Page report tab

The properties of a page report tab are:

Property Name Description
General
Default Format for Viewing Report Specifies the default format with which to view the report tab on JReport Server. The default value is to adopt the JReport Server setting. If you select a specific format, you can click the button beside to further configure the format settings.

After this property is configured, it will only control the directly-running results of the report tab on JReport Server, but has no effect on the results of advanced running and scheduled running.

  • <Server Setting>
    Adopts the format setting on JReport Server.
  • Page Report
    Specifies to display the report tab in Page Report Studio. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the Page Report Option dialog.
  • HTML
    Specifies to display the report tab in HTML format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the HTML Option dialog.
  • PDF
    Specifies to display the report tab in PDF format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the PDF Option dialog.
  • Excel
    Specifies to display the report tab in Excel format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the Excel Option dialog.
  • Text
    Specifies to display the report tab in Text format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the Text Option dialog.
  • RTF
    Specifies to display the report tab in RTF format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the RTF Option dialog.
  • XML
    Specifies to display the report tab in XML format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the XML Option dialog.
  • PostScript
    Specifies to display the report tab in PostScript format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the PostScript Option dialog.
  • Applet
    Specifies to display the report tab in Applet format. Click in the value cell to configure the format settings in the Applet Option dialog.

Data type: Enumeration

Instance Name Shows the instance name of the report tab. This property is read only.
Report Layout Type Displays the layout type of the report tab. This property is read only.
  • Flow Report - A regular flow layout report.
  • Banded Report - A restricted flow layout report, which is a layout intended for JReport Version 7 compatibility only.
Result Buffer
Result Buffer Size Specifies the number of report results pages which will be stored in the buffer.

Data type: Integer

Data
Automatic Cube Initialization Specifies whether or not to enable the automatic cube conversion.
  • true - If true, it is to convert the query based report tab to a report cube based report tab automatically when opening the report tab in Page Report Studio for analytic reporting purpose. If the converting fails due to error or incomplete conditions, no warning message will be shown on UI but the information will be recorded into the log file.
  • false - If false, the conversion of query to report cube will not be performed automatically when opening the report tab in Page Report Studio. Instead, when you are to perform analytic reporting actions such as drilling on the report tab, a dialog will be displayed prompting you to do the conversion.

Data type: Boolean

Others
After Init Parameter This property is for exit function usage. You can specify an external application file (Java class file) which develops an action. The action will be called after you enter parameters in the pop-up parameter dialog when running the report tab.

Data type: String

After Run This property is for exit function usage. You can specify an external application file (Java class file) which develops an action. The action will be called immediately after JReport Engine has finished running the report result.

Data type: String

Applet Height Specifies the applet height for running an exported applet in a web browser.

Data type: Float

Applet Width Specifies the applet width for running an exported applet in a web browser.

Data type: Float

Before Run This property is for exit function usage. You can specify an external application file (Java class file) which develops an action. The action will be called at the point JReport Engine is about to run the report tab.

Data type: String

Click Priority Specifies the priority of the actions that will be triggered at runtime when you click on certain objects in the report tab which are bound with some actions. Click in the value cell to set the priority in the Click Priority dialog.

Data type: String

Embedded Fonts Specifies the True Type Fonts that have been used in the report tab so as to embed them if you want to export the report results to a PDF file. You can select multiple fonts by pressing the Ctrl or Shift key.

For more information, refer to Delivering the result in PDF.

Data type: String

Import JavaScript Specifies the name of a JavaScript file you develop to apply customized functions in Page Report Studio, for example, user1.js.

Your JavaScript file should be located in <server_install_root>\public_html\javascript\dhtml.

Data type: String

No Temp File Specifies whether or not to create temporary files.
  • true - Not to create temporary files. Gains faster engine performance.
  • false - To create temporary files. Gains better accuracy in calculating data.

Data type: Boolean

On Parameter Value Change Specifies to use formulas to validate values of the parameters used by the report tab, then when the parameter values are changed at runtime, the values will be passed to the formulas first for validation. If the values are valid, they will be applied to the parameters; if not, you can make messages returned. Note that when you define the formula, you need to make it return a blank string for valid parameter values. Choose the required formulas from the drop-down list (to select multiple formulas, make user of the Ctrl or Shift keys on the keyboard, after selecting the formulas, click outside of the value cell to confirm).

For example, for a string type parameter which requires a value that is of 4-7 characters, you can define a formula like this:

if(length(@P_String) > 8 ) "The value is too long."
else if (length(@P_String) < 3 ) "The value is too short."
else ""

Then, when a string value of 9 characters is specified to the parameter, you will be prompted with the "The value is too long." message.

Data type: Object Array

Page Background Specifies the background color of the report page. Choose a color from the drop-down list, enter a hexadecimal RGB value (for example, 0xCCAA00), choose/create a formula or edit an expression that returns a color, or select Custom from the drop-down list to specify the color.

