Building a Flash Template

This section describes how to build a Flash template.

It includes the following topics:

Adding the Data Source
Creating the Layout
Data Binding

Adding the Data Source

Follow these steps to build a flash template and add the data source.

To add the data source:

Generate a sample data file from the report data model as follows:

From the Data Model Editor, select the Get XML Output toolbar button. From the Report Viewer, select the number of rows to return and then click Run. From the Actions toolbar list, select Export XML and save the results as an XML file to a local directory.

This example is based on the following data:

<ROWSET>
<ROW>
<NAME>Neena Kochhar</NAME>
<FIRST_NAME>Neena</FIRST_NAME>
<LAST_NAME>Kochhar</LAST_NAME>
<SALARY>17000</SALARY>
<ANNUAL_SALARY>204000</ANNUAL_SALARY>
<FED_WITHHELD>57120</FED_WITHHELD>
<JOB_TITLE>Administration Vice President</JOB_TITLE>
<DEPARTMENT_NAME>Executive</DEPARTMENT_NAME>
<MANAGER>Steven King</MANAGER>
</ROW>
<ROW>
...
</ROWSET>

This data is generated from the following simple query-based report:

select
        e.first_name || ' ' || e.last_name name,
        e.first_name,
        e.last_name,
        e.salary,
        e.salary*12 ANNUAL_SALARY,
        e.salary*12*0.28 FED_WITHHELD,
        j.job_title,
        d.department_name,
        m.first_name || ' ' || m.last_name manager
from employees e,
      employees m,
      departments d,
      jobs j
where e.department_id = d.department_id
  and j.job_id = e.job_id
  and e.manager_id = m.employee_id

Open the Flex IDE and create a new Flex Project; select the "Basic" data access method, as shown in the following example figure.
Description of the illustration GUID-205BBF9D-A886-4763-B700-88101AEB25A3-default.gif

In the next dialog, give the project a name as shown in the following example. The name that you use here is assigned to the template file name that you create.

Description of the illustration GUID-09ACFE85-D013-4F64-9E85-60E045BA9915-default.gif

Click Finish.

