FastReport open source object data source

Question

I try to use FastReport open source to build reports from data I'll provide to the report.

I've found what I want in the demos (https://github.com/FastReports/FastReport/tree/master/Demos/OpenSource/DataFromBusinessObject/DataFromBusinessObject)

In this demo, I see in the report file that a BusinessObjectDataSourceis used, which seems to be what I want to use.

However, I don't see a way to add this kind of source in the community designer. Do I need to add all of this manually ? Or is there a way to generate the needed markup ? I can't find the solution on their site.

Answer 1

I found a way to generate an empty report with the fields generated from a business object. You only have to create an empty report object, call "RegisterBusinessObject()" on its Dictionary property, and then save the report itself:

var report = new Report();
report.Dictionary.RegisterBusinessObject(
              new List<Invoice>(), // a (empty) list of objects
              "Invoices",          // name of dataset
              2,                   // depth of navigation into properties
              true                 // enable data source
       );
report.save(@"invoiceReport.frx");

You still need to update the report description if your object changes, but at least you don't have to code it by hand!

Answer 2

I found a way by making the needed xml by hand like this:

<BusinessObjectDataSource Name="Invoices" ReferenceName="Invoices" Enabled="true">
  <Column Name="Reference" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="Date" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="CompanyName" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="InvoiceEmail" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="VAT" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="Street" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="Number" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="City" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="ZipCode" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="Country" DataType="System.String"/>
  <Column Name="TotalPrice" DataType="System.Decimal"/>
  <Column Name="VATValue" DataType="System.Decimal"/>
  <Column Name="VATPercentage" DataType="System.Decimal"/>
  <Column Name="VATComment" DataType="System.String"/>
</BusinessObjectDataSource>

The only drawback is that I need to update this if my object changes (but at least is is working !)