When you create a layout, you are telling Report-Builder exactly how you want the document to look. But what if your document is so complex that you can't design a layout to describe it? Though ReportBuilder layouts are quite flexible and powerful, as you will soon see, even the most flexible layout is still fixed. The Process activity of document creation allows you to provide additional instructions to ReportBuilder regarding how the document should be created. Therefore, you can change the report layout as the document is generating. You can also use the processes to format data and perform calculations. Processes are created using Delphi code or using the run-time coding environment included with ReportBuilder Enterprise. ReportBuilder's native language is called RAP (for Report Application Pascal). It is easy to learn and fun to use, especially when you see the cool effects you can create with it. For example, you can use RAP to combine the First and Last Name fields of a contact so the data is easier to read in the report, or to calculate a weighted average to appear in the summary section at the end of a report.

Most reports do not require a process, so don't worry about whether or not you can master this activity. This guide will show you how to do simple calculations and even some fairly complex stuff, if you're interested. Just remember that Process is the place you go when you can't get a report to look exactly the way you want and all other avenues seem to be closed.