ReportBuilder Developer’sGuide Fourth Edition ReportBuilder Developer's Guide Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000-2007 by Digital Metaphors Corporation i CONTENTS INTRODUCTION The Basics Report Creation .................................................................................................3 Select .................................................................................................................3 Design ................................................................................................................4 Process ..............................................................................................................4 Generation .........................................................................................................5 A Quick Test Spin Overview ............................................................................................................7 Create a New Application ..................................................................................7 Create a Table, DataSource, and Data Pipeline Component ............................7 Create a Report and Connect it to the Data ......................................................7 Invoke the Report Designer ...............................................................................7 Place a Label Component in the Header Band ................................................7 Place a DBText Component in the Detail Band .................................................8 Preview the Report at Design-Time ...................................................................8 Preview the Report at Run-Time .......................................................................8 The Best Way to Learn ReportBuilder? Start simple, then go to the next easy level. ....................................................11 Use the online help. .........................................................................................11 Use this manual. ..............................................................................................11 Run the examples; Study the examples; Know the examples. ........................11 Elements of the User Interface The Report Designer .......................................................................................13 The Report Tree ..............................................................................................14 The Object Inspector .......................................................................................15 The Data Tree ..................................................................................................15 Working with the Report Designer Overview ..........................................................................................................17 Some tips to help you get the most out of ReportBuilder: ...............................17 Reporting Basics Lookup Tables/Queries ....................................................................................19 Filtering Data ...................................................................................................19 Performing Calculations ...................................................................................19 Display Formats ...............................................................................................20 Dynamic Bands ................................................................................................20 Stretching Memos and Shapes ........................................................................20 Controlling Component Visibility ......................................................................20 iii REPORTBUILDER FUNDAMENTALS MAIN Introduction Overview ..........................................................................................................25 Report Layout ..................................................................................................25 Report Output ..................................................................................................25 Data Access .....................................................................................................25 Data Process ...................................................................................................25 The Delphi Components DBPipeline ......................................................................................................27 BDEPipeline ....................................................................................................27 TextPipeline ....................................................................................................27 JITPipeline ......................................................................................................27 Report .............................................................................................................27 Viewer .............................................................................................................27 Archive Reader ...............................................................................................27 Report Components Overview ..........................................................................................................29 Memo ..............................................................................................................29 RichText ..........................................................................................................29 Label ...............................................................................................................29 SystemVariable ...............................................................................................30 Variable ...........................................................................................................30 Image ..............................................................................................................30 Shape .............................................................................................................30 TeeChart .........................................................................................................30 BarCode ..........................................................................................................30 2D BarCode ....................................................................................................30 CheckBox .......................................................................................................30 DBText ............................................................................................................30 DBMemo .........................................................................................................30 DBRichText .....................................................................................................31 DBCalc ............................................................................................................31 DBImage .........................................................................................................31 DBBarCode .....................................................................................................31 2D DBBarCode ...............................................................................................31 DBTeeChart ....................................................................................................31 DBCheckBox ..................................................................................................31 Region ............................................................................................................31 SubReport .......................................................................................................31 CrossTab ........................................................................................................31 PageBreak ......................................................................................................31 iv Smart Layouts Overview ..........................................................................................................33 Anchors ............................................................................................................33 StretchWithParent ............................................................................................33 ShiftRelativeTo ................................................................................................33 StopPosition (for subreports) ...........................................................................33 BottomOffset ....................................................................................................33 OverFlowOffset ................................................................................................33 ReprintOnOverFlow .........................................................................................33 One Memo in the Detail Band ..........................................................................34 One Memo with a Shape Background .............................................................34 One Memo with Label Beneath .......................................................................35 Two Stacked Memos in the Detail Band ..........................................................35 Two Side-by-Side Memos with Labels Below ..................................................36 Child SubReports in Fixed Positions ...............................................................36 One Memo with