Hi Terry,



I use both.  Mostly views, I tend to prepare the SQL statement as close as needed by the report, or as generic as possible to be re-used with more than one report.  The rule for me to use Custom Field Properties is if the data to be shown in the report is just couple of hundred records, then CFP performance should not be a problem, but if the report may output more than 500 records, then I create a virtual column in my SQL statement (view) to have the data there.

That is one of the main reason the SF builder would give you the option to create a BO for the report

Edhy Rijo

Edhy, do you use Views for your reports or Custom Fields?

I am not sure why I have stayed away from Views but maybe it is time to start using them.

TIA.

Hi Terry,

Great, glad you were able to rename the BBS.  This is a very detail example and I am sure you will find it very interesting the approach Charles used to get this done.

Edhy Rijo

Edhy, I changed the name using the property window and it seemed to change the references to it also.

Thanks Edhy, I will look into this over the weekend.

Hi Terry,
I noticed that the BBS dropped to the report at least in DX version 13.2 will not be shown as in the forms, so you have serveral ways to access this object to rename it or work with it.

1. From the Properties combobox, select the xrReportEngineBBS and then you can rename it.
2. Using the "Document Outline" window from the View->Other Windows menu you can also select any object in the report or form to access its properties.

Terry, Charles is just kidding, he loves this topic

Edhy Rijo

I know you said that you have had your last post on this topic but I am following along ad I got to the spot where you talk about dragging the xrReportEngineBBS onto the report and then you say Name it oXRReportEngineBBS. How do you name it or rename it?

My final post with regards to how I implemented everything I learned above into the Reporting Layer of my current project.

Chapter 2: The Final Solution

So long and thanks for all the Fish!

Charles T. Blankenship
Senior Consultant
Novant Consulting, Inc.
704.975.7152
http://www.novantconsulting.com

Hi Charles,

None taken.  Your document is pretty good and very detailed, so I am sure it will help others here.

I didn't provide a .DDT file because I included the .bak for the entire StrataFlix database ... I thought it would be easier just to let people restore it over their existing StrataFlix.mdf

Sorry I missed the .bak file in your project, it is there and I restored it just fine.

As for including deployment data from the Database Deployment Toolkit ... the only data I know how to deploy from that is the Security and Messaging files.   How do I get the Customers, Customer Orders, Customer Order Items and Report Engine table data inside the DDT?

It is very easy, take a look at the "Deployment Data Package Properties" in the SF help file.  There you can import data from any table in any database and deploy that to specific table in your application's database.  It is good for static lookup data, or when initially deploying an application to upload this data with every new installation pretty much like they do when you install StrataFrame and they deploy the StrataFrameSample database.

After many years working with StrataFrame, I learned (sometimes the hard way ) that things are simpler than I expected in StrataFrame and once you learn to work with the framework and not fight it, then you can become very productive.  One example is the Business Object class, looks so simple and for some probably outdated, but in reality very, very powerful class and in my experience rock solid, I don't get calls from my customers because my applications crashed, it just keep working, I get calls for enhancements and new stuff. 

Because of that experience I have no doubt StrataFrame 2.0 will be a great for us and from what I have heard about the new Business Objects and DDT in 2.0 it will easy to bind to any 3rd party tools like DevExpress controls without the need of the SF Business Binding Source.

Edhy Rijo

Maybe I should have been more clear about the nature of this tutorial ... so here goes!

This tutorial is not meant to be a "best practices" for StrataFrame Development.  It is only meant to illustrate how to make a simple listing report and master-detail report (using a data flattening approach as well as a sub-report approach) using DevExpress XtraReports control and SF Custom Business Binding source.  Project structure, class naming preferences, whether to or not to use stored procedures and sub-classing methodology were meant to be mere suggestions.

I hope you do find some benefit from it.

Charles T. Blankenship
Senior Consultant
Novant Consulting, Inc.
704.975.7152
http://www.novantconsulting.com