Report activity

The ReportOptions is mandatory: XmlIn property or OptionsName property or embedded resource.

The ReportOptions object contains all the data needed to generate a report, such as the SearchConditions to retrieve data from the GN4 database, the XSLT stylesheet to generate the report XML and list of output columns (aggregated or not). See here for a complete description of the ReportOptions object.

The ReportOptions can be passed to the Report activity in three ways:

1.Loading the ReportOptions as embedded resources, at the bottom of the workflow file.

In this case, the wfres:ActivityName attribute of the ReportOptions tag must match the x:Name attribute of the Report activity.

For example:

<wfres:workFlow

  xmlns:wfres="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/WFRes.xsd">

  <SequentialWorkflow

    x:Name="mainWorkflow"

    DisplayProgress="true"

    xmlns="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/Workflow/Activity"

    xmlns:gn4wf="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/Workflow"

    xmlns:common="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/Common"

    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"

    xmlns:wf="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/workflow"

    xmlns:sys="clr-namespace:System;assembly=mscorlib"

    xmlns:coll="clr-namespace:System.Collections;assembly=mscorlib">

    <Report

      x:Name="createReport" />

  </SequentialWorkflow>

  <!-- workflow resources - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -->

  <ropt:ReportOptions

    wfres:activityName="createReport"

    xmlns:ropt="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/ReportOptions.xsd"

    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"

    NavOptions="None"

    TableName="myReportTable">

    <Xslt xmlns="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/XmlExportOptions.xsd">

    . . .

    </Xslt>

    <Conditions xmlns="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/SearchConditions.xsd">

    . . .

    </Conditions>

    <ropt:Columns>

    . . . 

    </ropt:Columns>

  </ropt:ReportOptions>

</wfres:workFlow>

2.loading the ReportOptions from a configuration file already imported into the GN4 database.

In this case the name of the ReportOptions configuration file is specified by the OptionsName activity's property.

The OptionsName activity's property is analogous to the 'srv4 report -opt ...' option and '...do.ashx?cmd=report&name=...' option (write 'srv4 help report' in command-line or open '...do.ashx?cmd=help&name=report&x=docBook' in browser for more info about it).

In the following example:

<Report

    x:Name="createReport"

    OptionsName="test" />

the activity Report loads from the GN4 database the 'report_test' config file containing the declaration of the ReportOptions to use.

3.loading the ReportOptions from a physical xml file.

Just like the 'srv4 report -opt...' command, the Report activity can receive the ReportOptions as xml document.

The xml configuration file is passed to the Report activity as the XmlIn property.

Here is a example of a workflow which loads the ReportOptions from the filesystem:

. . .

  <!-- read the physical file -->

  <Fetch

    x:Name="loadConfigFile"

    Url="e:\tera\gn4\test\report_test.xml" />

  <!-- read the xml data from the file -->

  <LoadXml

    x:Name="loadXmlFile"

    Data="{wf:ActivityBind loadConfigFile, Path=DataOut}" />

  <!-- generate a report -->

  <Report

    x:Name="createReport"

    XmlIn="{wf:ActivityBind loadXmlFile, Path=XmlOut}" />

. . .

The ODBC connection string is a string containing all the parameters needed to connect to a storage via ODBC (either a database or a physical file, like an Excel stylesheet).

Here some sample of ODBC connection strings:

"Driver={SQL Server};Server=myServer;Database=myDatabase;uid=myUser;pwd=myPassword;"

"Driver={Microsoft ODBC for Oracle};Server=(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=myServer)(PORT=1521))(CONNECT_DATA=(SID=orcl)));Uid=myDatabase;Pwd=myPassword"

"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb)};DBQ=c:\bin\myDatabase.mdb"

"Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls)};DSN='';firstRowHasNames=1;readonly=false;DBQ=c:\temp\result.xls"

"Driver={Microsoft Text Driver (*.txt; *.csv)};DBQ=c:\temp"

The ODBC connection string is passed to the Report activity in the ConnectionString property.

The ConnectionString property is analogous to the 'srv4 report -db ...' option and '...do.ashx?cmd=report&db=...' option.

Note that the ODBC connection string is optional: if missing, the report is returned as xml file into the ouput DataOut activity's property.

. . .

  <Report

    x:Name="createReport"

    ConnectionString="Driver={SQL Server};Server=myServer;Database=myDatabase;uid=myUser;pwd=myPassword;" />

. . .

The ODBC connection string contains the name of the database where storing the report data. Note that the name of the destination database table is specified into the ReportOptions configuration (TableName attribute).

<ReportOptions

   xmlns="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/ReportOptions.xsd"

   xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"

   NavOptions="None"

   TableName="myReportTable">

   . . .

If the table is missing in the database, then it is automatically created.

Here is a workflow which generates a report and saves it into a SQLServer database's table using the ODBC connection string.

Download Attachment: wf_TestReport.xml 6.37 KB

If the ConnectionString property is empty, then the report data is returned as a xml file into the DataOut activity's property.

You can save the report xml into a physical file using a Save activity:

. . .

