ReportExplorer MergeMenu

rbuser

Rb7.02
Hello
The first time I launch the report explorer in an application my
mergemenu.menuitem (help)
appears correctly.
I close the report explorer and launch it again then the menu item does not
appear.
It will never appears till I close the application and run it again.
Well it only appears the first time (sorry for my english)...
If I check in code if the reportexplorer.mergemenu is still assigned it
returns ok.
Any ideas ?

Thanks
Marc

rbuser

A suggestion that I forgot.
It should be nice to have a report description (ie Memo) which could be
saved as part of the report
Regards
Marc

digitalmetaphors

The report template contains an offset area that you can use to store extra
information. As an alternative to this, if you are using a database end user
report application, then add another field to the rbItem table and store the
memo in that field in the table. Then provide this description at run time
in a separate pipeline on the form for the report. This way a user can
connect a memo in the titleband to the extra pipeline. This way you can
leave the real pipeline that provides the data for the report connected to
the report and not have to change the dataset that you have already created
for the report data.

From the Tech-Tips:

-----------------------------------------------------
Tech Tip: Storing Custom Information with Templates
-----------------------------------------------------

Question:
---------

How can I store descriptive information with my report template?


Solution:
---------

1. If you are storing the templates to a database, then you can use the
Report.Template.OnSaveEnd and OnLoadEnd events to store and load the
custom information to appropriate data fields for the record. (This is
the technique used by the ReportExplorer.)

2. If you are storing templates to .rtm files, then you will need to
store the custom information in an Offset area of the template file. The
Report.Template object enables you do this by utilizing the
Template.Offset property and the Template.OnLoadStart and OnLoadEnd
events. Below is a detailed example.



Example:
--------
- Create a new application.
- Add to the main form one TButton, one TppReport and one TppDesigner.

- Set the Designer's Report property to ppReport1.
- Add ppTypes to the uses clause.


type
TForm1 = class(TForm)
Button1: TButton;
ppReport1: TppReport;
ppDesigner1: TppDesigner;
procedure FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
private
procedure LoadReportStreamEvent(Sender: TObject; Stream: TStream);
procedure SaveReportStreamEvent(Sender: TObject; Stream: TStream);

public

end; { class TForm1 }


{note: use compiler directive to declare strings as 'ShortStrings'
this is required for record structures}

{$H-}

{record structure used to store information inside report template }
TmyTemplateInfo = record
HeaderID: Integer;
Comments: String;
DateTime: TDateTime;

end; {record, TppTemplateRec}

{$H+}


const
cHeaderID = 12345;

implementation


{-------------------------------------------------}
{ TForm1.FormCreate }

procedure TForm1.FormCreate(Sender: TObject);
begin

{setup Template events }
ppReport1.Template.Format := ftASCII;
ppReport1.Template.Offset := SizeOf(TmyTemplateInfo);
ppReport1.Template.OnLoadStart := LoadReportStreamEvent;
ppReport1.Template.OnSaveEnd := SaveReportStreamEvent;

end; {procedure, FormCreate}

{-------------------------------------------------}
{ TForm1.Button1Click }

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin

ppDesigner1.Show;

end; {procedure, Button1Click}

{--------------------------------------------------}
{ TForm1.LoadReportStreamEvent }

procedure TForm1.LoadReportStreamEvent(Sender: TObject; Stream:
TStream);
var
lTemplateInfo: TmyTemplateInfo;
lsMessage: String;

begin

{read string stored in template header }
Stream.Seek(0, soFromBeginning);
Stream.Read(lTemplateInfo, SizeOf(TmyTemplateInfo));

{note: if not one of the templates with our header info, then set
Offset to 0 }
if lTemplateInfo.HeaderID = cHeaderID then
begin
lsMessage := 'Reading data from template file: ' + #13#10 + #13#10
+
lTemplateInfo.Comments + ' (' +
DateTimeToStr(lTemplateInfo.DateTime) + ')';

MessageDlg(lsMessage, mtInformation, [mbOK],0);
ppReport1.Template.Offset := SizeOf(TmyTemplateInfo);
end
else
ppReport1.Template.Offset := 0;

end; {procedure, LoadReportStreamEvent}


{-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------}
{ TForm1.SaveReportStreamEvent }

procedure TForm1.SaveReportStreamEvent(Sender: TObject; Stream:
TStream);
var
lTemplateInfo: TmyTemplateInfo;
lsMessage: String;

begin

lTemplateInfo.HeaderID := cHeaderID;
lTemplateInfo.Comments := 'This comment is being stored inside the
report template, ' + #13#10 +
'along with the date and time written. ';
lTemplateInfo.DateTime := Now;

{write info to template header}
Stream.Seek(0, soFromBeginning);
Stream.Write(lTemplateInfo, SizeOf(TmyTemplateInfo));

lsMessage := 'Writing data to template file: ' + #13#10 + #13#10 +
lTemplateInfo.Comments + ' (' +
DateTimeToStr(lTemplateInfo.DateTime) + ')';
MessageDlg(lsMessage, mtInformation, [mbOK],0);

end; {procedure, SaveReportStreamEvent}




Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors

nicocizik

Marc,

I am not able to recreate your issue on my own machine. Using the
RBuilder\Demos\3. EndUser\1. Report Explorer\ demo, I placed a MainMenu
component on the form and set it to be the MergeMenu of the Report Explorer.
I then proceded to load the Report Explorer and saw the new menu item. Next
I closed the Report Explorer and re-loaded it. The menu item remained the
same. Please send a small example demonstrating the problem in .zip format
to support@digital-metaphors.com so I may research this further.

--

rbuser

Hi,
My RBuilder\Demos\3. EndUser\1. Report Explorer\ demo has been sent to the
digital-metaphors support
Thanks
Regards

rbuser

Hello,
Have you got any news ?
Regards
Marc

nicocizik

Sorry, we're still working on it. I will let you know when I find a
solution.

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