Overview

Report Creation

• First you write a Genero BDL application (4gl file) to retrieve the data, from a database for example. Genero BDL statements and Reporting API functions in your application get the report data and output it to Genero Report Writer. A great deal of the code to retrieve the data can be generated using the Report Data Wizard.
• Once the BDL file is created, you can use the fglcomp tool to extract the data schema for the report (rdd file) from this file. The .rdd file is used to populate the Data View in the Genero Report Designer, and the resulting data objects can be dragged and dropped onto the design page.
• You design the report layout, using Genero Report Designer, dragging and dropping the report elements, including data objects, onto the report design page, to create a Report Design Document (4rp file).
• You can specify the default report output options using the Report Designer menu; or, functions in the Genero report API can be called in your BDL application to provide finer granularity for the output options.
• End-to-end streaming (see How It Works) from the Genero DVM to the Genero Report Viewer provides "print-as-you-go" processing; the data is produced on the fly.

The Report Design Document

The Report Design Document (4rp) specifies the appearance of the report and its data:

• Report elements (containers (such as Mini Page and Horizontal Box), and their child elements (such as Word Box . Image Box. and data objects), can be dragged and dropped onto the report page and re-arranged.
• Properties in the Properties View describe the report element. The default values for element properties can be changed, or calculated using expressions. An expression can be used to change the appearance of the element, or change it conditionally (for example, an expression might turn the background color red if the value for the report element is greater than 1000).
• The report design elements can contain values that are based on other values in the report (totals and subtotals, for example).
• Various Report Design Documents can be created using the data from the same 4gl file, and can be output in different formats.

See Designing a Report.

The Report Output

A Genero report is based on XML standards (XML reports, XML data, SVG output). Since the data is in XML format, you can have multiple views of the same data. The report can be output to various formats, or directly to a printer or other output devices.

You can use Genero Report Writer to create reports for a variety of purposes. For example, you can produce:

• Lists
• Reports with a customized format, such as invoices, corporate documents, or accounting reports, and that include images
• Reports on pre-printed forms
• Labels
• Business Graphs such as MapCharts, Category Charts, and XY Charts
• XML documents
• HTML documents
• Excel spreadsheets
• Documents in Microsoft™ RTF format
• ASCII-based reports to print legacy Genero reports "as is"

The rapid delivery of pages, with no need for temporary files or temporary tables, consumes less memory and speeds up the printing of very large reports.

See Steps to a Report for a complete outline of the report creation process.

See Configuring Fonts and Printers for tips about printers, fonts, and custom paper sources.