8.5.1 Editing Classic Reports in Page Designer

Using the Report Attributes page, developers can control report layout, pagination, column sorting, error messages, export links, and column break of Classic reports.

Topics:

8.5.1.1 Altering Classic Report Layout in Page Designer

You can use the Column Attributes section of the Report Attributes page to precisely control the report layout. For example, you can use these attributes to alter column heading text, change column positioning, hide a column, create a sum of a column, or select a sort sequence.

To edit the Column Attributes:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.

The columns appear in the Rendering tab.
Select a column to edit.

The Property Editor displays the attributes for that column.

Edit the appropriate attributes.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.

The following table describes common report column edits.

Table 8-11 Common Report Column Edits for Classic Reports

Description	Developer Action
Hide a column.	Locate and expand, Identification. For Type, select Hidden Column.
Edit the column heading text.	Locate and expand Heading. Edit the Heading and Alignment attributes.
Change the column heading text alignment.	Locate and expand Heading. Under Heading, make a new selection from Alignment.
Alter the column display sequence.	Locate and expand Layout. Edit the Sequence attribute.
Enable a unique sort sequence.	Locate and expand Sorting. For Sortable select Yes and select a Default Sequence. Any number of columns can be sort enabled. However, at least one column must have a Sort Sequence defined.
Enable the sum of a column.	Locate and expand Advanced. For Compute Sum, select Yes.

Tip:

To view Help, select the attribute and click the Help tab. Once you activate the Help pane, the content that displays changes every time you select another attribute.

To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.2 Editing Classic Report Attributes in Page Designer

You can customize a classic report by editing report attributes in Page Designer.

To edit report attributes:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region containing the report.
Under Region, select the Attributes node.

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The Property Editor displays the report attributes in the Property Editor.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Edit the appropriate attributes.
To view Help, select the attribute and click the Help tab. Once you activate the Help pane, the content that displays changes every time you select another attribute.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.3 Editing Classic Report Pagination in Page Designer

To control classic report pagination:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region containing the report.
Under Region, select the Attributes node.

The Property Editor displays the report attributes in the Property Editor.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Locate and expand Pagination.
Under Pagination, edit the following:
Tip:

To view help for an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the central pane.
1. Type - Select the pagination type for this report. Generally only a subset of the results are currently displayed in the report. Pagination provides the user with information about the number of rows and the current position within the result set. Pagination also defines the style of links or buttons that are used to navigate to the next or previous page.
2. Display Position - Select where the report pagination displays.
3. Partial Page Refresh - Specify whether to use Partial Page Refresh (PPR) to update the report display.
  
  If the end user performs an action, such as a pagination request or selection of a new sort column, the current report rows must be refreshed. Setting this attribute to Yes, refreshes just the report region. Setting this attribute to No, refreshes the entire page.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.4 Enabling Classic Report CSV Output Option in Page Designer

To use the enable the CSV output option:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region containing the report.
Under Region, select the Attributes node.

The Property Editor displays the report attributes in the Property Editor.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Locate and expand Download.
Under Download, edit the following:
1. CSV Export Enabled - Specify whether end users can download the report contents to a CSV file. To enable CSV Downloads, you must use a report template with a #CSV_LINK# substitution string and set this option to Yes.
2. CSV Separator - Enter a column separator. If no value is entered, a comma or semicolon is used depending on your current NLS settings.
3. CSV Enclosed By - Enter a delimiter character to delineate the starting and ending boundary of a data value. The default delimiter is double quotation marks.
4. Link Text - Specify the text for the link to invoke the CSV download.
5. Filename - Specify a name for the CSV download file. If no name is specified, the region name is used followed by the extension *.csv.
Tip:

To view help for an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the central pane.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.5 Adding Support for XML File or a CSV File Export in Page Designer

You can add support for exporting a report as an XML or CSV by selecting a report template.

To export a report as a file:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region containing the report.
Under Region, select the Attributes node.

The Property Editor displays the report attributes in the Property Editor.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Locate and expand Appearance.
Under Appearance, edit the following:
1. Template Type - Select Predefined.
2. Template - Select XML or CSV.
  
  Selecting XML prevents the Application Express engine from rendering the page and dumps the content to an XML file.
Tip:

To view help for an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the central pane.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.6 Enabling Column Sorting in a Classic Report in Page Designer

To enable column sorting:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.
The columns appear in the Rendering tab.
Select a column to edit.

The Property Editor displays the attributes for that column.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Locate and expand Sorting.
Under Sorting, edit the following:
1. Default Sequence - Select the sort sequence for this column. Each column should have a unique sequence to correctly order the report output.
2. Sortable -To enable sorting, select Yes. Selecting Yes enables the end user to sort this column in the report.
Tip:

To view help for an attribute, select the attribute in the Property Editor and click the Help tab in the central pane.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

Tip:

Column sorting must be enabled if you want columns with null values to display at the top or end of the report. To learn more about the Sort Nulls attribute, see "Controlling Classic Report Pagination."

