Themes and Style Sheets

When a theme is selected for a definition or application, it automatically applies a specific appearance to super-elements, like the Analysis Grid. In addition, the theme makes available a standard set of styleclasses that developers can apply to regular elements. This can save a lot of time and helps to create a consistent appearance.

In the example shown above, we see a definition that has had a theme applied to it. A Division element has been selected and one of the theme-supplied style classes is being assigned to it. As you can see, all of the theme-supplied classes begin with the letters "Theme" and they address alignment, font sizes, borders, and other useful styles.

Themes do not set the style class for every element; for example, Label and Rows, Row, and Column Cells (HTML tables) are not affected. You can set the Class attribute for these elements independently of the theme.

You can specify both a style sheet and a theme in a Global Style or Style element. If you have a style sheet and a theme assigned, the available classes from both will appear in the drop-down class list.

Interaction with Other Style Sheets

You may already have a style sheet that you like to work with when developing reports. How will that interact with a theme when it's applied to your report?

If you have assigned a style class to an element and the theme also applies a style class to that same element, the theme's style will be applied first, then yours. This means both styles will be applied but your style will "win" when there's a direct conflict. When there's no conflict, the effect will be additive.

Themes and Exports

Theme effects will also be applied to exports, which may or may not be desirable, and there is no way to block or undo the effects of a theme that has been assigned using the Global Style element. So if you plan to export reports to a format where appearance is important, such as PDF, you may want to assign themes using individual Style elements in each report, instead of the Global Style element.