I am using dbExpress. With The Report Designer My End Users can only create a BDE Session though. I want to use the dbExpress Session that the app is currently using. Otherwise they can't use the query builder. Can I do this?
You need to add daDBExpress to the uses clause of the end-user application. Check out the example located in RBuilder\Demos\EndUser Databases\Interbase\DBExpress.
Also see the following article...
------------------------------------------------------------ Article: Controlling the End-User Environment ------------------------------------------------------------
If you are having difficulty getting the Data tab, the Calc tab, the crosstab component or the TeeChart component to appear in your end-user application, or you are trying to eliminate one of these capabilities from the app, then this help topic is for you. The following paragraphs explain the unit registration scheme used by ReportBuilder Pro, and how you can use this scheme to get control over the feature set presented to your end-users.
In order to minimize the overhead in end-user reporting applications, ReportBuilder employs a unit level registration scheme (similar to component registration in Delphi.), whereby components and functionality can be added at the discretion of the developer. In other words, you can control whether the 'Data' workspace, the 'Calc' workspace or certain components appear in your end-user reporting application simply by specifying or omitting certain unit names from the uses clause of your main end-user reporting unit. The advantage of this approach is that overhead associated with features such as DADE, RAP or the crosstab component can be eliminated from your application if you do not wish to pass these features along to the end-user. The disadvantage is that you must manually add certain units to the uses clause or these capabilities will not appear in the application.
In the end-user reporting demo project (located in the ...\RBuilder\Demos\1. Report Explorer directory), the main unit is a form entitled myEURpt. At the top of the unit for this form there is a series of conditional compiler directives which, when enabled, cause certain functionality to appear in the application. The conditional compiler directives in this unit are an attempt to simplify the configuration of the demo application. However, these directives do nothing more than add or omit certain unit names from the uses clause of the form. The important thing to know is the unit names and the functionality that including those unit names will provide. The table below provides this information.
Unit Name Feature ---------- ------------------------------------------------------------- -- daIDE DADE user-interface ('Data' tab)
raIDE RAP user-interface ('Calc tab)
ppCTDsgn User-interface for the configuration of the crosstab. Normally the Crosstab Designer is displayed by accessing the 'Configure...' context menu option of a crosstab component. If this unit is not included then this menu option is not displayed.
myChkBox Checkbox components appear on the component palette when this unit is included. If you want to check out the source for these components it is in ...RBuilder Pro 4\Demos\RCL
ppChrtUI User-interface for editing charts. Normally the chart editor is displayed by accessing the 'Edit...' context menu option of a chart component. If this unit is not included then this menu option is not displayed.
ReportBuilder also uses the unit registration scheme to control which database connectivity options are provided by the application. While including the daDatMan unit will cause the 'Data' workspace to appear in the Report Designer, that workspace will not be functional without a supporting implementation. In ReportBuilder we call these implementations DADE plug-ins. A DADE plug-in is nothing more than a Delphi unit which contains the appropriate descendant class implementations needed by DADE to communicate with a given database. Placing the data access implementation in a separate unit gives us at least two benefits. One is that the user interface is not tied to any specific database connectivity scheme. The other is that the overhead associated with database support is limited to the database connectivity products you are actually using. This means that if you are using ADO to access your data, you need only include the daADO unit in your uses clause and your application will use ADO only. Most developers use DADE plug-ins to gain access to databases not supported by the BDE, or to gain access to databases without the use of the BDE. The following DADE plug-ins are provided with ReportBuilder Pro:
Unit Name Feature ---------- ---------- daDBBDE BDE support for the Query Wizard and Query Designer
daDBExpress dbExpress support for the Query Wizard and Query Designer
daADO ADO support for the Query Wizard and Query Designer
daIBExpress Interbase Express support for the Query Wizard and Query Designer.
daADS Advantage support.
daDOA Oracle support via the Direct Oracle Access components.
daODBC98 ODBC support via the ODBC98 components.
daIBO InterBase support via the InterBase Objects components.
daDBISAM DBISAM support.
