Genero BDL is used to write the code for a 4gl file that retrieves
the data, often from a database, and outputs it to a report.
This BDL program contains:
- The Report Driver, which specifies
the data the report will include. If you are retrieving data from database tables, for example, a
database cursor is defined to retrieve specific rows. The Report Driver stores the database values
in program variables, and sends these - one record at a time - to the REPORT program block.
- The REPORT program block, which
specifies the control blocks for a report, and sends the data to the Genero Report Engine. Variables
can be defined to allow calculations on the data values, which are output along with the data
values.
The Genero Report Engine uses the data and the Report Design document (4rp - created using Genero
Report Designer) to process and output the report, in accordance with the reporting API functions that
have been called by the BDL program.
See Steps to a Report (GRW for BDL) for a complete outline of the reporting
process.
Some Tips for Legacy Report
Designers provides information about the correlation between Report Designer and traditional
4GL commands in reports.
The OrderReport.4gl example program included in the GRW demo
Reports:
- Retrieves the data and outputs it to the Report Engine.
- Allows the user to select the desired
report and the output settings, by displaying a form (Configuration.42f)
for input.
- Uses the Reporting API function fgl_report_loadCurrentSettings() to load the original settings from the
4rp file. (Additional optional functions can
specify the changes to be made to those settings, based on the user input. )
- Uses the Reporting API function fgl_report_commitCurrentSettings() to commit the changes this program has made.
- The Form Design file for this form, (Configuration.4fd) is one of the files
in the GRW demo project,Reports.
See the Reporting
API for the specific functions that you can use to control the output of a report; some
examples are in Change Report
Output Options.