Reordering Items on the Page

Reordering items on the page

The order in which items are drawn on the page can be changed by 2 different ways in REPORTER . The order is important as it determines the order in which scripts, programs etc will be run. For more details see Effect of object order on generating a report.

The first method can be used when editing objects . Once an item is selected you can right click with the mouse and use the ordering options in the popup to change the object.

One way of thinking about the object order is to think of a series of 'layers' or transparencies in a stack. Each 'layer' or transparency contains one object. The order in which the transparencies are stacked changes the order in which things are seen. This is exactly the same as layers in various photo editing software.

Send to back will make the object the first object drawn on the page (back layer)
Send back one will move the object back a layer
Bring forward one will move the object forward a layer
Bring to front will make the object the last object drawn on the page (top layer)

The second method is to use the reorder items... option in the Page menu. This brings up a window as shown below. The object stacking order is shown. Clicking on an entry highlights that entry with a green selection box. You can use the Move up and Move down options to change the stacking order of the selected item. Once the objects are in the order you want OK will update the page. Cancel will abort the operation without making any changes.