Plataan

Printing Reports in Dynamics NAV 2009

A question I got asked recently when I was delivering the Report Design for Dynamics NAV 2009 training was about the print settings for reports. When you print a report and you have specified print and layout settings in the RDLC layout, you can also specify print and layout setting in the request page and in the printer properties of the selected printer and in the print layout view of the report viewer. So then, which print settings will get priority ?

My answer was, "Well that depends." J

Recently Microsoft has updated the Dyamics NAV 2009 C/Side reference guide and some extra information about this subject was added to the documentation. So I thought I would share this information here.

First of all, where can you specify print and/or layout settings for report(s) in Dynamics NAV 2009 ?

You can specify page settings and page orientation for a printed report from the following UI locations:

• The Report Properties dialog box on the client report definition (RDLC) report layout in Visual Studio.
• The Properties dialog box for the printer.
• The Print dialog box that is displayed immediately before you print.
• The Page Setup dialog box from the Print Preview page in the RoleTailored client.
• The page settings that are used for the printed report depend on the mode in which you print the report.

You can use the following modes to print a report from the RoleTailored client:

• Run a report that has the UseReqForm Property set to No, and therefore, does not display a request page.
• Print a report from the request page without previewing the report.
• Print a report from the Print Preview page.

The following table describes how you access each of the dialog boxes in which you can specify page settings and orientation.

Print mode	To access the Report Properties dialog box	To access the Properties dialog box for the printer	To access the Print dialog box	To access the Page Setup dialog box
Run a report that does not have a request page	When you design the report layout in Visual Studio, on the Report menu, click Report Properties.	In Control Panel, double-click Printers. Right-click the selected printer, and then click Properties.	Cannot access	Cannot access
Print a report from the request page without previewing	When you design the report layout in Visual Studio, on the Report menu, click Report Properties.	In Control Panel, double-click Printers. Right-click the selected printer, and then click Properties.	On the request page, click Print.	Cannot access
View a preview of a report	When you design the report layout in Visual Studio, on the Report menu, click Report Properties.	In Control Panel, double-click Printers. Right-click the selected printer, and then click Properties.	In the Print Preview window, click the Print icon.	In the Print Preview window, click the Page Setup icon.

How Printed Report Settings Are Determined

• Printing a Report Without a Request Page

If	Then the printed report paper size and margins are determined by	And the printed report orientation is determined by
The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the layout of the report specify a standard paper size	The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout	The settings in the Properties dialog box for the printer.
The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the layout of the report specify a custom paper size	The settings in the Properties dialog box for the printer	The settings in the Properties dialog box for the printer.

• Printing a Report From the Request Page

If	Then the printed report paper size and margins are determined by	And the printed report orientation is determined by
The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the layout of the report specify a standard paper size	The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout but is overridden if you change the settings in the Print dialog box	The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout but is overridden if you change the settings in the Print dialog box
The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the layout of the report specify a custom paper size	The settings in the Properties dialog box for the printer but is overridden if you change the settings in the Print dialog box	The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout but is overridden if you change the settings in the Print dialog box.

• Printing a Report From the Print Preview Page

If	Then the printed report paper size and margins are determined by	And the printed report orientation is determined by
The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the layout of the report specify a standard paper size	The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout but is overridden if you change the settings in the Page Setup dialog box	The paper size settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout but is overridden if you change the settings in the Page Setup dialog box.
The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the layout of the report specify a custom paper size	The settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout but is overridden if you change the settings in the Page Setup dialog box	The paper size settings in the Report Properties dialog box on the RDLC layout but is overridden if you change the settings in the Page Setup dialog box.

For more information you can visit the Microsoft Dynamics NAV Documentation online: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff477105(v=NAV.60).aspx

Linking parts on a Page: using the ProviderID property

A question I sometimes get asked when I deliver a Dynamics NAV 2009 development training is: Is it still possible to link a part to another part on a page, like you can do with two subforms on a form?

The answer is: Yes you can. There's a property that you can use to connect different parts on a page: the ProviderID property.

Example:

Lets create a new List Page for Salespersons. And on this Page let's also show the customers for each salesperson and the comments for each customer.

1. Start by creating a new Page, Page Type List and Source Table: Salesperson/Purchaser.
2. Add a Part to the Page and link it to Page 22, Customer List.
3. In the SubFormLink property of the Part, link the Customer to the Salesperson: Salesperson Code=FIELD(Code)
4. Remember the value of the property ID for the part. For example: 1000000004
5. Add another part to the Page and link it to Page 125, Comment List.
6. Then, go to the properties of this part and type the value 1000000004 in the property: ProviderID.
7. Now, you can go into the SubFormLink property of this part, and you can connect it to the Customer List part: Table Name=FILTER(Customer),No.=FIELD(No.)
8. And voila, you're ready. Save, compile and run you page:

Copy the Example SalesPersonsCustomersComments.txt:

OBJECT Page 59000 Test SalesPersons { OBJECT-PROPERTIES { Date=28/04/10; Time=16:24:18; Modified=Yes; Version List=; } PROPERTIES { Editable=No; SourceTable=Table13; PageType=List; } CONTROLS { { 1000000000;;Container; CaptionML=ENU=ContentArea; ContainerType=ContentArea }   { 1000000001;1;Group ; GroupType=Repeater }   { 1000000002;2;Field ; SourceExpr=Code }   { 1000000003;2;Field ; SourceExpr=Name }   { 1000000004;1;Part ; SubFormLink=Salesperson Code=FIELD(Code); PagePartID=Page22 }   { 1000000005;1;Part ; SubFormLink=Table Name=FILTER(Customer), No.=FIELD(No.); PagePartID=Page125; ProviderID=1000000004 }   } CODE {   BEGIN END. } }

SQL Server 2008 R2 is here !

We are very excited to share that today, Microsoft released SQL Server 2008 R2 to manufacturing! To explore what's new in the SQL Server 2008 R2 release, please visit the SQL Server 2008 R2 Digital Tour at www.sqlserverlaunch.com

There are lots of new 'features' in this release of SQL Server, too much to talk about in 1 blog post J

Some of the capabilities that customers and partners will benefit from include:

• PowerPivot: a managed self-service analysis solution that empowers end users to access, analyze and share data across the enterprise in an IT managed environment using Excel 2010 and SharePoint Sever 2010.
• Master Data Services: helps IT organizations centrally manage critical data assets companywide and across diverse systems, and enables more people to securely manage master data directly, and ensure the integrity of information over time.
• Application and Multi-server Management: helps organizations proactively manage database environments efficiently at scale through centralized visibility into resource utilization and streamlined consolidation and upgrade initiatives across the application lifecycle.
• Report Builder 3.0: report authoring component with support for geospatial visualization. This new release provides capabilities to further increase end user productivity with enhanced wizards, more powerful visualizations, and intuitive authoring.
• StreamInsight: a low latency complex event processing platform to help IT monitor, analyze and act on the data in motion to make more informed business decisions in near real-time.

As a reporting services enthousiast, let me give you a short overview on what's new in SQL Server 2008 R2 for Reporting Services:

• Report Part Gallery 
  The ability for report items / data regions to be published to the report server and made available to other report authors to re-use.  Report authors can publish and share these report components from either BIDS or Report Builder 3.0.  Information workers can use Report Builder to mash these report components together into their own unique views by simple drag & drop.  This includes notifications when a report part was updated on the report server in the meantime.   
• Shared Data Sets 
  Datasets can now be shared, stored, processed and cached externally from the report.  Cache refresh plans let you cache reports or shared dataset query results on first use or from a schedule.  
• Enhanced SharePoint Integration for SharePoint 2007 and SharePoint 2010 
  This includes support for multiple SharePoint Zones, the SharePoint Universal Logging service, and Report Parts.  Microsoft added a new SharePoint List data extension with query designer support.  Furthermore, support for right-to-left text with Arabic and Hebrew was added in the SharePoint user interface.   
• New Data Visualization Report Items 
  Data Bars - each bar is scaled based on the maximum value of the immediate group (a default which can be adjusted). 
  Sparklines are data-intense, word-sized graphics.  These visualizations make it possible for report consumers to quickly see things like trends over time at a glance. 
  Indicators are small icons that are often used to depict the status or trend for a given value.  Setting up indicators based on a number of pre-configured sets is now very easy. 
  Furthermore, this CTP includes improvements to the Map wizard.  
• Enhanced Business Intelligence Development Studio 
  Support for 2008 and 2008 R2 versions of reports and report projects.  
• Aggregates of Aggregates 
  This enables report authors to nest RDL aggregate expressions inside other RDL aggregate expressions with unlimited nesting levels.  For example, the expression =Avg(Sum(Sales, "Month"), "Year") would compute the average total monthly sales.    
• Other RDL Expression Language enhancements 
  - Writing expressions that take into account the current rendering format (=Globals!RenderFormat.Name) 
  - Naming pages, including naming of Excel worksheets for Excel export 
  - Group.DomainScope is quite useful for synchronizing data visually across different charts / sparklines and in tablix even if data is only available at disparate granularities.  
  - Read/Write report variables with automatic serialization/persistence; these are quite useful to avoid managing your own custom code variables. 
  - Rotating Text 270 Degrees, which is frequently needed for narrow column layouts.  
  - Dynamic page breaks, as well as resetting page number of page breaks  
• New 2010 SOAP Endpoint 
  While the existing 2005/2006 SOAP endpoints are still supported, the 2010 endpoint unifies support of both native & SharePoint integrated servers and adds functionality for new areas such as shared datasets, cache refresh plans, and report parts.  
• Improved Browser and Standards Mode Support