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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004

Introduction to Rave Reports - Part I: Code Based Reports
By: Leonel Togniolli
Abstract: This is a introduction to Rave Reports. Part I describes how to work with Code Base reports. - by Leonel Togniolli
Introduction to Rave Reports - Part I: Code Based Reports
elphi ! has included Rave Reports as the de"ault reporting solution# replacing $uick Reports. %ince they work in very di""erent paradig&s# &any people
were con"used by the new environ&ent. This is intended as an introduction "or people who haven't worked with Rave yet# and would like to start.
elphi ! ships with Rave Reports (.).*. I" you haven't already# download the update "ro& the registered users page# since it "i+es so&e i&portant
proble&s.
,ou can develop reports with Rave using two di""erent ways: Code Based or with the -isual esigner. This docu&ent describes how to work with the
code based engine. Part II will describe the -isual esigner.
Code Based Reports
.ith Code Based# you write reports using plain elphi code. That provides a very "le+ible way displaying any kind o" data# allowing any kind o" co&ple+
layouts.
To write a code based report# /ust drop a TRv%yste& co&ponent on the "or& and write the report on the 0nPrint event handler. %ender is the report you
are creating# and can be typecasted to TBaseReport. It contains all the &ethods you need to output in"or&ation to that particular report.
Simple Code Base Report
1ere's a si&ple report using the code based &echanis&:
procedure TFormMain.RvSystemPrintSender! T"#$ect%&
begin
with Sender as T'aseReport do
begin
SetFont()ria*(+ 1,%&
-oto./1+1%&
Print(0e*come to 1ode 'ased Reporting in Rave(%&
end&
end&
To e+ecute this report# call Rv%yste&.2+ecute &ethod.
%o# what does that si&ple code do3 4irst# it calls %et4ont to select the "ont and si5e o" the te+t that will be printed "ro& that point on. Then it positions the
cursor on the coordinates 67#78. These coordinates are e+pressed using the units set in the %yste&Printer.9nits property o" the Rv%yste& ob/ect# and it
de"aults to Inches. ,ou can set it to un9ser and set a nu&ber relative to Inches in the %yste&Printer.9nits4actor property. 4or e+a&ple# i" 9nits4actor
was set to ).( then 7 unit would correspond to hal" an inch. 4inally# the code calls the Print &ethod to output the te+t. 1ere's the output:
Tabular Code Based Report
1ere's another e+a&ple. It displays a list o" the "olders in the root o" the current drive# along with a recursive count o" nu&ber o" "iles and "older# and total
si5e o" the "iles included in each "older.
procedure TFormMain.PrintTa#u*arReportReport! T'aseReport%&
var
Fo*der2ist ! TString2ist&
i ! Integer&
3umFi*es ! 1ardina*&
3umFo*ders ! 1ardina*&
Si4eFi*es ! 1ardina*&
Root ! string&
begin
with Report do
begin
SetFont()ria*(+ 1,%&
3e52ine&
Print1enter(2ist o6 Fo*ders in t7e 8rive Root(+ 4%&
3e52ine&
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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004
3e52ine&
1*earTa#s&
SetTa#0.2+ p$2e6t+ 1.9+ 0+ 0+ 0%&
SetTa#1.9+ p$Rig7t+ :.1+ 0+ 0+ 0%&
SetTa#:.1+ p$Rig7t+ :.,+ 0+ 0+ 0%&
SetTa#:.,+ p$Rig7t+ 4.,+ 0+ 0+ 0%&
SetFont()ria*(+ 10%&
'o*d !; True&
PrintTa#(Fo*der 3ame(%&
PrintTa#(3um#er o6 Fi*es(%&
PrintTa#(3um#er o6 Fo*ders(%&
PrintTa#(Si4e o6 Fi*es(%&
'o*d !; Fa*se&
3e52ine&
Fo*der2ist !; TString2ist.1reate&
try
Root !; Inc*udeTrai*ingPat78e*imiter<=tractFi*e8riveParamStr0%%%&
<numFo*dersFo*der2ist+ Root%&
for i !; 0 to Fo*der2ist.1ount - 1 do
begin
PrintTa#Fo*der2ist>i?%&
-etFo*derIn6oInc*udeTrai*ingPat78e*imiterRoot@Fo*der2ist>i?%+
3umFi*es+ 3umFo*ders+ Si4eFi*es%&
PrintTa#Format(Au(+>3umFi*es?%%&
PrintTa#Format(Au(+>3umFo*ders?%%&
PrintTa#Format(Au #ytes(+>Si4eFi*es?%%&
3e52ine&
end&
fnally
Fo*der2ist.Free&
end&
end&
end&
:otice that a di""erent approach has been taken: instead o" speci"ying the coordinates o" each te+t output# the printing was done using Lines and
Colu&ns as re"erences. The line heigh depends on the si5e o" the current "ont: each unit represents 7;!<nds o" an inch# so each line printed with a si5e
7) "ont will have# apro+i&atelly# a height o" ).7=* inches. Lines are advanced a"ter calls to PrintLn or :ewLine. Colu&s are de"ined using calls to the
%etTabs &ethod# and the PrintTab &ethod will print the te+t in the current colu&n and advance to the ne+t one. 1ere's the output:
,ou can "ind the "ull source# including the i&ple&entation o" 2nu&4olders and >et4olderIn"o# on CodeCentral.
