When you create a report in LabVIEW, you must decide which type of report you want. Consider whether you need to print, save, or email the report, and whether you want to use a template to create the report. Also consider the applications that are available on other computers from which users access the report.

You can use LabVIEW to create HTML reports. LabVIEW supports a limited number of formatting options, and you cannot use templates. HTML reports require no additional software on the computer you use to create the reports. However, users need a web browser to read an HTML report. You can save an HTML report, but the report might not print with consistent formatting. LabVIEW supports a limited number of formatting options for HTML reports, and you cannot use templates.

With the Report Generation Toolkit, you also can create Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel reports. You must have Word or Excel installed to create Word or Excel reports, respectively. Word and Excel reports also require that users who want to read or print the reports have the appropriate application on their computers. You can insert text, tables, images, and graphs into Word and Excel reports. You can save, print, and email the reports. You can set a variety of formatting options with text and tables, and you can use templates to create a consistent report style.

You can set the type of report you want to create in the Create Report VI and in the Report and MS Office Report Express VIs.