Format templates define the appearance of a report. This comprises certain fix contents like headers and footers, logos or a table of contents as well as paragraph and table styles, which influence the appearance of the data generated into the report.
How to refer to styles defined in a format template from a report template is explained here.
The nature and structure of a format template depend on the output type for which the format template is used. A format template may be a *.dot file for MS Word™ or a *.css file for HTML outputs, e.g.. Details concerning the format templates needed for certain output types can be found in the sub chapters.
You can find samples for report and format templates on the ARCWAY website: www.arcway.com/downloads.