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Oracle® HTML DB
Release 2.0 |
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In Oracle HTML DB, a report is the formatted result of a SQL query. You can generate reports by selecting and running a built-in query, or by defining a report region based on a SQL query.
Topics:
Oracle HTML DB includes a number of built-in wizards for generating reports.
To create a report using a wizard:
Navigate to the Workspace home page.
Click the Application Builder icon.
Select the application.
Click Create Page.
Select Report.
Select one of the following report types:
Wizard Report - Does not require any SQL knowledge. Select the appropriate schema, table, columns, and result set display.
SQL Report - Creates a report based on a custom SQL SELECT statement or a PL/SQL function returning a SQL SELECT statement that you provide.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
You can use the Report Attributes and Column Attributes pages to precisely control the definition of report pages. For example, you can use these attributes to alter column heading text, change column positioning, hide a column, create a sum of a column, or select a sort sequence.
On the Page Definition, you can access the Report Attributes page by clicking either Report or RPT, adjacent to the report region you want to edit. Report indicates the report is a regular report, and RPT indicates the report is an wizard report. You can also navigate to the Report Attributes page by clicking the region name and then selecting the Report Attributes tab.
To access the Report Attributes page:
Navigate to the Workspace home page.
Click the Application Builder icon.
Select the application.
Navigate to the appropriate Page Definition:
Navigate to the Workspace home page.
Click the Application Builder icon.
Select an application.
Select a page.
The Page Definition appears.
Under Regions, click Report next to the name of the report region you want to edit.
The Report Attributes page appears.
Heading Type identifies how the heading was generated for the report. Use the Column Attributes section to control report column appearance and functionality. The Link column indicates if a a column link is currently defined. The Edit column indicates whether or not a column is currently updatable.
Table 6-2 describes common report column edits.
Table 6-2 Common Report Column Edits
| Description | Developer Action |
|---|---|
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Alter column display sequence. |
Click the up and down arrows. |
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Alter heading alignment. |
Under Column Alignment, select a new column alignment. |
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Change column heading text. |
Under Heading, enter different heading text. |
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Control which columns display. |
Click Show to indicate a column should display. |
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Enable an unique sort sequence. |
Click Sort and select a sequence number from Sort Sequence. Any number of columns can be sort enabled. However, at least one column must have a Sort Sequence defined. |
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Enable the sum of a column. |
Click Sum to enable the sum of a column. |
You can further refine the attributes of a specific column on the Column Attributes page.
To access the Column Attributes page, click the Edit icon adjacent to the appropriate column Alias.
See online Help for more information about a specific attribute.
You control report pagination by:
Including a pagination substitution string in the report template
Making selections from Layout and Pagination on the Report Attributes page
You control how pagination displays by making selections from the Layout and Pagination attributes on the Report Attributes page.
To access the Layout and Pagination section of the Report Attributes page:
Create a report. See "Creating a Report Using a Wizard".
Under Regions, click the appropriate report attributes link (Report or RPT).
The Report Attributes page appears.
Scroll down to Layout and Pagination.
You use the Layout and Pagination attributes to select a pagination style, determine where pagination displays, and specify the number of rows that display on each page. Table 6-3 describes the most commonly used Layout and Pagination attributes.
Table 6-3 Layout and Pagination Attributes
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
|
Report Template |
Specifies a template to be applied to this report. Report templates provide control over the results of a row from your SQL query. You can choose from a number of default templates, or pick a custom build template. |
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Pagination Scheme |
Specifies a pagination scheme for this report. Pagination provides the user with information about the number of rows and the current position within the result set. Pagination also defines the style of links or buttons used to navigate to the next or previous page. For more information, see the Help for this item. |
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Display Position |
Defines where pagination displays. If you choose to display pagination above a report, the selected report template needs to support that type of display. |
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Number of Rows |
Defines the maximum number of rows to display on each page. |
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Strip HTML |
Specifies whether or not to remove HTML tags from the original column values for HTML expressions and column links. If you select values from the database that already contain HTML tags, then those tags can cause conflicts with the HTML generated for your columns links or HTML expressions. When this option is enabled, only the actual data portion of your column value is used. |
To include pagination after the rows in a report:
Create a report. See "Creating a Report Using a Wizard".