8.5.1.7 Creating a Column Link in a Classic Report in Page Designer

Use the Column Link attributes to create a link from a report to another page in your application or to a URL.

To create a column link to another page:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.
The columns appear in the Rendering tab.
Select a column to edit.

The Property Editor displays the attributes for that column.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Locate and expand Identification. From Type, select Link.
Locate and expand Link and click No Link Defined.
The Link Builder - Target dialog appears.
To create a link to another page, in the Link Builder - Target dialog:
1. Type - Select Page in this Application.
2. Page - Specify the target page number.
3. Set Items - Select a Name and Value to specify session state for an item.
4. Clear Session State, Clear Cache - Specify the page numbers on which to clear cache. To specify multiple page, enter a comma-delimited list of page numbers.
5. Reset Pagination - Select Yes to reset pagination for this page.
6. Advanced, Request - Specify the request to be used.
7. Click OK.
To create a link to a URL, in the Link Builder - Target dialog:
1. Type - Select URL.
2. URL - Enter the URL address.
3. Click OK.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.8 Adding a Download Link to a Classic Report in Page Designer

Developers can create a link within a report that enables users to export the report as a comma-delimited file (.csv) file. To add a CSV link to a report, you must enable Automatic CSV Encoding. When using Automatic CSV Encoding, the report template is not important. You can include a CSV link with any report template that has the CSV export substitution string defined.

8.5.1.9 Defining an Updatable Column in a Classic Report in Page Designer

Developers can make a column updatable by editing column attributes. Note that the Application Express engine can only perform updates if:

A multirow update is defined.
A PL/SQL process is implemented to process updated data.
When using the built-in tabular form elements and display types, then the report has to be defined using the type SQL Query (updatable report).

To define updatable column attributes:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab:
1. Locate the region containing the report.
2. Expand the Columns node.
3. Select the column to be updated.
In the Property Editor, expand Identification and edit the Type attribute.

Tip:

To view Help, select the attribute and click the Help tab. Once you activate the Help pane, the content that displays changes every time you select another attribute.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.10 Controlling When Classic Report Columns Display in Page Designer

You can use the Authorization and Condition attributes to control when a column displays.

Authorization enables you to control access to resources (such as a report column) based on predefined user privileges. For example, you could create an authorization scheme in which only managers can view a specific report column. Before you can select an authorization scheme, you must first create it.

A condition is a small unit of logic that enables you to control the display of a column based on a predefined condition type. The condition evaluates to true or false based on the values you enter in the Expressions fields.

To specify Authorization and Condition attributes:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate and select the region containing the report.
The region attributes display in the Property Editor.
If controlling a column with an authorization scheme, select an authorization scheme:
1. Locate and expand Security.
2. Authorization Scheme - Make a selection.
If controlling the column with a condition define a condition, define a condition:
1. Locate and expand Server-side Condition.
2. Type - Make a selection.
3. Depending upon your selection, enter an expression or value in the fields provided.
If the authorization is successful and the condition type display evaluates to true, the column displays.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.11 Defining a Column as a List of Values in a Classic Report in Page Designer

A column can be rendered as Radio Group or a static, named, or query-based LOV. For example, a column can be rendered using a select list or a popup list of values. Or, a column can be rendered as read-only text based on a list of values.

This last approach is an effective strategy when creating display lookup values and is particularly useful in regular, nonupdatable reports. This approach enables you to display the value of a column without having to write a SQL JOIN statement.

To render a report column as a list of values:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region and expand the Columns node.
The columns appear in the Rendering tab.
Select a column to edit.

The Property Editor displays the attributes for that column.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Locate and expand Identification. From Type, select Plain Text (based on List of Values).
Locate and expand List of Values. Select a Type and fill in the appropriate fields.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.

8.5.1.12 Controlling Classic Report Column Breaks in Page Designer

You can control if a specific column repeats and how column breaks appear when printed using Break Formatting attributes. For example, suppose your report displays employee information by department number. If multiple employees are members of the same department, you can increase the readability by specifying that the department number only appears once.

To create this type of column break:

View the page in Page Designer:
1. On the Workspace home page, click the App Builder icon.
2. Select an application.
3. Select a page.
Page Designer appears.
In the Rendering tab, locate the region containing the report.
Under Region, select the Attributes node.

The Property Editor displays the report attributes in the Property Editor.

Attributes are organized into functional groups. To expand or collapse these groups, click the Show Common, Show All, Collapse All, and Expand All icons.
Specify Break Formatting:
1. Locate and expand Break Formatting.
2. For Break Columns, select how many report columns are incorporated into the break formatting. The columns must be consecutive columns, starting from the first column displayed in the report.
To save your changes click Save. To save and run the page, click Save and Run Page.