Problems Installing DADE Advantage

rbuser

Trying to set up Reportbuilder DADE for Advantage.

We have Reportbuilder Enterprise and Delphi 7.

We have followed the .doc instructions and on attempting to compile the
rbAds66.dpk package we get an error saying that the package cannot be found.
On searching the disk we find that the all the packages required are not on
the disk.

How do we proceed? Do we require an update... we bought RB only about 3
weeks ago?

Peter Knapp

nicocizik

Hi Peter,

First, be sure you are opening the rbAds77.dpk. This is the updated package
for ReportBuilder 7 for Delphi 7. It looks as though the package name at
the top of the .dpk file was not changed to rbAds77 so you will need to do
this manually.

Second. Once you open the package, double click on each entery in the
"Requires" clause to be sure Delphi can find the packages. If it can, try
compiling and installing the package. You may need to recompile some of the
RB packages if some of the source has been changed. Be sure your library
path is pointing towards /RBuilder/Source.

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rbuser

After some arbitrary work on recompiling components of the package, we seem
to have compiled rbAds77.dpk without error, however when we attempt to
follow the further instructions to configure the Designer.Datasettings we
cannot see our TAdsConnection component in the Databasename property combo.
Similarly, ADSSession is not an option although Databasetype of dtAdvantage
is available.

We did not install a design time Advantage .bpl into the Delphi IDE, or
configure a Data Dictionary.

Please advise.

Peter Knapp

nicocizik

Hi Peter,

If you would like to see the TAdsSession type at runtime you need to add
daAds to your uses clause. If you need to use it at design time you will
need to install the rbAds77.dpk into the Delphi IDE after you successfully
compile it. This is explained in the ReadMe.doc file in the "Install
ReportBuilder DADE for Advantage" section. Once you install the package,
you can look in the Delphi Installed Packages to be sure there is an entry
for "ReportBuilder Data Access for Advantage" along side the other DADE
plugins.

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rbuser

We did add daAds to the uses clause with no response. We have been
following the instructions in the 'Using Advantage Database Server' very
exactly. It does not say that it is necessary to install the design time
package in order to use the functionality of Advantage. The

If thats what we have to do then we will do it.

My single query at the moment is... how do we sort a database within RAP?
We have the Data tab in RB which doesnt seem to do anything, and we have the
Calc tab with which we can do simple assignments like adding a forename and
surname together, but there is no auto-complete so we are struggling with a
syntax to sort a dataset.

My questions are... how do we sort a dataset at run time and MUST we install
the design time package in order for all this to work?

Peter Knapp

nicocizik

Hi Peter,

If you added daAds to your uses clause, you should see an ADSSession entery
in your data settings dialog in DADE (data tab). Then you can create your
queries and sort them as you like using the data workspace. Please see the
ReportBuilder Developer's Guide for a complete tutorial on how to use DADE.

I'm still a little unclear about when you would like to sort this data, and
where the data is located. When would you like to give your users the
ability to sort the data differently? How are you retrieving the data?
(DADE or TQueries on a form).

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rbuser

>If you added daAds to your uses clause, you should see an ADSSession entery
in your data settings dialog in DADE (data tab).

Yes I understand this, but the fact remains that we dont see ADSSession
under the Datasettings. My thoughts are that perhaps we are doing something
wrong with the package install, but having re-set the Environment Library
settings properly and followed exactly the instructions to compile the
package I cant see where we are going wrong. We did follow your advice and
click on each of the 'required' items with the package and several of these
said that in order to proceed we would have to rename the component, but we
chose the 'skip' option... thinking that if we rename it then it wont work
properly.

With regard to sorting, we want the users to be able to once at the report
design stage to specify the sort order of the database. For example if they
want a client report grouped by Gender then it will not report properly
unless the client file is using the Gender index. As I say, since
auto-complete does not appear to work within the Calc section we cannot try
this out. We will take time to read the RAP help file but in the meantime
can you please give me a simple syntax for determining a dataset sort order
within the Calc tab, for perhaps the BeforePrint event?

