WonderWriter has been designed specifically to permit a non-technical user to create, modify, and execute WonderWriter reports easily and quickly. Simple WonderWriter reports can be defined in a minute or two. WonderWriter's menu-driven Report Definition Subsystem guides the user through each step in creating or modifying a WonderWriter report.

Each report definition is separated into information about the report's Name, Fields, and Format.

WonderWriter maintains a list of existing reports from which new reports can be easily adapted.

In the report Name section, the user defines the report name, title, primary file, security, and password.

In the report Fields section, the user merely "points and shoots" at each field to include on the report. The user may also specify the order (left to right) in which the fields will be displayed on the report. Fields which are needed to construct the report but which are not required on the report itself (i.e., "key-to-filename key" fields) may be specified as "non-display."

In the report Format section, the user is allowed to override the automatically computed defaults for the number of spaces to leave between each field, the field widths, the field headings, the sort order, the break action, totaling, and formatting such as zero suppression, decimal positions, signs, and dollar signs. WonderWriter dynamically calculates and displays the report width, making it easy to expand or reduce the report width appropriately.