Reporting tools for lazarus

[troll]

Hi I'm new to lazarus, and was wondering what reporting tools are available out there. are there any tools which can be intergrated into the IDE, like rave or quickreport in Delphi? I've tried LaReport, but can't seem to see how to actually create a report.

[jesusr]

Not many (report tools) that I know.

About Lazreport, creating a report at design time is not yet implemented, you can submit a request in the bug tracker so it won't be forgoten (if you do, please use the project "packages")

[scismondo]

Hi,

A few months ago I had an idea to solve that problem. I made a small business management app, so I needed to print invoices. The solution I've found: I generate HTML code, fills divs and tables with the data I need, then I save the code in an HTML file and open it  in a browser. Then the user just has to use the browser's print procedure. The browser is used as a viewer...

Hope this helps.

Seb.

[Phil]

The solution I've found: I generate HTML code, fills divs and tables with the data I need, then I save the code in an HTML file and open it  in a browser. Then the user just has to use the browser's print procedure. The browser is used as a viewer...

Good idea, Seb. That's a much better idea than using a reporting tool. I have yet to find one I like. The problem with most of these tools, besides being clunky to incorporate and program, is that they try to render like a word processor. Why not use a program that already does a good job of rendering a report, such as a browser or word processor? They have the advantages of being familiar to user, support accurate printing, and work correctly.

I think the time for reporting tools has passed. Use the programs the user already has installed to display reports.

Generating HTML is pretty simple.

[mikiwoz]

but keep in mind, that if you use HTML formatting, then the user *has to* use a webbrowser to view and print it - you will not be able to give the user a "Print" option within your program.
besides, remember the differences between different rendering engines used in webbrowsers nawadays - IE6 has it's own way of handling HTML, more and more popular FireFox tries to be 100% w3c specifications compliant. result? you can have a HTML-formatted document look completely different on those two browsers (sometimes even unreadable on one of them).

so, in a few words, here are the drawbacks:
1. no way of implementing "print" within your program;
2. possible problems with formatting on different webbrowsers;

ok, now the idea, how to get over them: I'm sure I've heard about a Delphi (and Laz?) component to display HTML-formatted documents. you could use such a thingy to have a report, formatted in HTML, displayed and printed from within your program - and the user wouldn't have to use a webbrowser, so the there's no problem with different handling of HTML.

HTH
mike

[RudieD]

Do you mean the TurboPower components that ships with Lazarus ?

[mikiwoz]

whatever, I have no idea, I didn't have to use anything like this yet.

[Phil]

Do you mean the TurboPower components that ships with Lazarus ?

Yes, Lazarus includes the TurboPower HTML browser class. You could use that to display HTML files internal to your program rather than using an external browser.

Advantages:
- Provides Print function within your program.
- Consistent rendering across OS platforms.

Disadvantage:
- Might never render or print as well as external browser, although quite a bit of new work has been done on this class recently.
- Probably won't look the same as the browser that user is accustomed to.

[mikiwoz]

but it doesn't have to look the same as the browser that user is accustomed to - afterall, the user wouldn't even know, thet it's in HTML! It just has to be a reporting tool, not a full-blown webbrowser.

cheers
mike