The REPORT writer generates output that is suitable for printing with page breaks and column headings. Each report is generated by four steps:

1. Examining the report definition
2. Collecting the data called for
3. Sorting the collected data in the requested order
4. Formatting and outputting the sorted data.

Numerous pre-formatted reports are provided. These provided reports can be copied, edited, and modified as needed to suit your immediate requirements.

Each report definition contains a combination of the following five statements: REPORT, SELECT, PRINT, SORT and END. The REPORT statement indicates the beginning of a report and controls where the data is taken from and where the output is written. The SELECT statement controls what range of source data is used to generate the report. The PRINT statement controls what columns are printed and in what format. The SORT statement controls what order the selected data is printed. The END statement terminates the report definition and initiates all the report generation activity.