Next, select the appropriate Layout and Pagination attributes.
Navigate to the Report Attributes page:
Navigate to the Page Definition.
Under Regions, click the appropriate report attributes link (Report or RPT).
The Report Attributes page appears.
Under Layout and Pagination, select the following:
Report Template - Select a report template (optional).
Pagination Scheme - Select a pagination scheme.
Display Position - Select a display position.
Number of Rows - Specify how many rows display on each page.
Click Apply Changes.
Edit the report template:
Navigate to the Page Definition.
Under Templates, select the report template name.
Include the #PAGINATION# substitution string in the After Rows attribute.
Click Apply Changes.
Run the page.
To include pagination before the rows in a report:
Create a report. See "Creating a Report Using a Wizard".
Next, select the appropriate Layout and Pagination attributes.
Navigate to the Report Attributes page:
Navigate to the Page Definition.
Under Regions, click the appropriate report attributes link (Report or RPT).
The Report Attributes page appears.
Under Layout and Pagination:
Report Template - Select a report template (optional).
Pagination Scheme - Select a pagination scheme.
Display Position - Select a position that contains the word top.
Number of Rows - Specify how many rows display on each page.
Click Apply Changes.
Edit the report template.
Navigate to the Page Definition.
Under Templates, select the report template name.
Include the #TOP_PAGINATION# substitution string in the Before Rows attribute.
Click Apply Changes.
Run the page.
You enable column sorting on the Report Attributes page.
To enable column sorting:
Navigate to the Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Under Report Column Attributes, select the Sort check box adjacent to the columns to be sorted.
From Sort Sequence, select a sequence number.
Sort Sequence is optional. However, if there are one or more sort enabled columns, then at least one column needs a defined Sort Sequence.
Scroll down to Sorting.
Specify ascending and descending image attributes or click set defaults.
You can create a link within a report that enables users to export the report as a comma-delimited file (.csv) file. To add a CSV link to a report you need to enable the CSV output option. When using the CSV output option, the report template is not important. You can include a CSV link with any report template that has the CSV export substitution string defined.
To enable the Enable CSV output option:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Scroll down to Report Export.
From Enable CSV output, select Yes.
(Optional) In the Separator and Enclosed By fields, define the separator and delimiter.
The default Enclosed By by characters are a double quotation marks (" "). The default delimiter is either a comma or a semicolon depending upon your current NLS settings.
In the Link Label field, enter link text. This text will display in your report and enable users to invoke a download.
(Optional) To specify a default export file name, enter a name in the Filename field.
By default, the HTML DB engine creates an export file name by taking the region name and adding the appropriate file name extension (.csv or .xml).
Click Apply Changes.
You can export a report as an XML files by selecting a report template.
To export a report as a file:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Scroll down to Layout and Pagination.
From the Report Template list, select export: XML or export: CSV.
Selecting export: XML prevents the HTML DB engine from rendering the page and dumps the content to an XML file.
Click Apply Changes.
Use the Column Link attributes to create a link from a report to another page in your application or to a URL.
To create a column link to another page:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Under Report Column Attributes, locate the column to contain the link.
Click the Edit icon adjacent to the column name.
The Column Attributes page appears.
Scroll down to Column Link.
To create a column link to another page:
From Target, select Page in this Application.
(Optional) In Link Attributes, specify additional column link attributes that will be included in the <a href= > tag (for example, a link target, classes, or styles).
In Link Text, enter the text to be displayed as a link, specify an image tag, or pick from the list of default images.
In Page, specify the target page ID. To reset the pagination for this page, select Reset Pagination.
In Request, specify the request to be used.
In Clear Cache, specify the pages (that is, the page IDs) on which to clear cache. You can specify multiple pages by listing the page IDs in a comma-delimited list.
Use the Name and Value fields to specify session state for a specific item.
Click Apply Changes.
To create a column link to a URL:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Access the Column Attributes page by clicking the Edit icon adjacent to the appropriate column.
The Column Attributes page appears.
Scroll down to Column Link.
Under Column Link, make the following selection:
From Target Type, select URL.