Data type: String

Precision Sensitive Specifies whether to enable specified precision settings in the report results when exporting the report tab to different formats.

Data type: Boolean

Show Subreport Header Footer Specifies whether or not to show the page header and footer panels of subreports in the report tab.
  • true - The page header and page footer panels of subreports in the report tab will be displayed when the panels are set to be visible in the subreports.
  • false - The page header and page footer panels of subreports in the report tab will not be displayed.

Data type: Boolean

Style Group Specifies the style group for the report tab.

If the report tab is to be used as a subreport, choosing any style group from the drop-down list to turn on the style group feature for the report tab and it will inherit the style group of the primary report; choosing None or leaving this property empty to turn off the style group feature for the report tab and it will not inherit style group from the primary report.

If the report tab is to be used as a linked report, if the option "Pass style group information down to linked report" is check when defining the link condition, the linked report will inherit the style group of the primary report, if not checked, the linked report will take the style group specifed by the property.

Data type: String

Excel
Column Width List Specifies the width of columns beginning from the first column for the exported Excel sheet. The Columned property must be set to true for this property to take effect.

Use semicolon (;) to separate each width, for example: 12;8;15;10;9

The example specifies the width of the first 5 columns. For the other columns, they take the default width of Microsoft Excel sheet.

8 indicates the default column width in Microsoft Excel sheet. It can be omitted. The above example can also be written as 12;;15;10;9

Data type: String

Columned If true, the engine performance will be improved when exporting the report tab to CSV or Excel format.

Only after the Columned property is set to true, it is meaningful to specify values to the following Excel properties of objects in the report tab, otherwise the specified values for these Excel properties cannot take effect.

  • Column Index/Row Index
  • Column Number/Row Number. The properties are for chart platforms, images and UDOs.
  • Top Attach Column/Top Attach Row/Bottom Attach Column/Bottom Attach Row. The properties are for drawing objects.

Data type: Boolean

Excel Buffer Size Specifies the number of report results sheets which will be stored in the buffer when exporting the report tab to Excel.

Data type: Integer

Fast Pass If true, the engine performance will be improved when running the report tab to CSV format in multiple threads on JReport Server.

To make fast pass work, the property Columned should be true.

Data type: Boolean

No Page Break If true, there will be no page breaks on each individual sheet when exporting the report tab to Excel with the option Column Format selected in the Export to Excel dialog. This means the column headings will appear just at the top of the Excel spreadsheet and will not be repeated throughout the report. If the report breaks to a new sheet then once again the page header will display.

Data type: Boolean

Note: Exporting a report tab to an Excel file without page breaks means the split pages are technically merged within the Excel sheet, which could bring the following results and limitations:

  • In the exported Excel format file, only one page header panel and one page footer panel in the banded object will be displayed in each sheet. Only the first banded page header and the last banded page footer will be displayed in the exported result. As for tables, only the first table header and the last table footer will be exported.
  • You cannot get a continuous table or banded object if the report has other objects in horizontal locations. All split parts of the horizontal table will be exported vertically.
  • Merging tables or crosstabs together will extend the Excel sheet, which may cover other objects if they happen to be in the extended direction. When merging crosstabs together, the column/row index might be extended over the Excel sheet range, and the report part which is out of this range will get lost in the result file.
  • If a whole merged crosstab gets quite large, it might cause an out of memory condition during the exporting process.
Rows per Sheet Specifies the maximum number of rows for every worksheet when exporting the report tab to Excel.

For the Excel version Excel 97-2003 Workbook (*.xls), the value ranges from 0 to 65000. Any value out of the range will be considered as 65000. For the Excel version Excel Workbook (*.xlsx), the value ranges from 0 to 1048000. Any value out of the range will be considered as 1048000.

Data type: Integer

Sheet Name Specifies the sheet name for the report tab when exporting it to Excel. If the report tab is split into several sheets when exported to Excel because of limited rows per sheet, a postfix number will be added to the sheets starting from the second one (SheetName, SheetName1, SheetName2, SheetName3, ...).

Data type: String

Note: The characters "|", ":", "/", "?", "\", "*", "]", "[" cannot be displayed in the sheet name in Excel and the last character in the sheet name cannot be single quotation mark ('). If any one of them is used when you specify the property, it will be replaced by "_" in Excel.

Style Group for Export
Page Report Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to Page Report Result. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

Excel Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to Excel. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

Fax Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to Fax. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

HTML Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to HTML. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

PDF Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to PDF. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

PS Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to PostScript. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

RST Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to JReport Result or Applet. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

RTF Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to RTF. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

Text Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to Text. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

XML Style Group Pre-sets a style group for use when exporting the report tab to XML. If you do not specify a value here, the Style Group property value will be applied.

Data type: String

Result buffer

The result buffer is used to store the report results of one report in pages. Its default size 4 indicates 4 pages of a report results have been allocated to the result buffer. The other pages will be stored on disk. If you have enough memory, you can increase the result buffer size to store more pages of the report result. By doing this, you will achieve better performance.