Graphical Code Based Report
,ou can include shapes and i&ages in your code based report# along with the te+t. The "ollowing e+a&ple de&onstrates that:
procedure TFormMain.Print-rap7icsReportReport! T'aseReport%&
var
'itmap ! T'itmap&
begin
with Report do
begin
1anvas.'rus7.1o*or !; c*-ray&
Rectang*e0.:+ 0.:+ 4.9+ :.:%&
SetFont()ria*(+ 1,%&
Font1o*or !; c*Red&
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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004
Print./0.,+0.,+ (Bust *ooC at a** t7e grap7icsD(%&
'itmap !; T'itmap.1reate&
try
'itmap.2oadFromFi*e(de*p7i.#mp(%&
Print'itmap:.,+0.:+1+1+ 'itmap%&
Print'itmap1+2+:+:+ 'itmap%&
1anvas.Pen.1o*or !; c*'*ue&
1anvas.'rus7.'itmap !; 'itmap&
<**ipse,+0.:+E+:.:%&
<**ipse2+1+4+1.F%&
fnally
'itmap.Free&
end&
1anvas.Pen.1o*or !; c*'*acC&
1anvas.'rus7.Sty*e !; #sSo*id&
1anvas.'rus7.1o*or !; c*/e**o5&
Pie0.9+0.9+1.9+1.9+1+1+1+2%&
1anvas.'rus7.1o*or !; c*-reen&
Pie0.9+0.9+1.9+1.9+1+2+1+1%&
end&
end&
In this e+a&ple the &ethods Rectangle# 2llipse and Pie have been used draw shapes with di""erent "ills. Bit&aps were outputted using PrintBit&ap and
as the brush o" the ellipses. 1ere's the output:
? sa&ple application# containing "ull source code "or those three e+a&ples can be "ound at CodeCentral.
Conclusion
?s you can see# code based reporting o""ers a great "le+ibility and control o" the layout you want# but re@uire so&e work to i&ple&ent the&. In Part II we
will see how the -isual esigner can be used to build power"ul reports in a very easy way.
Introduction to Rave Reports - Part II: -isual esigner
By: Leonel Togniolli
Abstract: This is a introduction to Rave Reports. Part II describes how to work with the -isual esigner - by Leonel Togniolli
Introduction to Rave Reports - Part II: Visual Designer
In the Part I o" this docu&ent# you have seen how the Code Based engine o" Rave Reports works. :ow we are going to e+plore the -isual
esigner.
The Visual Designer
I" you are used to work with $uick Reports# the de"ault reporting engine included in the previous versions o" elphi# you created your reports
using elphi's own "or& designer# and they were save in the 4A# included as resources in your e+ecutable. Rave works a bit di"erently in this
aspect: it has it's own report designer# and saves the report using it's own "ile "or&at. This has so&e advantages# including the "act that your
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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004
reports can be &ade BstandaloneB# and be used or updated independently o" your application# or even &ade available in a Intranet or in the
Internet# using :evrona's Rave Report %erver. 0" course# you can still have it saved in a "or&'s 4A.
