Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Getting your data onto paper - or the web - Discussing the reports features of Base
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david7365
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Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:59 pm

Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by david7365 »

Using the OpenOffice Base > latest version (4.1.5) > report wizard, with sorting on a date field, produces a report showing "0" in place of each text field.

There are several answers here, but none seem to work. Strangely, this is a very old bug--at least 11 years!

Maybe you can also help me: I don't want a static or dynamic report. I want a report like most DB systems provide: it will generate a report by clicking an icon, and the report will show all the records in the database in the desired order. I don't want any records omitted, and I don't want the report to be run once only.

Ideally I would like a report like Filemaker can produce: a report that I can also use like a form to add new records. Well, I don't really expect this, but I just thought I'd include it...
Trying to learn base: :crazy:
UnklDonald418
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Re: Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by UnklDonald418 »

The standard report builder that comes with AOO 4.1.5 has limited capabilities. The Oracle/Sun report builder extension has more options.
https://extensions.openoffice.org/en/pr ... rt-builder
In either case the report generates an .odt file than can be edited.
If your problem has been solved, please edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the beginning of the subject line
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.14 & LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 (x86_64) - Windows 10 Professional- Windows 11
UnklDonald418
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Re: Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by UnklDonald418 »

a report that I can also use like a form to add new records
Villeroy found a clever way to get the report builder to output a form with controls.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=88948#p419091

In reply to your other post,
This is NOT a developer forum, we are all users. Truth be told, there has been very little if any development work done on Base for 10 years. I think it stopped when Oracle purchased Sun Microsystems. Subsequently, Oracle turned development over to the Apache Foundation and apparently they have been unable to find any volunteers willing to tackle the Base module.
If your problem has been solved, please edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the beginning of the subject line
Apache OpenOffice 4.1.14 & LibreOffice 7.6.2.1 (x86_64) - Windows 10 Professional- Windows 11
david7365
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Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 8:59 pm

Re: Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by david7365 »

So, text fields always display as a zero, and there is no fix or workaround? So the wizard cannot be used to create reports with text fields?
someone who knows, please confirm and I will look for another free database program. If I stay with base, I can never clearly see more than one record at a time?

someone please help!!
UnklDonald418
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Re: Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by UnklDonald418 »

The built in report writer sometimes uses a 0 as a place holder in the Edit/Design mode.
Exit/Save the report.
Double click on the report name to execute the report and display the results from the data source for the report.
If your problem has been solved, please edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the beginning of the subject line
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UnklDonald418
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Re: Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by UnklDonald418 »

After a little testing using the built in report writer I had difficulty getting correctly sorted results when sorting by a date field. So, I strongly suggest you download and install the Oracle Report Builder which did deliver properly sorted results.
An alternative is to switch to Libre Office which now uses ORB by default.
If your problem has been solved, please edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the beginning of the subject line
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longi
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Re: Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by longi »

Hi!
Reports are quite difficult to deal with, however there are several solutions to fix them.
The better way to help you is to give us a little example (without sensitive information), in order to know exactly what problem you have.
Nowadays everybody recomends using the ORB tool, but I'm interested on the old system. You can get lots of things
OpenOffice 4.1.5 on Windows 10
LibreOffice 5.1 on Windows 7
LibreOffice 6.0.1 on Windows10
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Villeroy
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Re: Report wizard creates text field showing 0

Post by Villeroy »

OpenOffice can build 2 kinds of reports that are embedded in a database document:

An "old style" report is a simple table in a Writer document. When you open the report for editing you see a typical text document with header footer, optional text body and one table with one header row and one data row. The data row is a place holder for the data to be filled in. Apply any number format you need to the cells in the data row. Number formatting in text table cells works very much the same as in Calc.

After installing the "Oracle Report Builder" extension, you can still open and edit existing "old style" reports but the wizard creates a more sophisticated type of report embedded in a document type of its own with data dumped into form controls rather than text table cells. When opened for editing, you get a special report editor instead of the usual Writer interface.

With OpenOffice you can still create "old style" reports even if the report builder is installed. Just disable the report builder extension, restart the office, open your database and start the report wizard. LibreOffice has included the report builder as an integral part of the office suite. It might be very difficult to disable the report builder and even if you manage to do so, I doubt that LibreOffice still has the code to produce old style reports. Of course, LibreOffice can still open and edit them.
Ideally I would like a report like Filemaker can produce: a report that I can also use like a form to add new records. Well, I don't really expect this, but I just thought I'd include it...
Since the old style report is just an ordinary text document with an automatically filled table, you are free to add input forms or whatever else Writer has to offer, just like you can add input forms to arbitrary office documents that are not embedded in the database (Writer, Calc, Draw or even Impress).

[quote"UnklDonald418"]Villeroy found a clever way to get the report builder to output a form with controls.[/quote]
Not exactly. I added a filtering form to an old style report. The database attached to topic viewtopic.php?f=13&t=88948#p419091 has one old style report named "qReport" based on the equally named query with which is filtered by the entered filter criteria, but you need to close and reopen the report. The other report named "qReport_ORB" is based on the same query but built with the Oracle report builder. Of course it is filtered by the same filter criteria that had been entered into the other report's criteria form, but the report editor does not let you add any additional form controls for that purpose.

If your reports are not too long (say up to 1000 rows or so), you may be interested in a macro of mine which partially resembles old style reports in stand-alone text documents: [Writer] Stand-Alone Database Reports. This macro fills out a table in a Writer document after you provided some data in File>Properties>Custom Properties...

Reports in Calc:
Linked database ranges as and pivot tables (aka data pilot tables) as described in [Tutorial] Using registered datasources in Calc. These are reports I actually prefer even though they do not look as pretty as the others.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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