What concerns me is the lack of a simple pointer towards 'sorting a
dataset'. This is a fundamental of a database reporting package, and our
many years of experience of Crystal Reports has perhaps spoiled us in this
respect. We were attracted by the apparent power of RB since it is
integrated so closely with Delphi, but for the moment we are unsure of its
ability to replace Crystal as far as end users are concerned, if we
ourselves cannot seem to manage simple things like allowing end users to
determine sort orders for new reports. We are confidently producing reports
with RB where we can determine the sort order at design time for static
reports, but we must give end users this functionality for ad-hoc reports.

Regards

Peter Knapp

nicocizik

Peter,

Adding daAds to your uses clause will only register the ADSSession with DADE
at runtime. If you add it to the uses clause, then open a designer with
AllowChangeDesignSettings set to True at runtime, navigate to the Data tab,
select File | Data Settings, then in the Session Type combo box you should
see ADSSession. I created a very small example app that does this (download
below). Please take a look at it and see if it works on you machine. If
you would like to register the ADSSession at Delphi Design time, you will
need to compile and install the rbAds77.dpk package. As far as it asking
you to rename the component, I have never encountered this behavior in
Delphi before. When you try compile/install this package what errors are
you encountering? My suggestion would be to double check your library path
and be sure all the required files in the package are currently in that
path.

http://www.digital-metaphors.com/tips/ADSSessionTest.zip

1. Run the application
2. Click the "Design" button.
3. Click the "Data" tab in the designer.
4. Select File | Data Settings... from the main menu.
5. Pull down the Session Type combo box.

As far as sorting during the "design" stage of the end user reporting
solution, ReportBuilder was designed so that your users could go into the
Data tab and sort the queries manually any way they like. If you have
certain queries defined in DADE and give your users access to the data tab,
they can enter DADE and adjust the Sorting of each query to their specific
needs. This was the decision we made in order to give end users the ability
to sort the data before preview/printing the report. I'm unsure the
features of Crystal but they must have some sort of AutoSort feature during
the report preview. This would be a nice addition to ReportBuilder but is
currently unavailable.

Note: If you need to sort during the design stage of the report, there is
no need to use RAP... RAP code is only executed during the report
generation.

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rbuser

Nico

Thank you for your efforts. We have partial success.

Within your example we were able to do all that was required.

Within our own example we were able to get as far as the Data tab, and now
we can see the ADSSession, select a database alias etc., however when we run
the Query Wizard everything in there is blank, ie there are no available
tables. To remind you, the difference between your example and our own
simple setup is that we have the report explorer setup in place with the
folder and item pipelines in place and an explorer. The other difference
here that occurs to me is that we ran your example from within the
IDE....but surely that cannot make a difference?

I am beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel here, and my
apologies for throwing Crystal (which has its own problems, hence our
proposed move to RB) in your face.... I plead overwork and a demanding
client schedule. Our clients however are large hospitals dispensing
departments and we cannot afford to make mistakes.

Any further advice you can give would be much appreciated.

Regards

Peter

rbuser

Nico

Found out why we cant see tables.... or to be more exact, which tables we
cant see. Apparently we cannot see available tables which are themselves
within an Advantage Data Dictionary, only 'free tables'.

We will try out the RB Data Dictionary and see if this creates visibility
for tables which are themselves within an Advantage Data Dictionary.

Regards

Peter

rbuser

Nico

Fixed the problem with which tables we can see... we can now see both types.
Now having trouble with Query Wizard which reports errors on all but the
most simple of queries. I guess we have to learn what is possible.

Peter

rbuser

Nico

Got things working satisfactorily for now.... queries, sorting etc. Dont
think we will give end users the ability to edit the SQL however, and we
will advise them not to set groups using the SQL as we got logical errors
that way... maybe because we set the groups before setting them in RB?
Anyway the system is developing and after a shaky start we are picking up
speed.

Thank you for your support.... and patience!!

Regards

Peter

nicocizik

Hi Peter,

No problem. Glad you got it working .

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