To get started with the Rave -isual esigner# drop a TRvPro/ect in a "or&. This will be the link "ro& your application to the reports you are
developing. I" you want# you can add a TRv%yste& and link your RvPro/ect to it# through it's 2ngine property. The Rv%yste& is the ob/ect
responsible "or the general con"iguration o" the reports: the printer that is going to be used# the &argins# the nu&ber o" pages# and so on. To
start a new pro/ect# double click the RvPro/ect you added to the "or&# or select BRave -isual esigner...B "ro& its conte+t &enu. This is the
inter"ace that you will be working on:
The inter"ace is si&ple# and you &ight be "a&iliar with so&e parts o" it "ro& elphi's I2. 0n the top there's the &enu# the toolbar# and the
co&ponent pallete that contain the co&ponents that will be used in the reports. In the le"t there's the 0b/ect Inpector# which will be used to
ad/ust the properties o" the co&ponents o" the report. In the &iddle there's the Page esigner or the 2vent 2ditor# and in the le"t there's the very
use"ull Pro/ect Treeview. 4or a @uick overview o" the co&ponents in the pallete# you can go to :evrona's -isual esigner page.
? Rave Pro/ect 4ile can have one or &ore reports. That way you can keep co&&on ite&s between the& in a single location# called >lobal
Pages. I" you e+pand the Report Library node o" the Pro/ect Treeview# you can see that right now you are working on Report7. Clicking on it# its
properties will show on the Inspector. Let's change it's na&e and call it %i&pleReport. :e+t# go to the %tandard tab on the Co&ponent Pallete#
and pick a Te+t co&ponent and add it to the page. Change its te+t property# and ad/ust its si5e and position. 1ere's how &ine looked like:
?s you can see# the properties that were changed "ro& the de"ault values are shown in bold. In this case# I changed the 4ont# Te+t and Truncate
properties. By de"ault it does not highlight :a&e# Pos and %i5e changes. I" you'd like to see the&# right click the Inspector and uncheck
B2+clude :a&e# %i5e and Pos changesB in the conte+t &enu.
,ou &ight have also noticed that Rave does not have an auto si5e property. ,ou can use the Truncate property to have that e""ect: i" truncate is
"alse# the design ti&e si5e will have no e""ect.
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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004
,ou can see the result o" this si&ple report right on the designer: Press F9 or use File/Execute Report to run it. :ow let's do it in our
application. %ave your pro/ect and return to elphi. Change to Pro/ect4ile property o" RvPro/ect to point to the "ile you /ust saved. To run the
report# add a call to the 2+ecute &ethod o" the RvPro/ect ob/ect in a button click# "or e+a&ple.
RvPro/ect.2+ecute will only work "or now because we only have one report in this pro/ect. I" we had &ultiple reports# we'd have to call
%electReport to choose one be"ore calling 2+ecute# or calling 2+ecuteReport directly.
1ere's the output:
Tip: I" you Close and 0pen your pro/ect be"ore e+ecuting# you won't need to to reco&pile your application or restart it to see the changes you
/ust &ade in the designer.
Interacting with the Project
I" you worked with $uick Reports# you &ight be used to &anipulating the ob/ects in runti&e# changing their Position# Te+t and -isibility. ?"ter all#
they were /ust T0b/ectsC .hile this is possible with Rave# and I'll cover it in a later article# it's a little harder than it was with $R. But don't worry#
Rave provides a di""erent answer to this kind o" proble&s.
Parameters
I" you can use para&eters in your reports. They can be de"ined using the para&eters property o" either the Pro/ect# a Report or a Page.
Para&eters can be de"ined in either o" these places# they are /ust in &ultiple places "or easier access.
,ou can only select the Pro/ect and a Report through the Pro/ect Treeview. ? page# however# can be selected using the Pro/ect Treeview or
clicking on it's title above the page designer.
?&ong other uses# you can print para&eters. %o# "or instance# i" the title o" your report can be user-de"ined# you could pass it "ro& your
application into the report as a para&eter.
Let's add a new report to this pro/ect to see how para&eters work. To do that# click the "ourth button on the toolbar or choose 4ile;:ew Report.
Call it Para&etri5edReport# changing its na&e through the ob/ect inspector. This report is going to be very si&ilar to the "irst one# e+cept the te+t
is going to be user-de"ined.
