InetSoft Product Information: Server-side Report Objects

Template Query Binding

A report element can be bound to a query defined in the InetSoft Data Modeler (XBuilder). The query binding is used at runtime to retrieve data from data sources and populate the report with the query results. If the report does not need any user interactions, the template can be used directly to create a replet in the repository.

The Data Modeler is integrated into the Report Designer in InetSoft products. Data sources and queries can be defined in the Data Modeler window of the Designer. Once a query is created, it can be bound to a report element, such as a table or a chart. The template can be registered with the repository as a replet.

When the 'Template' option is checked on the replet registry screen, the replet is treated as a template-based replet. Instead of entering the replet Java class name, the template resource name should be entered for the replet. The resource name is the name where the template XML file can be loaded by the class loader. The exact name depends on the installation and class path setting. For more details on resources and resource loading, please refer to the Java documentation.

The template location can also be specified using a URL. The URL can use any protocol, such as local file, HTTP or FTP. The name is treated as a URL if it contains '://'.

When a replet object is created from a template, the template is used to build a ReportSheet object. The normal processing is then performed on the report object. If any queries are bound to report elements, the queries are executed and the results used in the report as element contents. The template-based replet can be accessed from the viewer like regular replets.

In order for the report engine to find the query definitions, the query and data source registries must be properly configured. The registry file locations must be specified in the Enterprise Manager. If the queries need any additional classes, such as the client-side EJB classes for EJB data sources, the classes must be accessible by the repository server.

If started from the Enterprise Manager, the port number of the server URL is accepted as the initial port. If a CORBA data source is used, any ORB initialization parameters, such as naming services port, need to be passed to the repository, so that if the repository is started from a command line, the CORBA parameters can be passed in as command line parameters e.g.

java inetsoft.sree.corba.RepositoryServer –ORBInitialPort 1050 …