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Creating a Report Design in Actuate e.Report Designer Professional

A report design file defines the layout and behavior for one report. In this exercise, a new report design is created from scratch, using library components.

To create a report design file in Actuate e.Report Designer Professional

  1. Open Actuate e.Report Designer Professional.
  2. Choose File > New. In the Create New Report window, select Blank Report and click OK.

    3. A blank design report appears.

  3. Delete the following components from the structure tree.

    4. NOTE:  You will need to expand the Content - Report section on the structure pane to see the components.

  4. Choose Tools > Library Organizer and click More.

    5. The Include Library window appears.

    1. Click Browse and navigate to C:\Siebdev\rptsrc\enu\lib (or equivalent), choose sssiebel.rol, and click Open. Click OK to close the Include Library window.

      2. If your installation uses a non-English version of Siebel eBusiness Applications, you do not have an \enu folder. Instead, you have a folder in the appropriate language code for your installation, such as \deu for Germany.

      See Global Deployment Guide for a list of three-letter International Standards Organization (ISO) language extensions.

    2. Repeat this step for the files sscustom.rol and Testrept.rol.

      3. The files sssiebel.rol and sscustom.rol are required libraries for all Siebel standard and custom reports. Testrept.rol is the data supply ROL file that you generated from Siebel Tools; it will define the way data is transferred to the new report.

  5. Enter the following information for the report:
    1. Title. Test Opportunity Report
      • Expand the PageList slot until you see the Content - ReportTitle slot.
      • Right-click on the Content - ReportTitle slot and select Properties.

        • The ReportTitle - Component Editor appears.

      • On the Properties tab, scroll down to Text and input Test Opportunity Report as the title for the report.
      • Close the ReportTitle - Component Editor.

        • This value is used in the window title for the report table of contents in the report viewer.

    2. Filename. C:\Siebdev\rptsrc\enu\Testrept.rod

      3. For example, this is the filename and folder location where the report design file you are creating will be saved. Because this is a custom report, it should not be stored in the same folder as the standard reports (...\enu\standard), and ROD files also should not be saved in the same folder as the library files (...\enu\lib). You can either save the file directly in ...\enu or create a new subfolder of \enu called \enu\custom (or equivalent).

      If your installation uses a non-English version of Siebel eBusiness Applications, you do not have an \enu folder. Instead, you have a folder in the appropriate language code for your installation, such as \deu for Germany.

      See Global Deployment Guide for a list of three-letter International Standards Organization (ISO) language extensions.

    1. Report Root Name. Testrept

      2. This specifies the name of the top-level report design object in the design file.

      • Right-click on the top-level object (default name NewReportApp) and select Rename.

        • The Rename window appears.

      • For the new name, input Testrept.

        • The name must be the same as the name used for the ROD file you saved in Step b (without the ROD extension).

  6. Choose File > Save. Specify Testrept.rod in the ...\enu (or ...\enu\custom) folder.

    7. If your installation uses a non-English version of Siebel eBusiness Applications, you do not have an \enu folder. Instead, you have a folder in the appropriate language code for your installation, such as \deu for Germany.

    See Global Deployment Guide for a list of three-letter International Standards Organization (ISO) language extensions.

    Remember to save the design file periodically as you work.

  7. Double-click the Testrept (top level) icon in the structure tree.
    1. In the Component Editor window, click the Class tab.
    2. Change the Super Class value from AcReportSection to ssRpt.

      3. This is an important step. Siebel reports must inherit from ssRpt (the Siebel standard report) instead of directly from AcReportSection (Actuate report). ssRpt is provided in sscustom.rol and inherits from baseReport from sssiebel.rol.

      NOTE:  You cannot perform this step until you have included the sssiebel.rol library.

      Two components are automatically added to the report when you change the report's class: a report section (Report) and a pagelist section (ssPageList).

  8. Make sure that the Show Empty Slots option in View > Options is checked.

    9. You may want to deselect this option at a later time if you find the display of empty slots in the structure tree and layout pane distracting. For now, the empty slots must be visible because components will be dragged onto them from the sscustom library.

  9. Expand the top-level report component.
    1. Right-click the report section child component in the structure tree (Report) and select Slot Information.

      2. The Single Structure Reference window appears.

    2. Change Name in the Contents section to ssRpt and click Close.
    3. Right-click the report section child component now named ssRpt1 and click Subclass. Click Close.

      4. You must subclass each component you introduce into the report if you plan on modifying the component. Otherwise, the system will not allow your changes.

  10. Right-click the report section component (ssRpt1) and click Rename. Change the name to ssRptOpportunity.

    11. It is good design practice to employ naming conventions for components in your reports and to give them meaningful names. The ssRpt prefix indicates that this is a report section based on the ssRpt library component. The Opportunity suffix identifies this as the master report section in which opportunity records are displayed.

  11. Click the library browser button and open the sscustom.rol library. From the Library Browser window, drag and drop the ssFrm component onto the Content slot.

    12. This creates a frame that defines what appears in each report row. The frame is a child of the report section component.

    1. Right-click the new frame (ssFrm) and select Slot Information. On the Single Structure Reference window, click Subclass. Click Close.
    2. Right-click the same frame and select Rename. Rename it ssFrmOpportunityContent. Close the Library Browser window.
  12. Click the library browser button and choose Testrept.rol in the dialog box.

    13. The Library Browser window opens, displaying the contents of Testrept.rol, which is the data supply library you generated in Siebel Tools.

  13. Drag and drop the datastream component (ssOpportunityQuery) from the Library Browser window onto the DataStream slot in the Design Editor. Close the Library Browser window.

    14. The datastream component is now a child of the report section component. The datastream defines the way data is supplied to generate report rows. Each data record generates one report row in the parent report section. Note that you do not subclass the datastream component, because it is used in the report in unmodified form.

When making changes in Siebel Tools for a report originally designed in Actuate e.Report Designer Professional and regenerating an ROL file, be aware of the following:


 Siebel Reports Administration Guide, Version 7.5, Rev B 
 Published: 18 April 2003