:ow we need to de"ine the para&eter that is going to be printed. To do that# still having the report as the selected ob/ect# open the property
editor the the para&eters property. There should be listed all para&eters o" this report# each on a separate line. ?dd a para&eter called :a&e#
like this:
Para&eters can be printed using a ataTe+t co&ponent# available in the Report tab o" the co&ponent pallete. ?dd a ataTe+t to the page# and
open the property editor o" the ata4ield property. There you can choose which "ield is going to be printed# when working with ata?ware
reports 6which will be covered on Part III o" these series8. ,ou can also choose Pro/ect -ariables# Para&eters and Post-Initiali5e -ariables "ro&
there.
%o choose the para&eter added previously "ro& the Para&eters drop-down co&bo and press the Insert Para&eter button. The data te+t
e+pression is now Param!ame 6we are going to change that a little later8. Press 0D and try to e+ecute the report# as be"ore. :othing is
printed# since the para&eter has not been set.
.e need to set this para&eter be"ore printing. on't "orget to save your changes# and return to elphi# adding a call to %electReport be"ore
2+ecute# so we can see the right report. Be"ore e+ecuting# though# we need to set the para&eter we added. That is &ade using RvPro/ect's
%etPara& &ethod. This is how &y code looks like right now:
procedure TFormMain.#tn<=ecute1*icCSender! T"#$ect%&
begin
RvPro$ect."pen&
RvPro$ect.Se*ectReport(Parametri4edReport(+Fa*se%&
RvPro$ect.SetParam(3ame(+(2eone*(%&
RvPro$ect.<=ecute&
RvPro$ect.1*ose&
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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004
end&
:ow# when we e+ecute the report# we are going to see the string we set as a para&eter printed.
Tip: ,ou can use RvPro/ect.>etReportList to get a list o" avaible pro/ects# and add the& to a Co&boBo+# or a Radio>roup# "or e+a&ple. That
&akes selecting the report easier.
But this is too si&ple. Let's change the e+pression that is going to be printed. Return to Rave esigner and open the property editor "or the
ataTe+t we added. ,ou can add any te+t you want# co&bining te+t# "ields# para&eters and variables. I changed it to this:
1ere's the result:
Post"#nitiali$e %ariables
Post-Initiali5e -ariables# or si&ply PI -ars# are variables whose value is only known a"ter the report has already been printed. It &ay sound
strange# at "irst# but think about the nu&ber o" pages o" a report# "or e+a&ple. .e can only know it's value a"ter the report is ready. ?ctually
TotalPages is a report variable that acts like a PI var# and can easily be printed using ataTe+ts as we did with Para&eters.
Global Pa&es
.hen you have parts o" reports that are co&&on to two or &ore reports# you can put these in a global page. Let's supose we have a header
with our co&pany na&e# the date and ti&e that report is being printed# the current page and the nu&ber o" pages o" that report. .e want that
header to be in every report. 1ow can we do it3
4irst# add a global page to the pro/ect# using 4ile;:ew >lobal Page# or the Toolbar shortcut. In that page# add a section co&ponent# available in
the standard tab o" the co&ponent pallete.
%ections are logical groupings o" co&ponents. they can be used to group co&ponent so they can be easily &oved around the report# or as
containers "or Airrors# as we are doing right now.
Inside that section we add what we want to be printed. In this case# a "ew ataTe+ts. Ay header looks like this:
1int: Instead o" changing the "ont property o" several co&ponents to the sa&e "ont# link the& to a 4ontAaster co&ponent# available in the
standard tab# and set the "ont on it. That way is easier to change the "ont in the "uture# in case it's needed.
:ow add another section to the Page7 o" %i&pleReport. %et its Airror property to >lobalPage7.%ection7. ,ou will see a copy o" the header you
created in the global page. o the sa&e thing to Para&etri5edReport. :ow both reports share the sa&e header. 1ere how it looks like "or &e:

Conditional Printin&
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%o&eti&es we need to print certain parts o" a reporting depending o" so&e conditions. Rave has a very power"ul way o" dealing with this. .e
can conditionally &irror sections depending on "ield values or para&eters. Let's create a new Report# calling it a ConditionalReport.