In Link Text, enter the text to be displayed as a link and select a substitution string.
(Optional) In Link Attributes, specify additional column link attributes that will be included in the <a href= > tag (for example, a link target, classes, or styles).
In URL, enter the appropriate address.
Click Apply Changes.
You can make a column updatable by editing Tabular Form Element attributes on the Column Attributes page. Note that the HTML DB engine can only perform updates if:
A multirow update is defined
A PL/SQL process is implemented to process updated data
When using the built-in tabular form elements and display types, then the report has to be defined using the type SQL Query (updatable report)
To define updatable column attributes:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Access the Column Attributes page by clicking the Edit icon adjacent to the appropriate column.
The Column Attributes page appears.
Scroll down to Tabular Form Element.
Under Tabular Form Element, make the following selections:
Display As - Select a type of updatable column.
Use this option to make a column updatable. Updates can only be performed if a multirow update is defined, or PL/SQL process is implemented to process updated data.
Date Picker Format Mask - Make a selection if you selected the Display As type of Date Picker.
Element Width - Specify the width of the form item.
Number of Rows - Specify the height of a form item (applicable to text areas).
Element Attributes - Define a style or standard form element attribute.
Element Option Attributes - Specify form element attributes for items in a radio group or check box.
Primary Key Source Type - Identify the default type.
Primary Key Source - Identify the default source.
If the current column is part of the primary key defined in an MRU process, only the primary key source type and source appear.
Otherwise, Default and Default Type appear. Use Default and Default Type to establish a relationship between two master records in a master detail form, or to set the default values for new rows.
Reference Table Owner - Identify the owner of the referenced table. Use this attribute to build User Interface Defaults for reports.
Reference Table Name - Identify the table or view that contains the current report column.
Reference Column Name - Identify the column name that this report column references
Click Apply Changes.
Report columns can be rendered as lists of values. For example, a column can be rendered using a select list or a popup list of values. Or, a column can also be rendered as read-only text based on a list of values.
This last approach is an effective strategy when creating display lookup values and is particularly useful in regular, nonupdatable reports. This approach enables you to display the value of a column without having to write a SQL JOIN statement.
To render a report column as a list of values:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Access the Column Attributes page by clicking the Edit icon adjacent to the appropriate column.
The Column Attributes page appears.
Scroll down to List of Values.
From Named LOV, make a selection from the List of Values repository.
To include a null value in a list of values:
In Display Null, select Yes.
In Null Text, specify the value that displays.
A column can also have a value that does not display in its list of values.
To define a value that does not display in the list of values:
From Display Extra Value, select Yes.
The extra value is used if the actual column value is not part of the LOV. In that situation, the actual value is shown. If you do not display extra values, you may end up with the wrong value and unintentionally update your data incorrectly.
In Null Value, specify the value that displays.
If you have not selected a Named LOV, enter the query used to display a select list in the LOV Query field.
If you have not selected a Named LOV, enter the query used to display a select list in LOV Query.
Click Apply Changes.
You can use the Authorization and Condition column attributes to control when a column displays.
Authorization enables you to control access to resources (such as a report column) based on predefined user privileges. For example, you could create an authorization scheme in which only managers can view a specific report column. Before you can select an authorization scheme, you must first create it.
A condition is a small unit of logic that enables you to control the display of a column based on a predefined condition type. The condition evaluates to true or false based on the values you enter in the Expressions fields.
To specify Authorization and Condition attributes:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Access the Column Attributes page by clicking the Edit icon adjacent to the appropriate column.
The Column Attributes page appears.
Under Authorization, make a selection from the Authorization Scheme list.
Under Conditions, make a selection from the Condition Type list, and depending upon your selection, enter an expression or value in the appropriate Expression fields.
If the authorization is successful and the condition type display evaluates to true, the column displays.
You can control if a specific column repeats and how column breaks appear when printed using Break Formatting attributes. For example, suppose your report displays employee information by department number. If multiple employees are members of the same department, you can increase the readability by specifying the department number only appears once.
To create this type of column break:
Navigate to the appropriate Report Attributes page. See "Editing Report Attributes".
Scroll down to Break Formatting.
Make a selection from the Breaks list.