You can use DADE plug-ins at Delphi design-time by generating a package which contains one of these units and then installing it into Delphi. This will allow you to use your preferred database product within the 'Data' workspace at Delphi design-time. You can locate the various DADE plug-in units in the ...\RBuilder\ Demos\EndUser Databases directories. A Delphi package project has been provided for each DADE implementation so that you can generate and install the plug-in at Delphi design-time. For more information on how this can be done, see the ReadMe files in the EndUser Databases directories.
Additional DADE Plug-ins are always being developed. Check the Digital Metaphors web-site for the latest information (see the section Friends:Data:DADE Plug-Ins.)
OK. I have it UP Except For One Small Problem. There are no tables in the Table List.
I am using MSSQL Server as the database however that is not listed so I chose OTHER as the database type. Is it possible to do this with dbExpress and MSSQL Server? Delphi 7 has the driver for it.
We have not tested the combination of dbExpress and SQLServer. I recommend the following approach:
1. As a first step, get the RBuilder\Demos\EndUser\SQL Server\ADO example working correctly on your machine and your database server. There are SQL scripts included for creating the tables and a ReadMe.doc that explains the configuration.
2. As a second step, get the RBuilder\Demos\Interbase\dbExpress example working correctly.
At this point you will understand how to get enduser applications working using SQL Server and dbExpress.
3. Try modifying the dbExpress application built in number 2 above to work with SQL Server rather than Interbase.
Note that there is a Designer.DataSettings.DatabaseType setting for SQL Server - dtMSSQLServer.
If there are no tables in the tables list, then try setting Designer.DataSettings.UseDataDictionary to False. If you want to use the DataDictionary you need to generate the table, field and optionally the join entries. This is explained in the Developers Guide.
--
Best regards,
Nard Moseley Digital Metaphors www.digital-metaphors.com
Comments
You need to add daDBExpress to the uses clause of the end-user application.
Check out the example located in RBuilder\Demos\EndUser
Databases\Interbase\DBExpress.
Also see the following article...
------------------------------------------------------------
Article: Controlling the End-User Environment
------------------------------------------------------------
If you are having difficulty getting the Data tab, the Calc tab, the
crosstab component or the TeeChart component to appear in your end-user
application, or you are trying to eliminate one of these capabilities from
the app, then this help topic is for you. The following paragraphs explain
the unit registration scheme used by ReportBuilder Pro, and how you can use
this scheme to get control over the feature set presented to your end-users.
In order to minimize the overhead in end-user reporting applications,
ReportBuilder employs a unit level registration scheme (similar to component
registration in Delphi.), whereby components and functionality can be added
at the discretion of the developer. In other words, you can control whether
the 'Data' workspace, the 'Calc' workspace or certain components appear in
your end-user reporting application simply by specifying or omitting certain
unit names from the uses clause of your main end-user reporting unit. The
advantage of this approach is that overhead associated with features such as
DADE, RAP or the crosstab component can be eliminated from your application
if you do not wish to pass these features along to the end-user. The
disadvantage is that you must manually add certain units to the uses clause
or these capabilities will not appear in the application.
In the end-user reporting demo project (located in the ...\RBuilder\Demos\1.
Report Explorer directory), the main unit is a form entitled myEURpt. At
the top of the unit for this form there is a series of conditional compiler
directives which, when enabled, cause certain functionality to appear in the
application. The conditional compiler directives in this unit are an
attempt to simplify the configuration of the demo application. However,
these directives do nothing more than add or omit certain unit names from
the uses clause of the form. The important thing to know is the unit names
and the functionality that including those unit names will provide. The
table below provides this information.
Unit Name Feature
---------- -------------------------------------------------------------
--
daIDE DADE user-interface ('Data' tab)
raIDE RAP user-interface ('Calc tab)
ppCTDsgn User-interface for the configuration of the crosstab.
