, click on the Properties icon to open the Content Control Properties dialog.

6. In the Title field, add a title. The title does not appear in the final output file. The intent is to help identify the data if necessary.

7. In the Tag field, add a plain text PLTS tag. Refer to the list shown in List of PLTS Tags.

8. Click on the OK button. Note that the plain text content control tag name entered in the Tag field is now displayed. In the following example, Version Number was entered as the title and PLTSVersion as the tag.

9. Highlight "Click here to enter text" and enter text to help identify the data. For example, type PLTS Version. This is helpful when viewing the MSWord file with Design Mode disabled because this text is all that will be visible.

10. Highlight the text again and use MSWord's formatting tools to change the formatting. Whatever formatting is applied to this text will be applied to the output as shown in the following example for the PLTSVersion plain text content control tag.

11. When finished, save the file as a Word Document.

Inserting and Resizing Graphics

Picture content controls are used to insert plots anywhere within a MSWord file and can then be resized as necessary.

1. Ensure that the content control fields are visible in MSWord as described in Showing the Developer Tab.

2. Position the cursor where you want to insert the picture content control.

3. In the Developer tab, click on the Picture Content Control icon.

4. Ensure that a place holder has been inserted into the MSWord file.

5. In the Developer tab, click on the Properties icon to open the Content Control Properties dialog.

6. In the Title field, add a title. The title does not appear in the final output file. The intent is to help identify the data if necessary.

7. In the Tag field, add a picture content control tag. Refer to the list shown in List of Content Control Tags.

8. Click on the OK button. Note that the tag name entered in the Tag field is now displayed. In the following example, Plot 1 was entered as the title and Plot1as the tag.

9. To resize the graphic, click the blue shaded box then drag a corner to resize. Pressing and holding the Shift key while resizing maintains the aspect ratio. The following example shows a picture content control place holder being resized and the resulting output for the Plot1 tag.

10. When finished, save the file as a Word Document.

Inserting and Formatting a Trace Data Table

Building block gallery content controls are used to insert tabular data for the traces within a specified plot into a MSWord file. You must first create a table having two rows and two columns and then "wrap" it in the building block gallery content control.

1. Ensure that the content control fields are visible in MSWord as described in Showing the Developer Tab.

2. Create a table with two rows and two columns. When the report is generated, each column will contain the trace data of one trace. If a plot has more than two traces (two columns), PLTS automatically adds columns depending on the number of traces.

3. Format the table as necessary. Add shading, add or remove horizontal/vertical rules, etc.

4. Ensure that at least one blank line exists after the table.

5. Highlight the entire table plus one blank line after the table as shown.

6. In the Developer tab, click on the Building Block Gallery Content Control icon.

7. Ensure that a place holder has been inserted into the MSWord file.

8. In the Developer tab, click on the Properties icon to open the Content Control Properties dialog.

9. In the Title field, add a title. The title does not appear in the final output file. The intent is to help identify the data if necessary.

10. In the Tag field, add the trace data tag. Refer to the list shown in List of Content Control Tags.

11. Click on the OK button. Note that the tag name entered in the Tag field is now displayed. In the following example, Plot 1 Tabular Data was entered as the title and Plot1TracesDataTable as the tag. The resulting output from the selected plot has two traces (TDD21 and TDD43).

12. When finished, save the file as a Word Document.

Inserting and Formatting a Markers Table

Building block gallery content controls are used to insert marker data within a specified plot into a MSWord file. You must first create a table having at least four rows and ten columns and then "wrap" it in a building block gallery content control. In addition, you must include the XUnit and YUnit tags using the plain text content control.

1. Ensure that the content control fields are visible in MSWord as described in Showing the Developer Tab.

2. Create a table with at least four rows and ten columns. When the report is generated, each column will contain the marker data of each trace using this marker. If a plot has less than nine markers, PLTS automatically removes columns depending on the number of markers. Similarly, if a plot only has one trace, PLTS automatically removes the extra row. If a plot has more than two traces, extra rows will be added automatically.

3. Format the table as necessary. Add shading, add or remove horizontal/vertical rules, etc.

4. Ensure that at least one blank line exists after the table.

5. Add the XUnit and YUnit tags to the table using the plain text content control. This adds the unit of measure for each axis. The X axis is in ns and the Y axis is in V. The following shows them added in the first row of the table along with the word "Markers".

6. Highlight the entire table plus one blank line after the table as shown.

7. In the Developer tab, click on the Building Block Gallery Content Control icon.

8. Ensure that a place holder has been inserted into the MSWord file.

9. In the Developer tab, click on the Properties icon to open the Content Control Properties dialog.

10. In the Title field, add a title. The title does not appear in the final output file. The intent is to help identify the data if necessary.

11. In the Tag field, add the marker data tag. Refer to the list shown in List of Content Control Tags.

12. Click on the OK button. Note that the tag name entered in the Tag field is now displayed. In the following example, Marker Data was entered as the title and Plot2MarkersTable as the tag. The resulting output from the selected plot has two markers per trace and there are two traces. The first row of data is the X axis value in ns.

13. When finished, save the file as a Word Document.

Generating a Report Using a Customized Template

Customized reports can be generated as a MSWord document, PDF, or HTML file. The MSWord file used as the customized template for the report must be a MSWord document (not a MSWord template).

1. In the PLTS screen, select File then Characterization Report.

2. In the Characterization Report dialog under Report Template, select Customized.
   
   

3. Under Report Template, click Browse to select the template (MSWord document) to use for the customized report.

4. Under Report Content, select Plots From Current View or Plots From Template View. Learn more.

5. Select the Plot Size from the pull-down menu:
   
   

6. Under Output, click Browse to select the location, filename, and file type for the report file.

7. Click the Generate button.

List of PLTS Tags

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