Applet setting

Reports are developed in JReport Designer and saved as .cls file. Report files and their associated resource files (.cat and .fml files) are published to JReport Server for running reports in client/server mode. Once the report repository is properly set up, it can be accessed with any web browser or Page Report Studio. Also, you can choose to export the report results to a printer, a PDF file, a TXT file, and so on.

If the report results have been specified to be transferred and viewed in the applet format, you can change the display area by inputting the correct number in the Report Inspector. Alternatively, you can edit the applet file directly in a text editor.

See also Exporting to Applet for more information about this format.

Setup callback or exit functions

During the running of a report, the display of the report is done by JReport Engine. You have no control over this. However, JReport functionality allows you to interact with this mechanism at 3 points:

At any or all of these three points you have the option of executing a class of your choice. JReport has developed three Exit functions for you: After Init Parameter, Before Run and After Run. These functions enable you to develop an action to be called before, after or during the process of running a report. Your applications will return true or false. For true, JReport Engine will go on running. For false, JReport Engine will stop at this point.

Import JavaScript

If you want to develop functions in your own JS file, you can use this property to support the control objects when viewing reports in Page Report Studio. Your own JS file should be located in <server_install_root>\public_html\javascript\dhtml, and it will work together with the API.js file in the same folder, but with a higher priority if both of them contain the same functions.

To use this property, simply set the property value to the name of your JS file.

For example, you have a JavaScript file named "user1.js" which contains the following function:

function promptMessage(message)
  {
  alert(message);
  }
window.promptMessage("test")

In this example, set the property to "user1.js" in order to apply functions defined in the file.

Precision Sensitive

High/low precision

When exporting a report to various formats, the text of some formats will be exported with higher precision, such as PDF, RTF, Excel, Fax, PS and when printing a report. Thus the report results layouts of these formats are different from the other formats, such as HTML, Page Report Result, Applet, XML, and Text. We distinguish the two types of layouts as PDF view and HTML view.

JReport provides two precision levels: high and low. High precision means that the report layout will be in the PDF view (the report layout looks like the PDF file). Low precision indicates that the report layout is in the HTML view (the report layout looks like the HMTL file).

High precision provides better layout but slower efficiency while low precision brings higher performance but maybe poorer visual effect. If low precision can make the report a well look, it is reasonable to apply low precision for at the same time faster performance is guaranteed.

About the property

Precision may result in text cut issue in report layout. This property decides whether the report can be applied to specified precision settings.

JReport has better performance when precision insensitive than when sensitive for it is unnecessary for the engine to run a report again since precision does not changes.

When the property is set to true, specified precision settings can be applied to the report when exporting it to different formats. In JReport Designer, report designer can specify precision level for different export formats using the Advanced Export Settings dialog. In JReport Server, administrators can go to JReport Administration page > Configuration > Export > Layout Precision tab to specify precision settings.

If you do not care visual effect of the report, leave the value of the property to be false as default and let JReport deal with the precision.

When the property is set to false, any specified precision setting for exporting formats does not work in the report. Instead the contextual precision level is applied when viewing/running/exporting the report. The context precision depends on the precision level applied when viewing/running/exporting the report last time. That is to say, the current runtime uses the precision setting applied in last runtime. When it is the first time to view/run/export the report in a format, there are default initial precision settings available for adoption since there is no context for the first runtime. The following table lists the default initial precision settings for different formats:

Format Default Initial Precision
PDF High
HTML Low
RTF High
Excel High
Fax High
PostScript High
Print to Printer High
JReport Result (Applet) Low
XML Low
Text Low
RSD Low
RST Low

Excel Buffer Size

The Excel buffer is used to store the report results in Excel buffer sheets when exporting the result in Excel format. Its default size is 1, which indicates 1 sheet of the report results is allocated to the result buffer. The other sheets will be stored on disk. If you have enough memory, you can increase the Excel buffer size to store more sheets of the Excel-format report result. By doing this, you will achieve better performance.

Columned

Right after you set the property to true from false each time:

The property controls two things when it is true:

When the property is false:

Style Group for Export

This is to pre-set a style group to the report for each export format. The style group specified for export formats has higher priority than that specified for the Style Group property in the Report Inspector. However, if you do not specify a style group for an export format, when you export the report to the format, it will take the value specified for the Style Group property.

The specified style group here is applied in the following cases: when export or preview the report in JReport Designer, export the report in Page Report Studio, and when run/advanced run the report or schedule to publish it to version/disk/e-mail/FTP in JReport Server.

When viewing a report by clicking the View tab in JReport Designer, the value specified for the Style Group property is selected by default in the Select Style Group dialog but you can choose another style group you want to use in the dialog. In the view mode, if you further preview the view result in different formats or export it to different formats, the preview/export result will take the style group of the view result, and the Style Group for Export property will not take effect.