Define a New Data Source

To define a new data source, start the Data Source Wizard and click New, then Next.

The Properties page of the wizard is then displayed:

A name for the new data source is automatically generated. This may be changed to a name which describes the element(s) the data source will use.

Enter a description if required.

Click Next.

The Base Element Types page of the wizard is then displayed:

At least one element type must be selected. This will be the element type used to populate the report.

The list of elements shown may be filtered by typing in the filter box.

Select the element or elements required by clicking on them.

The Ctrl and Shift keys may be used to make multiple selections.

Use the arrow buttons to move the selected elements for the data source to the Base Element Types box.

Click Next.

The Filters page of the wizard is then displayed:

Using this page, filters may be added to limit the elements retuned by the data source.

These filters maybe simple attribute based comparisons, or more complex PML1 expressions.

Enter attribute based comparison filters in the Attribute Filters box.

Enter PML1 expression filters in the Expression Filters box.

To add a new filter click the appropriate Add Filter button and enter or select the filter details in the row of fields that is then provided. Multiple filters may be defined.

To delete a filter, select it from the list of filters and select the appropriate Delete Filter button.

Click Next.

The Columns page of the wizard is then displayed:

The attributes of the base elements of the data source are displayed in the Available Columns box.

If multiple elements have been selected for the data source, then either all attributes of these element types may be listed by clicking All Attributes, or only those common to all the selected element types may be selected by clicking Common Attributes.

Select the columns that are to be available for use in the report by clicking on them.

Use the Ctrl and Shift keys to make multiple selections.

Use the arrow buttons to move the selected columns to the Data Source Columns box.

Once one or more columns have been selected PML1 expressions may be typed into the Data Source Columns box, the results of which will be available for use in your report. For example:

Click Finish when the data source definition is complete.

The new data source is now available for use in the report. The data source is saved inside the report. For example:

It may be edited by selecting Edit option of the Data Source Wizard (see Edit a Data Source).