The IDE creates the Flex template definition file, which is an MXML file. An MXML file is an XML format. Following is a sample:
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute">
</mx:Application>
```
You can now update it manually or by using the visual builder.
Connect the XML you downloaded from the report data model:
To connect the data, use the XML data services that Flex supports and embed the sample data into the MXML file.

The sample MXML file with the connected data is shown. See the following section for a description of the file components.
```
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute">
 <mx:Script>
   <![CDATA[
      [Bindable]
      public var dataXML:XML = 
<ROWSET>
  <ROW>
    <NAME>Neena Kochhar</NAME>
    <FIRST_NAME>Neena</FIRST_NAME>
    <LAST_NAME>Kochhar</LAST_NAME>
    <SALARY>17000</SALARY>
    <ANNUAL_SALARY>204000</ANNUAL_SALARY>
    <FED_WITHHELD>57120</FED_WITHHELD>
    <JOB_TITLE>Administration Vice President</JOB_TITLE>
    <DEPARTMENT_NAME>Executive</DEPARTMENT_NAME>
    <MANAGER>Steven King</MANAGER>
  </ROW>
  <ROW>
...
</ROWSET>;
        ]]>
 </mx:Script>
</mx:Application>
```
The XML portion should look familiar as the data you downloaded. The additional components to note are:
- <mx:Script> - This denotes the start of the template scripting code. There is also a closing </mx:Script> statement.
- [Bindable] - This denotes that the following variable is bindable to a layout component.
- public var dataXML:XML - This is the data variable declaration:
  - public - The value of the variable is available to the whole template.
  - var - Declares there is a variable in the report.
  - dataXML - The name of the variable.
    
    Note:
    This is a compulsory name. You must use this name to use the template with BI Publisher.
  - :XML - Declares that the variable is an XML type.
- ; - Notice the semicolon after the end of the XML data that you provided.
At runtime the BI Publisher server generates the runtime data from the report and injects it into the Flex template replacing the sample data held within the dataXML variable. This feature allows the Flex report to be distributed to users without needing to connect to the server.

Creating the Layout

The Flex IDE creates a default canvas for you to drop objects onto. You can modify the canvas as required to suit the report.

Important

If you intend to embed the Flash output in a PDF document, then you must set the Width and Height of the template in the Size region of the Layout properties. Even if you want to accept the default size, you must explicitly enter values in these fields.

Create the layout by adding report objects to the layout palette. This example uses the Flex Design tab to add the objects to the layout. Click the Design tab to see the available objects in the Component Navigator pane.

The following figure shows an example of the available objects in the Component Navigator pane.

Description of GUID-89115A09-CF47-4865-89E8-92000E9C739F-default.gif follows

Description of the illustration GUID-89115A09-CF47-4865-89E8-92000E9C739F-default.gif

These objects can be dragged and dropped to the design palette.

To create the layout:

Start by dragging a Panel object from under the Layout node to the design palette. Notice as you drag the panel around the edge of the palette, the guidelines are displayed in blue. Use these guides to aid you in aligning objects.
Drop the panel onto the top left hand corner of the palette.
Now drag the bottom right edge of the panel across to the right hand side of the palette.
Then drag it down to about half the height of the palette. Alternatively, use the property palette on the right hand side to set the size of the panel.
Now select a Datagrid object. This is the object to render the data in a tabular format. Drop it onto the panel you created in Step 1. The Datagrid is now a child of the panel; you can resize it as needed. The end result is shown in the following figure:

Description of the illustration GUID-8926DED1-5BC5-42CE-976C-48199DEDDA81-default.gif

By default three columns are generated. In the next section, Binding the Layout Objects to the Data Source, you override the default in the MXML code.

Adding a Chart

If you have purchased the charting option, then you can add charts to the layout.

To add a chart to the layout:

Make some room for the chart in the layout. Highlight the Datagrid object and pull the top edge down to about half the height of the hosting panel.
For this example, select and drag a Column Chart from the design palette and drop it onto the hosting panel. Use the guidelines to align it.
When you drop it, notice that the default size overlaps the Datagrid and that the chart legend is in the top left-hand corner. Resize the chart and move the legend to the right to look similar as in the following sample chart figure.

Description of the illustration GUID-2B0F0E82-0159-4681-9278-82C1B2959714-default.gif

This is a sample chart. You bind it to the data in the next section.

Binding the Layout Objects to the Data Source

Once the layout is complete, you can bind the layout objects to the data source. Here, you can bind the DataGrid and bind the chart.

Flex offers some help through the property palette of the objects to define the binding, but not enough to complete the task. Therefore you must update the MXML directly using the Source editor.

Binding the DataGrid

Follow these steps to bind the DataGrid, which is highlighted for you to locate the code easily.

To bind the DataGrid:

Start by highlighting the DataGrid in the design palette, and then click the Source tab to display the MXML source. You see that the first line of the DataGrid code has been highlighted for you. This feature is useful if you have built complex Flex templates and must locate the code easily.
The DataGrid code is as follows:
```
<mx:DataGrid x="10" y="160" width="476" height="152">
   <mx:columns>
      <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Column 1" dataField="col1"/>
      <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Column 2" dataField="col2"/>
      <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Column 3" dataField="col3"/>
   </mx:columns>
</mx:DataGrid>
```
Notice that the code defines the relative x,y position of the grid within its parent container and its width and height. The next element defines the columns with attributes for the header label and the data fields.

The goal is to achieve a table that looks like the table in the following figure:

Description of the illustration GUID-7D0962C5-0C58-4CCD-8F4C-05A7276890BA-default.gif
Make the DataGrid aware of the data source by adding an attribute to the <mx:DataGrid> element as follows:
```
dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"
```
This attribute defines the data object to be used at runtime to populate the grid. Remember that in this example, the XML data variable was defined as "dataXML"; now use that definition followed by "ROW" (that is, dataXML.ROW). ROW is the repeating group in the data set. Note that the syntax requires the curly braces to let the Flex engine know it is a data source.

Bind the columns. In the basic structure provided, replace the values for dataField with the appropriate element name from the data source. Also replace headerText values with the desired column heading names. For example, for the first column, replace

<mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Column 1" dataField="col1"/>

with

<mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Employee" dataField="NAME" />

This defines the first column header name as "Employee" and binds the column data to the "NAME" element in the XML data source.

The completed DataGrid sample code follows:

<mx:DataGrid x="10" y="160" width="476" height="152" dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"> 
  <mx:columns>
    <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Employee" dataField="NAME" />
    <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Title" dataField="JOB_TITLE"/>
    <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Monthly Salary" dataField="SALARY"/>
    <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Annual Salary" dataField="ANNUAL_SALARY"/>
  </mx:columns>
</mx:DataGrid>

You can now preview the template with sample data. Select Run, then Run EmployeeReport. This opens a new browser window and renders the table with the sample data.

Binding the Chart

Follow these steps to bind the data source to the chart object.

To bind the chart:

From the Design tab, highlight the chart. Next, switch back to the Source view to find the chart code:

<mx:ColumnChart x="10" y="10" id="columnchart1" width="476" height="142">
  <mx:series>
    <mx:ColumnSeries displayName="Series 1" yField=""/>
  </mx:series>
</mx:ColumnChart>
<mx:Legend dataProvider="{columnchart1}" x="383" y="10"/>

To bind the data source to the chart object, add the dataProvider attribute to the <mx:ColumnChart> element as follows:
```
dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"
```
Next add in the binding for the horizontal axis and the column series. Refer to the Flex help files for more details.
To create a chart showing salary by employee, similar to the chart in the following figure:

Description of the illustration GUID-027963FD-4876-4A7B-9691-6FB2727AE2D6-default.gif

Make the following updates to the code:
- Add a <horizontalAxis> element to define the element from the data source that is used for the horizontal axis of the chart. Use the categoryField attribute to assign the data element value. In this example, the data element NAME is assigned.
- Modify the <series> group to bind the SALARY value to each employee NAME to create a bar for each employee.
Following is the sample code:
```
<mx:ColumnChart x="10" y="10" id="columnchart1" width="476" height="142" dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"> 
   <mx:horizontalAxis>
     <mx:CategoryAxis  categoryField="NAME" />
   </mx:horizontalAxis>
   <mx:series >
     <mx:ColumnSeries xField="NAME"  yField="SALARY" displayName="Salary"/>
   </mx:series>
</mx:ColumnChart>
<mx:Legend dataProvider="{columnchart1}" x="383" y="10"/>
```
Note in the preceding sample, the <mx:horizontalAxis> element has been added and the categoryField attribute has the NAME data element assigned. This element is required to render the chart.

The <mx:series> element has been updated binding the SALARY value to each employee NAME to create a bar for each employee.

You do not need to update the legend code. Notice the id attribute of the <mx:ColumnChart> element matches the dataProvider attribute value of the <mx:Legend> element.
You can now run the template using sample data. You should get an output showing the chart above the tabulated data as shown in the following figure:

Description of the illustration GUID-E9B89427-91AE-4464-84EB-02EA73BF4526-default.gif