Let's pretend that this new report is a trick one. The user can choose the header that is going to be printed# "ro& two di""erent kinds o" headers.
1e can also choose "or the report to be printed without a header. .e are going to use a para&eter to tell the report what kind o" header is going
to be printed# and a ataAirror%ection to select the proper header at runti&e.
4irst# add a para&eter to this new report called 1eaderDind. Let's assu&e that it will have the values 1) 6"or no header8# 17 6"or the "irst
header8# 1< 6"or the second kind o" header8. :ow add a new section to the global page 6you can reach it through the Pro/ect Treeview8# with the
second kind o" header layout. I created a header si&ilar to the "irst one# changing the "ont title and adding a border around the values. It looks
like this:
:ow return to the Page7 o" ConditionalReport# and add a ataAirror%ection# available at the Report tab o" the co&ponent pallete. >o to its
ata4ield property editor# and set Param'eader(ind as the e+pression. :ow go to the ataAirrors property editor# and add two ata Airrors:
i" the value is 17# it should point to the "irst header# 1<# to the second. %ince 1) does not &atch any &irrors# nothing will be printed. It should
look like this:
:otice that I gave &ore &eaning"ul na&es to each o" the sections earlier.
1int: ,ou can use the 0nAirror-alue event o" the ataAirror%ection to work on ranges o" values.
:ow return to elphi and add the code to set the para&eter according to the user's choice. I added a Co&boBo+ with the options and &y code
looks like this:
procedure TFormMain.#tn<=ecute1*icCSender! T"#$ect%&
begin
RvPro$ect."pen&
RvPro$ect.Se*ectReportcm#Reports.Te=t+Fa*se%&
case cm#Reports.ItemInde= of
1! RvPro$ect.SetParam(3ame(+ed3ame.Te=t%&
2! RvPro$ect.SetParam(GeaderHind(+Format(GAd(+>cm#GeaderHind.ItemInde=?%%&
end&
RvPro$ect.<=ecute&
RvPro$ect.1*ose&
end&
:ow the proper header will be printed according to the user's choice.
Embedding the Project in the Executable
.hen you deploy your application# you &ust include you pro/ect "ile. ,ou can have it as a separated "ile# so you can update it in a easier way#
only shipping a new one# without reco&piling your application# or include it in your e+ecutable. It's easy to do that: open the property editor "or
the %toreR?- property o" RvPro/ect. There you can press Load to include the "ile in the 4A# %ave to e+tract a previously saved "ile# and Clear
to re&ove an e&bedded "ile. .hen there's a "ile loaded in this property# you don't need to ship the pro/ect "ile separately.
Conclusions
.e've learned how to work on the -isual esigner# and seen a "ew tricks that allow so&e "le+ible reports. ,ou can "ind a pro/ect containing the
sa&ple reports developed here on CodeCentral. 0n Part III we are going to learn how to create ata?ware reports# and operate with bands.
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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004
Introduction to Rave Reports - Part III: ata ?ware Reports
By: Leonel Togniolli
Abstract: This is a introduction to Rave Reports. Part III describes how to create ata ?ware Reports using river ata -iews - by Leonel Togniolli
Introduction to Rave Reports - Part III: Data Aware Reports
In the previous articles# I have shown how do the Code Based engine and the -isual esigner work. In this docu&ent# I'& going to e+plore the ata-
?ware capabilities o" Rave Reports.
The Database Connection
There are two ways to access data "ro& inside a report: you can share the sa&e connection established by your application# "etching records "ro&
atasets that e+ists in your 4or&s or ata&odules# or you can con"igure a new connection on the report# allowing it to be independent o" a particular
application. 4or the "irst &ethod you would use a )irect )ata %ie*# and a )ri+er )ata %ie* "or the second. ata -iew is the analog o" a
ata%ource;ata%et co&bination inside the report.
I" you intend to deploy your application using :evrona's Rave Report %erver# you should use river ata -iews.
