New XmlFormRenderer

[Jacopo Cappellato]

Hi all,

after having implemented the FoFormRenderer class, to render fo
templates from form widgets, I'm working to the XmlFormRenderer class:
the goal is to get an xml export file from a form widget definition.
The first version will be very simple and should create xml files that
can be imported into Excel (hopefully).
Then we could refine the class to generate for example an entity-xml
file etc...
I hope to complete the first version of it very soon... can I commit it
to svn?

Jacopo

[David E Jones-2]

This sounds interesting Jacopo, and pretty cool. I think it's a great  
add on.

If you keep going down this path we might have a handy reporting tool  
for the more core reports and such for OFBiz... ;)

-David


On Aug 11, 2006, at 12:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> after having implemented the FoFormRenderer class, to render fo  
> templates from form widgets, I'm working to the XmlFormRenderer  
> class: the goal is to get an xml export file from a form widget  
> definition.
> The first version will be very simple and should create xml files  
> that can be imported into Excel (hopefully).
> Then we could refine the class to generate for example an entity-
> xml file etc...
> I hope to complete the first version of it very soon... can I  
> commit it to svn?
>
> Jacopo

[Jacopo Cappellato]

Yeah,

this is exactly my main goal: to set up a simple reporting tool for list
based reports with an export feature.
I think that with this we can now set up a new best practice for the
development of reports in OFBiz:

1) if possible implement the report using the form widgets definition
and the new tool to render them in pdf/xml

2) if the report is very complex (invoice etc...) create an fo.ftl template

And we can safely forget of JasperReport and similar tools...

What do you all think of this?

Jacopo

PS:

just in case you did not get a chance to test the new pdf reports,
please find the attached version of the chart of accounts

David E. Jones wrote:

>
> This sounds interesting Jacopo, and pretty cool. I think it's a great
> add on.
>
> If you keep going down this path we might have a handy reporting tool
> for the more core reports and such for OFBiz... ;)
>
> -David
>
>
> On Aug 11, 2006, at 12:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> after having implemented the FoFormRenderer class, to render fo
>> templates from form widgets, I'm working to the XmlFormRenderer class:
>> the goal is to get an xml export file from a form widget definition.
>> The first version will be very simple and should create xml files that
>> can be imported into Excel (hopefully).
>> Then we could refine the class to generate for example an entity-xml
>> file etc...
>> I hope to complete the first version of it very soon... can I commit
>> it to svn?
>>
>> Jacopo

[David E Jones-2]

This report looks nice. Personally I think the combination of the  
view-entity (and certain other entity engine features) and the form  
widget does have the potential to make a nice reporting tool. Of  
course the nicest part about it is being able to re-use existing  
artifacts, or even if creating new artifacts is necessary at least  
the skill set is the same for creating UI elements.

In the past my recommendation has been to use the XSL:FO stuff for  
printed documents because it is good for print layouts. For general  
reporting that often has a more simple layout but has more data  
gathering needs, XSL:FO can be a bit of a pain.

Using the Form Widget to help ease that pain is a nice way to go. I'd  
really like to see feedback on this, especially from those who can  
try it out real quick and compare its use to that of open source  
reporting tools (like JasperReports, DataVision, whatever).

-David


On Aug 11, 2006, at 12:49 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:

> Yeah,
>
> this is exactly my main goal: to set up a simple reporting tool for  
> list based reports with an export feature.
> I think that with this we can now set up a new best practice for  
> the development of reports in OFBiz:
>
> 1) if possible implement the report using the form widgets  
> definition and the new tool to render them in pdf/xml
>
> 2) if the report is very complex (invoice etc...) create an fo.ftl  
> template
>
> And we can safely forget of JasperReport and similar tools...
>
> What do you all think of this?
>
> Jacopo
>
> PS:
>
> just in case you did not get a chance to test the new pdf reports,  
> please find the attached version of the chart of accounts
>
> David E. Jones wrote:
>> This sounds interesting Jacopo, and pretty cool. I think it's a  
>> great add on.
>> If you keep going down this path we might have a handy reporting  
>> tool for the more core reports and such for OFBiz... ;)
>> -David
>> On Aug 11, 2006, at 12:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> after having implemented the FoFormRenderer class, to render fo  
>>> templates from form widgets, I'm working to the XmlFormRenderer  
>>> class: the goal is to get an xml export file from a form widget  
>>> definition.
>>> The first version will be very simple and should create xml files  
>>> that can be imported into Excel (hopefully).
>>> Then we could refine the class to generate for example an entity-
>>> xml file etc...
>>> I hope to complete the first version of it very soon... can I  
>>> commit it to svn?
>>>
>>> Jacopo
>
> <coa.zip>

[cjhowe]

as for the skill set two things can lower that
quickly.

1) A component://common screen decorator that handles
the opening and the closing of a generic document in
freemarker

2) if the view handler caught and printed exceptinos
in the pdf much like the error messages print in the
html output.

--- "David E. Jones" <[hidden email]>
wrote:

>
> This report looks nice. Personally I think the
> combination of the  
> view-entity (and certain other entity engine
> features) and the form  
> widget does have the potential to make a nice
> reporting tool. Of  
> course the nicest part about it is being able to
> re-use existing  
> artifacts, or even if creating new artifacts is
> necessary at least  
> the skill set is the same for creating UI elements.
>
> In the past my recommendation has been to use the
> XSL:FO stuff for  
> printed documents because it is good for print
> layouts. For general  
> reporting that often has a more simple layout but
> has more data  
> gathering needs, XSL:FO can be a bit of a pain.
>
> Using the Form Widget to help ease that pain is a
> nice way to go. I'd  
> really like to see feedback on this, especially from
> those who can  
> try it out real quick and compare its use to that of
> open source  
> reporting tools (like JasperReports, DataVision,
> whatever).
>
> -David
>
>
> On Aug 11, 2006, at 12:49 AM, Jacopo Cappellato
> wrote:
>
> > Yeah,
> >
> > this is exactly my main goal: to set up a simple
> reporting tool for  
> > list based reports with an export feature.
> > I think that with this we can now set up a new
> best practice for  
> > the development of reports in OFBiz:
> >
> > 1) if possible implement the report using the form
> widgets  
> > definition and the new tool to render them in
> pdf/xml
> >
> > 2) if the report is very complex (invoice etc...)
> create an fo.ftl  
> > template
> >
> > And we can safely forget of JasperReport and
> similar tools...
> >
> > What do you all think of this?
> >
> > Jacopo
> >
> > PS:
> >
> > just in case you did not get a chance to test the
> new pdf reports,  
> > please find the attached version of the chart of
> accounts
> >
> > David E. Jones wrote:
> >> This sounds interesting Jacopo, and pretty cool.
> I think it's a  
> >> great add on.
> >> If you keep going down this path we might have a
> handy reporting  
> >> tool for the more core reports and such for
> OFBiz... ;)
> >> -David
> >> On Aug 11, 2006, at 12:26 AM, Jacopo Cappellato
> wrote:
> >>> Hi all,
> >>>
> >>> after having implemented the FoFormRenderer
> class, to render fo  
> >>> templates from form widgets, I'm working to the
> XmlFormRenderer  
> >>> class: the goal is to get an xml export file
> from a form widget  
> >>> definition.
> >>> The first version will be very simple and should
> create xml files  
> >>> that can be imported into Excel (hopefully).
> >>> Then we could refine the class to generate for
> example an entity-
> >>> xml file etc...
> >>> I hope to complete the first version of it very
> soon... can I  
> >>> commit it to svn?
> >>>
> >>> Jacopo
> >
> > <coa.zip>
>
>