ReportBuilder’s Support for TDataset Descendants ReportBuilder’s DBPipeline component can connect to any TDataset descendant. TDataSet —> TDataSource —> DBPipeline –> Report To use RB Professional’s Query tools you will need a DADE Plug-in. a. Check the ..\RBuilder\Demos\EndUser Databases directory for end-user examples using a variety of database products. b. Check out the friends | data |  Full Article…

TECH TIP: Printing Reports without a Database ReportBuilder has a very flexible and powerful DataPipeline architecture for accessing data from a variety of sources. The product ships the following datapipelines: DBPipeline: connects to any TDataSource TextPipeline: used to accessing ASCII text files JITPipeline: event-handler based pipeline, used to print data from arrays, grids, lists or  Full Article…

Question “Is it possible to use Delphi DataModules with my ReportBuilder application?” Solution As a rule of thumb, DataModules should be primarily used to contain abstract data objects such as Tables, Queries, and DataSources.  DataModules are also a good place to place DataPipelines as the TppReport object on the main form of your app will  Full Article…

Question “How do I create a DataPipeline in code?” Solution Datapipelines can easily be created dynamically in code by assigning a few key properties. Create the TppDBPipeline object: FDataPipeline := TppDBPipeline.Create(Self); Give the pipeline a recognizable name. FDataPipeline.Name := ‘plCustomers’; FDataPipeline.UserName := ‘Customers’; Assign the DataSource property. FDataPipeline.DataSource := dsCustomers; Assign any other properties you  Full Article…

Question “How do I check if there is data to be retrieved before printing my report?” Solution Check the TppDataPipeline.EOF and TppDataPipeline.BOF properties.  If both of these properties are True, the dataset contains no data.  Note that the datapipeline will need to be opened to successfully access these properties. Download:  CheckForDataBeforePrinting.zip Sample Delphi code: function  Full Article…

TECH TIP: Display DataPipeline.MasterFieldLinks Editor in code uses ppForms, ppFLnkEd; procedure TForm1.DisplayFieldLInkEditor; var lFormClass : TFormClass; lFieldLinkEd: TppCustomMasterFieldLinkEditor; begin {the detail pipeline's masterdatapipeline property needs to be set prior to using the field link editor} if (myDetailPipeline.MasterDataPipeline = nil) then myDetailPipeline.MasterDataPipeline := myMasterPipeline; {get the registered field link editor class} lFormClass := ppGetFormClass(TppCustomMasterFieldLinkEditor); {create the  Full Article…

Tech Tip: Define Master/Detail DataPipeline Links in Code Defining a Master/Detail relationship for a DataPipeline requires that the detail pipeline have the following properties defined: 1. MasterDataPipeline 2. MasterFieldLinks At Delphi design-time you can use the object inspector and the DataPipeline’s FieldLinks editor to define the master/detail relationship. The following example illustrates how to define  Full Article…

TECH TIP: Fundamentals of Report Data Traversal Single Table Listing Report Assign the Report.DataPipeline property and leave the DetailBand.Pipeline unassigned. The report will traverse the data from start to end (based on the datapipeline range settings and honoring any filters you’ve placed on the datset etc.) Master/Detail Report: Assign the Report.DataPipeline property to the master.  Full Article…

TECH TIP: Controlling which records are printed for a report There are a several techniques you can use to control which records are printed for a report. Use a Query to construct a result set containing only the desired records. Define a Filter on a dataset (Query or Table) to filter out the unwanted records.  Full Article…