The )ri+er )ata %ie*
Let's create a si&ple database report using a river ata -iew. %tart the Rave -isual esigner# and start a new pro/ect. .e need to de"ine the database
connection. To do this# choose 4ile;:ew atabase 0b/ect# or press the si+th button in the toolbar 6the purple cube8. The )ata Connections window will
appear:
Choose )atabase Connection# and you will be asked which ata Link you are going to be using. There is a "older called ataLinks where Rave has
been installed# containing so&e "iles with the .rvd e+tensions# responsible "ro& the connection &echanis&. By de"ault# you can choose between B2#
b2+press and ?0. I'll be using B2 "or this e+a&ple. Choose B2# press 4inish# and the atabase Connection Para&eters window will show up.
2very ata Link has a di""erent set o" connection para&eters available# si&ilar to those available in the elphi I2. 4or now# /ust set ?lias to be&os
and press 0D. :otice that a atabase ob/ect has been added to the Pro/ect Treeview# under ata -iew ictionary:
:otice that the settings you con"igured in the atabase Connection Para&eters# a"ter the wi5ard# including userna&e and password# i" aplicable# were
saved in the ?uthesign property o" the atabase co&ponent. In the ?uthRun property you can use di""erent settings to be used at runti&e# when your
report has been deployed.
.e are going to create now the river ata -iew. Click on :ew ata 0b/ect# then choose )ri+er )ata %ie*. ,ou should now choose the atabase
Connection that is going to be used by this ata -iew: choose the atabase created in the previous step. ? $uery ?vanced esigner will show up. rag
and rop the table custo&er.db "ro& the table list to the Layout window. It should look like this:
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Introduction to Rave Reports - 2004
I" you have &ore than one table# you should drag and drop "ields that should be /oined between tables. I" you press the Editor button you can check the
generated %$L# or type-in a &ore co&ple+ @uery. Let's keep the si&ple Custo&er Listing "or now. Press 0D and a riverata-iew will be added to the
Pro/ect Treeview# below the atabase co&ponents# having the selected "ields as subite&s:
:otice that I rena&ed the atabase Connection and the ata -iewto &ore appropriate na&es. It's in the Treeview where properties o" the "ields should
be set# like the isplay Label 6Full!ame property8# and the )ispla,Format.
Re&ions and Bands
Report co&ponents that should be printed in a "i+ed position in every page# like "i+ed headers and "ooters can be put directly in page. Co&ponents
whose position will be dependent o" previously printed ite&s# should be put in bands. ataBands will be printed once "or every record in the linked
ata-iew# while regular Bands will only be printed once# regardless o" how &any records have been selected. Both can contain ata-?ware co&ponents
6like ataTe+t8# or regular co&ponents 6like Te+t8.
Bands should be put inside Regions. Regions deli&itate the width o" the bands# and the &a+i&u& height that bands can use be"ore starting a new page.
0ne page can have &any Regions# and one Region can contain &any Bands.
?dd a Region to the Page covering its whole area. Inside the region add a Band# to be used as the report header# a ataBand# to print the custo&er
in"or&ation# and another Band# the report "ooter.
I" you wish to change the ordering o" e+isting bands in a report# use the -o+e For*ard and -o+e Behind buttons in the ?lig&ent Toolbar.
Rena&e the bands to &ore &eaning"ul na&es 6I used 1eader# Custo&erata and 4ooter8. %et the )ata%ie* property o" Custo&erata to vCusto&er#
and set Custo&erata as the ControllerBand o" the 1eader and 4ooter bands. ,ou should also run the Band %tyle 2ditor# "ro& the 0b/ect Inspector#
and set the Print .ocation o" those two bands to Bod, 'eader and Bod, Footer# respectively. ,ou can have an idea on how the report is going to be
printed observing the Band isplay as you change the settings. It shows iterating bands repeated three ti&es# and other bands only once:
.e also want the 1eader to be printed in other pages in case the listing spans &ore than one page: check the !e* Pa&e option in the Print /ccurrence
groupbo+# in that sa&e dialog.
The 4ooter band will only print when vCusto&ers has reached its end. I" you want it printed in every page# regardless o" that# /ust put the co&ponents
directly on the page# below the region# and not in a Band.