Normally the Crosstab Designer is displayed by accessing the
'Configure...' context menu option of a crosstab component.
If this unit is not included then this menu option is not
displayed.
myChkBox Checkbox components appear on the component palette when this unit
is
included. If you want to check out the source for these
components it
is in ...RBuilder Pro 4\Demos\RCL
ppChrtUI User-interface for editing charts. Normally the chart editor
is displayed by accessing the 'Edit...' context menu
option of a chart component.
If this unit is not included then this menu option is not
displayed.
ReportBuilder also uses the unit registration scheme to control which
database connectivity options are provided by the application. While
including the daDatMan unit will cause the 'Data' workspace to appear in the
Report Designer, that workspace will not be functional without a supporting
implementation. In ReportBuilder we call these implementations DADE
plug-ins. A DADE plug-in is nothing more than a Delphi unit which contains
the appropriate descendant class implementations needed by DADE to
communicate with a given database. Placing the data access implementation
in a separate unit gives us at least two benefits. One is that the user
interface is not tied to any specific database connectivity scheme. The
other is that the overhead associated with database support is limited to
the database connectivity products you are actually using. This means that
if you are using ADO to access your data, you need only include the daADO
unit in your uses clause and your application will use ADO only. Most
developers use DADE plug-ins to gain access to databases not supported by
the BDE, or to gain access to databases without the use of the BDE. The
following DADE plug-ins are provided with ReportBuilder Pro:
Unit Name Feature
---------- ----------
daDBBDE BDE support for the Query Wizard and Query Designer
daDBExpress dbExpress support for the Query Wizard and Query Designer
daADO ADO support for the Query Wizard and Query Designer
daIBExpress Interbase Express support for the Query Wizard and Query
Designer.
daADS Advantage support.
daDOA Oracle support via the Direct Oracle Access components.
daODBC98 ODBC support via the ODBC98 components.
daIBO InterBase support via the InterBase Objects components.
daDBISAM DBISAM support.
You can use DADE plug-ins at Delphi design-time by generating a package
which contains one of these units and then installing it into Delphi. This
will allow you to use your preferred database product within the 'Data'
workspace at Delphi design-time. You can locate the various DADE plug-in
units in the ...\RBuilder\ Demos\EndUser Databases directories. A Delphi
package project has been provided for each DADE implementation so that you
can generate and install the plug-in at Delphi design-time. For more
information on how this can be done, see the ReadMe files in the EndUser
Databases directories.
Additional DADE Plug-ins are always being developed. Check the Digital
Metaphors web-site for the latest information (see the section
Friends:Data:DADE Plug-Ins.)
--
Tech Support mailto:support@digital-metaphors.com
Digital Metaphors http://www.digital-metaphors.com
--
Best regards,
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors
www.digital-metaphors.com
Table List.
I am using MSSQL Server as the database however that is not listed so I
chose OTHER as the database type. Is it possible to do this with dbExpress
and MSSQL Server? Delphi 7 has the driver for it.
We have not tested the combination of dbExpress and SQLServer. I recommend
the following approach:
1. As a first step, get the RBuilder\Demos\EndUser\SQL Server\ADO example
working correctly on your machine and your database server. There are SQL
scripts included for creating the tables and a ReadMe.doc that explains the
configuration.
2. As a second step, get the RBuilder\Demos\Interbase\dbExpress example
working correctly.
At this point you will understand how to get enduser applications working
using SQL Server and dbExpress.
3. Try modifying the dbExpress application built in number 2 above to work
with SQL Server rather than Interbase.
Note that there is a Designer.DataSettings.DatabaseType setting for SQL
Server - dtMSSQLServer.
If there are no tables in the tables list, then try setting
Designer.DataSettings.UseDataDictionary to False. If you want to use the
DataDictionary you need to generate the table, field and optionally the join
entries. This is explained in the Developers Guide.
--
Best regards,
Nard Moseley
Digital Metaphors
www.digital-metaphors.com