Choose how to print reports

The Output Mode enables you to choose how reports, letters and documents are printed from Sage 200.

You can send them to a printer, preview them on-screen, or save them to the spooler to print later.

To choose your output mode

Open: Tools > Choose Output Mode.

Select where to print your reports:

Printer: All reports are sent directly to a printer.
Preview: All reports are displayed in preview mode first. This shows the report as it will be printed. You can amend the format of the report and then send them to the printer.
Spooler: All reports are sent to the spooler queue, which saves the reports so you can print them at another time.

Printer

Using the Printer output mode, all reports are sent directly to the printer.

When you print each report, you can choose which printer will be used.

Preview

Using the Preview output mode, all reports are displayed in preview mode first. This shows the report as it will be printed. You can amend the format of the report and then send them to the printer.

You have the following options:

Print: Sends the report to the printer.
E-mail: E-mails the report.

If you have not entered any email options for the report in Report Designer, this opens your e-mail program for you to set up an e-mail message. The report file will be attached to the e-mail.

If you have set up email options for the report in Report Designer, this emails the report to the specified recipients.
Data to Excel: Sends the report data to an Excel spreadsheet.

For more information, watch Send report data to Excel with Report Designer (video).
Export: Opens the Save As window. The report can be saved using any file name you want and in a variety of formats; CSV Comma Separated Value (CSV) file format. Sage 200 can import and export data in the CSV file format., XML Extensible Markup Language (XML) file format. Sage 200 can import and export data in the XML file format., Text, HTML or as a .datareport (Report Designer) file.
Page Setup: Changes the margin settings, size and orientation of the paper. It also selects the printer tray. If you change the page settings, the report may not fit the page.
Printer Offsets: Changes the offsets used by the report.
Edit: Opens the report in Report Designer for editing.
Styles: Changes the font for various parts of the report. If you change these, the report may not fit the page.
Spool: Saves the report to the spooler. This is useful if you do not want to print the report at this time. The report will stay in the spooler queue, available to print, until you delete it.

Spooler

Using the Spooler output mode, all reports are sent to the spooler, which saves the reports so you can print them at another time.

Sending reports to the spooler also allows you to continue to work without waiting for your reports to be printed. This is useful if you have a large number of reports to print. The reports stay in the spooler until you delete them. You can print them as often as you require.

To be able to save and print your reports using the spooler, your user account must be a member of a role with access to Print Spooling features. This is set in System Administration.

You can access the reports you have sent to the spooler from the Spooling workspace or from the Spooler window. This displays a list of reports for all companies that you have access to.

Use the Spooler window

Open: Spooler .

This displays the reports sent to the spooler in a window. For every report in the spooler queue, you can:

View: Preview the report on-screen.
Print: Print the report.

The report Status will change from Not Printed to Printed, and it will remain in the spooler queue if you need to print it again.
Email: Email the report.

If you have not entered any email options for the report in Report Designer, this opens your email program for you to set up an email message. The report file will be attached to the email.

If you have set up email options for the report in Report Designer, this emails the report to the specified recipients.
Delete: Delete the report from the spooler queue.

It is good practice to delete old reports from the spooler queue regularly to prevent it from getting too large.

Note: You can only delete reports from the spooler if your user's role has access to the Delete Spooler Content feature set in System Administration.
Refresh: Update the list. This is useful if you have been deleting old reports.
Use Filters to only show the reports you're interested in.

Note - information
This feature is only available from Sage 200 Professional Summer 2018 version onwards.
- You can filter the list by Report name, the User who produced the document, the Company (if you use multiple companies), the date of the report, or the status of the report (printed or not printed). Once you've selected the criteria, click Display to filter the list.
- If you've filtered the list and want to show all reports again, click Reset.
Sort the list. Click a column heading to sort that column ascending or descending.

Note: You can't use the Data To Excel feature when reports are sent to the spooler. If you want to use this, then you'll need to Preview the report.

Use the Spooling workspace

This displays the reports sent to the spooler, in a workspace. The workspace displays spooled reports for all companies that you have access to.

You can access the spooler workspace from your desktop or from a browser.

Using the workspace in a browser

Note: To view workspaces in a browser your user account must have Is Web User selected in System Administration.

From within the Sage 200 desktop:

Open: Tools > Show Workspaces in Browser, sign in, select Company and click Connect.

Select System > Spooling.

Alternatively from outside the Sage 200 desktop:

Open: Sign in to the Self Service web app, select Company and click Connect.

Select System > Spooling.

You can:

View the report:

Select the check box for the report. Right-click and select Actions > View.
Print the report:

Select the checkbox for the report. Right-click and select Actions > View. The report opens in a new window or tab in your browser. Select the print option in your browser.
Email the report:

Select the checkbox for the report. Right-click and select Actions > View.

The report opens in a new window or tab in your browser. Select the email option in your browser. The report file will be attached to an email message.

If you are accessing the spooler workspace in a browser, you cannot email reports and documents to specified customer and supplier contacts that you have set up using the email options in Report Designer.
Filter the list:

Use the filter options to see reports by user, by company, by report name etc.
Delete the report from the spooler queue.

Select the check box for the report. Right-click and select Actions > Delete.
Print the list of reports in the spooler:

Right-click and select Print.
Send the list of reports in the spooler to an Excel spreadsheet.

Right-click and select Export to Excel.
Sort the list:

Click each column heading to sort that column ascending or descending.

Use the spooler in the Web Portal and Sage 200 desktop

Documents in the spooler are shared in both the Web Portal and in the Sage 200 desktop. So documents you send to the spooler in the Sage 200 desktop are available in the Web Portal, and documents you send to the spooler in the Web Portal are available in the Sage 200 desktop.

In the Web Portal, reports are always sent to the spooler. This is not affected by the Output Mode setting in the Sage 200 desktop.
In the Sage 200 desktop, reports are only sent to the spooler if the Output Mode is set to Spooler.

When you use the spooler in the Web Portal, you can only see documents for the current Company that were sent from your own User account. You cannot view documents from other companies, or documents sent to the spooler by other users.

This feature is only available from Sage 200 Professional 2022 R1 version onwards.