In the editor# you can @uickly identi"y the relationship between bands# their styles and their print occurrences:
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Addin& Fields
It's not hard to add "ields to a report. ,ou can Ctrl0)ra& the "ields "ro& the ata-iew# in the Pro/ect Treeview# to add ataTe+t co&ponents to the report#
and Alt0)ra& the& to add Te+t co&ponents containing the 4ullna&e property. This allows you to @uickly create the layout o" the report. :ow add so&e
"ields to Custo&erata and their title to the 1eader. I added Cust:o# Co&pany# Phone# Ta+Rate and LastInvoiceate.
on't "orget that you can use the tools on the ?lign&ent Toolbar to align the co&ponents# even i" they are in di""erent bands.
I added a title to the 1eader band and a si&ple te+t to the 4ooter band# indicating that the listing has ended. Later on the series we are going to see how
to use the Calc0p and CalcTotal co&ponents to be able to add totals# averages and other calculated values to the 4ooter.
Addin& the Report to 1our Pro2ect
To add this report to your pro/ect you should use use the sa&e approach as seen in Part II: /ust use a RvPro/ect in a 4or& or ataAodule# link it to the
report "ile# and call it's 2+ecute &ethod. But there is one gotcha when using river ata -iews: your application &ust load the apropriate driver. To do
that# /ust add the unit RvLB2 to your uses clause# i" using B2# RvLBE i" using b2+press# or RvL?0 i" using ?0.
Conclusions
This article has shown how to develop si&ple ata?ware reports. ,ou can "ind a pro/ect containing the report developed here on CodeCentral. Part I-
will de&onstrate the use o" irect ata -iew# show how to &ake Aaster;etail reports# and how to calculate values to display totals and calculated "ields.
Introduction to Rave Reports - Part I-: Aore ata ?ware
Reports
By: Leonel Togniolli
Abstract: T7is is a introduction to Rave Reports. Part IJ s7o5s 7o5 to create MasterK8etai* reports using 8irect
8ata Jie5s - #y 2eone* Tognio**i
Introduction to Rave Reports - Part IV: More Data Aware Reports
In Part III we have explored the data aware capabilities of Rave Reports, using the Driver Data iew! "n Part I we are going
to learn how to use Direct Data iews, the creation of #aster$Detail reports, and the use of %alc"P and %alcTotal co&ponents
to display calculated values and totals!
The Direct Data View
The Direct Data iew allows you share the database connection established by your application, fetching data directly fro&
the Data'ets in your application! (ou can lin) the& to any TData'et descendant, and, with so&e code, you can even fetch data
fro& custo& Data'tructures, li)e arrays of records or T'tringLists! *part fro& that, it behaves in the way as the Driver Data
iew we explored on Part III!
Using DataSet Connections
Let+s create a &aster detail report using Direct Data iews! %reate a new application, and set up a connection with your
database using your favorite Db ,ra&ewor)! I+ll still be using BD-, for de&onstration purposes! *dd two tables .or /ueries, as
you prefer0, selecting data fro& the orders and ite&s tables! ,or each Data'et, add a corresponding TRvData'et%onnection,
available in the Rave tab, in the pallete! 'et the property DataSet of each Data'et%onnection to the corresponding co&ponent,
and give the& &eaningful na&es .I called the& dscIte&s and dsc"rders0!
The na&e is i&portant: it is the your application lin) to the report! (ou won+t be able to have two Data'et connections, even in
different reports, with the sa&e na&e, or you &ight run into trouble if so&eone tries to run both reports concurrently!
*fter the Data'ets are set up, return to the Rave Reports designer! %hoose New Data Connection, and you should see the
Data'et %onnections you added to your for& in the Delphi designer:
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'elect dscIte&s to create the first Dataiew, then repeat the process to create the Dataiew for dsc"rders! (ou should now see
the fields in the Pro1ect Treeview, under the newly created Dataiews:
Don+t forget to rena&e the Dataiews to better na&es than Dataiew2 and Dataiew3!
Creating the ands
*fter the Dataiews have been created, we should set up the bands! %reate a Region consisting of the whole page area, and
add one band .4eader0, two DataBands .#aster and Detail0, and another Band .,ooter0! 'et the Contro!!erand property of
4eader, Detail and ,ooter to #aster! 5sing the andSt"!e property editor, set the style of the 4eader band to od" #eader
$%, the style of the Detail band to Detai! $D%, and the ,ooter band to od" &ooter $'%! 6otice how the and Disp!a" gives a
nice preview of how the bands are going to printed:
(ou also need to lin) the DataView property of the #aster band to dv"rders, and the Detail band to dvIte&s! To create the
#aster$Detail relashionship, set the MasterDataView property of the Detail band to dv"rders, and both the Master(e" and
Detai!(e" properties to the field "rder6o!