  <Report

    x:Name="createReport" />

  <!-- save the report file -->

  <Save

    x:Name="saveFile"

    Data='{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=DataOut}'

    To='c:\temp\report.xml'

    Mode='Unique' />

. . . 

or output the xml into the browser using an OutputXml activity:

. . .

  <Report

    x:Name="createReport" />

  <!-- read the xml data from the file -->

  <LoadXml

    x:Name="loadXmlFile"

    Data="{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=DataOut}" />

  <!-- show the report xml -->

  <OutputXml

    x:Name="outputReportXml"

    XmlIn="{wf:ActivityBind loadXmlFile, Path=XmlOut}" />

. . .

or even pass the xml to a TransformXml activity to apply a XSLT transformation.

Note that you can test your workflow into the workflow test page of GN4: http://myServer/GN4/test/wftestform.aspx

The SearchConditions used to generate the report can contain variable parameters.

The values of these parameter must be passed to the Report activity using the Pars activity 's property.

The Pars property is analogous to the 'srv4 report -pars ...' option and '...do.ashx?cmd=report&pars=...' option.

For example, the following SearchConditions wants a variable parameter called 'folderPath', that is the path of the GN4 folder where looking for archiveObjects:

<ReportOptions>

  . . .

  <Conditions xmlns="http://www.teradp.com/schemas/GN4/1/SearchConditions.xsd" ObjectTypeName="archiveObject">

    <SearchNode xsi:type="ConditionSearchNode" Op="Equal">

      <Left xsi:type="AttributeSearchNode" Path="archiveObject.folderRef.path" />

      <Right xsi:type="VariableSearchNode" Name="folderPath" Type="String" />

    </SearchNode>

  </Conditions>

Note that the Pars property of the Report activity is automatically filled in with the parameters passed to the main workflow.

So, there are two ways to pass the variable parameters to the Report activity (the name of the parameters is case-sensitive):

•passing the parameters to the main workflow

In this case the workflow parameter 'folderPath' is automatically added to the Pars property of the Report activity.

•explicitly setting the Pars property of the Report activity:

 . . .

  <Report

    x:Name="createReport">

    <Report.Pars>

      <wf:WorkflowParameterBinding ParameterName="folderPath" wf:Value="/system/users/myUser" />

    </Report.Pars>

  </Report>

. . .

If no ODBC connection string is provided to the Report activity, then the generated report data are returned as a xml file into the DataOut property, as discussed above.

The Report activity returns the number of the generated report rows, into the Rows activity property. This is the number of the rows created into a database table or the rows of the generated xml file.

The rows number is useful to test into the workflow if some report data was actually generated, and to output some logs.

Here is a workflow which checks the output rows number to display some log:

. . .

  <!-- generate a report -->

  <Report

    x:Name="createReport" />

  <!-- check if any row was inserted into the database -->

  <wf:IfElseActivity

    x:Name="checkRows">

    <!-- if rows were created, then... -->

    <wf:IfElseBranchActivity

      x:Name="rowsInserted">

      <wf:IfElseBranchActivity.Condition>

        <gn4wf:ValueCondition Value="{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=Rows}" />

      </wf:IfElseBranchActivity.Condition>

      <!-- check if the report was generated as xml -->

      <wf:IfElseActivity

        x:Name="checkReportXml">

        <!-- if a xml file was created, then... -->

        <wf:IfElseBranchActivity

          x:Name="xmlFileCreated">

          <wf:IfElseBranchActivity.Condition>

            <gn4wf:ValueCondition Value="{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=DataOut.Count}" />

          </wf:IfElseBranchActivity.Condition>

          <!-- save the report file -->

          <Save

            x:Name="saveFile"

            Data='{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=DataOut}'

            To='c:\temp\report.xml'

            Mode='Unique' />

          <Log

            x:Name="logResultFile"

            Code="Info"

            Message="Created {0} rows into the {1} file">

            <Log.Pars>

              <wf:WorkflowParameterBinding wf:ParameterName="p0" wf:Value="{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=Rows}" />

              <wf:WorkflowParameterBinding wf:ParameterName="p1" wf:Value="{wf:ActivityBind saveFile, Path=ToOut}" />

            </Log.Pars>

          </Log>

        </wf:IfElseBranchActivity>

        <!-- if the report was stored into the database, then... -->

        <wf:IfElseBranchActivity

          x:Name="dbRowsCreated">

          <Log

            x:Name="logResultDb"

            Code="Info"

            Message="Created {0} rows. ConnectionString: '{1}'">

            <Log.Pars>

              <wf:WorkflowParameterBinding wf:ParameterName="p0" wf:Value="{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=Rows}" />

              <wf:WorkflowParameterBinding wf:ParameterName="p1" wf:Value="{wf:ActivityBind createReport, Path=ConnectionString}" />

            </Log.Pars>

          </Log>

        </wf:IfElseBranchActivity>

      </wf:IfElseActivity>

    </wf:IfElseBranchActivity>

    <!-- if no report was generated, then... -->

    <wf:IfElseBranchActivity

      x:Name="noReport">

      <Log

        x:Name="logResultRows"

        Code="Info"

        Message="No report data found" />

    </wf:IfElseBranchActivity>

  </wf:IfElseActivity>

. . .