About the Spec Range

The Spec range is a named range of spreadsheet cells that begins with the first row and column of the report specification, and includes all cells that are part of the specification.

Before you can generate a report from a report specification, you must define the Spec range for your spreadsheet.

Note: The Spec range is already defined in all financial report specifications that come with Financial Reporter.

To check for a Spec range:

1. On Excel's ribbon, click Formulas > Name Manager.

2. If "Spec" is not listed in the Name Manager window, click New, and then define the Spec range.

Layout of the Spec Range

The first four columns of the Spec range (A through D) are reserved for control information for Financial Reporter.

The other columns form a template that determines the appearance of the report and the type of data that it retrieves.

Note: A specification can begin in any column of a worksheet, but the first column of the Spec range must be the first column of the specification. We always refer to the first column of the specification as column A. (There is no reason why you should start a specification anywhere else.)

Redefining the Spec Range

If you want to redefine the spec range in your worksheet after generating a report, use the FR Clear command to clear up the report area, and then make your changes to the spec range.