Writing Reports

[sandybassett]

Having finally succeeded in connecting to a database, creating tables, inserting, updating, finding and closing SQLite and Valindina DBs, I'm going to the next step-writing reports. I don't find a report writer in LC altho my last systems had them (Access & REALbasic). So what is the best practice in LC? One approach seems to be construct SQL statement that will find all tables/fields in related tables necessary that runs on opening a card, script to put that data into fields on the card, then a print button. Am I on the right track? or not?

[LCNeil]

Hi Sandybassett,

Yes you are on the right track What you have suggested is one method of generating a report in LiveCode and you should be able to add to this to create more in-depth reports.

We also have a product in our marketplace that makes report creation in LiveCode a breeze. A link to this is shown below.

http://livecode.com/store/marketplace/q ... ard-1-1-4/

More information on Quartam Reports, with access to a trial, can be found on the developers site here-

http://www.quartam.com/

Kind Regards,

Neil Roger
--
RunRev Support Team ~ http://www.runrev.com
-

[bangkok]

Reporting can be a delicate matter with LC.

-first challenge : printing... on windows can be difficult (font size and fields). have a look on "formatForPrinting" to understand.

-then : which type of output ? printer or PDF ? Different solutions.

-then : the length issue... just 1 page ? Or more ? If more then you will have to master "chunck" (you'll print a field containing the X first lines of the report, then send a command to create a new page on the printer, then print the next following chunck etc.)

-then : complex report (many fields on the same page) or just one plain listing ?

-then : there are external solutions (as previously said, Quartam)

But don't be afraid : as usual, you can achieve what you want with LC, following several possible technical path.

[sandybassett]

Thanks guys! The Quartam Reports seems the way to go. Until I'm ready for that, I'll practice the SELECT SQL way to put data to a card for on-screen reports as a good learning exercise.

[FourthWorld]

When exploring your current approach, you may find that the recent addition of paragraph-level formatting for LC fields quite satisfying for many types of reports. With it you can now include multiple tables each with their own tabstops - see the tabstops, vGrid, and hGrid properties in the Dictionary.