The &ontMaster Co)ponent
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(ou proably want si&ilar ite&s .all the ite&s in the Detail Band, for exa&ple0, to print with the sa&e font! Instead of setting
each &ont property individually, you can you a ,ont#aster! *dd a ,ont#aster co&ponent to the page and set its &ont propert
to Ti&es 6ew Ro&an, 27! In the next step, when adding the Text and DataText co&ponents, set their &ontMirror property to
the ,ont#aster! 6ow, if you ever change your &ind about the font that is going to be used in this report, you don+t need to
change it in every co&ponent, 1ust change it in the ,ont#aster and it will be reflect in every other co&ponent that is lin)ed to
it! (ou can have as &uch ,ont#asters in one report as you need!
The ,ont#aster is a 6on8isual co&ponent, &eaning it won+t show in the Design *rea! If you need to reselect it, you will
have to do it through the Pro1ect Treeiew!
Adding the DataTe*ts
6ow its 1ust a &atter of adding Text and DataText co&ponents to the bands! Don+t forget you can drag8and8drop .while
pressing the ctrl and alt )eys0 fro& the Pro1ect Treeview to create the&! I added "rder6o, 'aleDate, Ter&s, Pay&ent#ethod,
*&ountPaid and ,reight to the #aster band, and Ite&6o, Part6o, 9ty and Discount to the Detail band! Don+t forget that the
Disp!a"&or)at of float fields is set in the fields the&selves, in the Pro1ect Treeview, and not in the DataText co&ponents!
Adding Tota!s and Ca!cu!ated &ie!ds
(ou can &a)e calculations and aggregated values using the %alc"P and %alcTotal co&ponents, available on the Report tab!
The result of these calculations can be outputted to para&eters, PI ars, or used as inter&ediate result for other calculations!
:e are going to output the& to para&eters, so select your report in the Pro1ect Treeview and add two para&eters, called
*&ountPaidTotal and ,reightTotal:
6ow add two %alcTotal co&ponents to your the ,ooter band, and set their Contro!!er property to the #aster band, their
DataView property to dv"rders, the Data&ie!d to *&ountPaid and ,reight, and the DestPara) to the para&s you created
earlier, *&ountPaidTotal and ,reightTotal! It+s also in the %alcTotal co&ponent where you define the Disp!a"&or)at of the
value printed!
6ote that the %alc co&ponents are evaluated in the order they appear in the Pro1ect Treeview! If a %alc"p result is going to
printed by a DataText co&ponent, &a)e sure it appears in the Treeview before it! (ou can use the buttons #ove ,orward and
#ove Behind fro& the *lign&ent Toolbar to change their order!
(ou can now add in the ,ooter Band two DataText co&ponents to print those variables! 6otice that is has su&&ed the values,
and you can define through the Ca!cT"pe property of the the %alcTotal co&ponents the operation you would li)e to perfor&!
The sa&ple data included in the DbDe&os does not have a value for ,reight in any of the records! ,eel free to edit a few
records to see the& added up!
6ow let+s suppose we need to su& both totals, and display the& in the footer band! *dd a new para&eter called Total to the
report and a %alc"p co&ponent below the %alcTotal co&ponents, in the ,ooter band, and set the Src+Data&ie!d to
Para&!*&ountPaidTotal, and Scr,Data&ie!d to Para&!,reightTotal! 'et the DestPara) property to Total, and the
Disp!a"&or)at of the value! *dd a DataText to print this value!
&inishing Up
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To add the report to your pro1ect, 1ust do the sa&e as was done in the previous reports: 1ust lin) it in a RvPro1ect and call the
execute &ethod! (ou &ight want to filter the Data'et based on user input, but that+s the sa&e way as you always done before!
Conc!usions
:e have seen how to create Data*ware reports using Direct Data iews, how to set up &aster$detail relationships, and how to
use %alc co&ponents! (ou can find a pro1ect containing the report developed here on %ode%entral! Part will de&onstrate the
use of %usto& %onnections and so&e other tric)s!