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Reports and Print Templates ​

Concepts ​

A report is a printable or exportable table of data (a list of overdue loans). A print template is a designed document (a loan receipt, an invoice). Both are laid out in bands: header, group header, detail (one per record), group footer, footer. Elements sit in bands: text, merge fields ({{borrower}}), tables, images, barcodes, formulas.

They are different from a dashboard (interactive, on screen) and a page (general layout). Data comes from the same three sources as everywhere: static, binding, expression. Groups and formula fields are evaluated at export time.

Export formats: PDF, Word (DOCX), Excel (XLSX), and thermal printers (ESC/POS, ZPL) through the Printers registry.

Problem statement ​

When an item leaves the desk, staff want a printed receipt for the borrower to sign, and every Monday facilities wants the overdue list as Excel.

All features ​

  • Report designer Reports: data source panel, band canvas, columns, grouping and totals, formula fields, page size and orientation, header / footer, preview with real data.
  • Print template designer Print templates: page canvas, text (plain, rich, HTML, merge text), table columns editor, formula editor, style panel, visibility rules per element, live Preview with measurement.
  • Export: choose PDF, DOCX, XLSX or thermal from the export page.
  • Permissions: Report and Print permissions are separate role settings.
  • Printers: register a network thermal printer once, then send to it.

Step by step ​

The receipt

  1. Print templates, New loan-receipt; page A5.
  2. Data source: the equipment_loan provider, one record.
  3. Add a title, then merge text "Item: , borrower: , due ".
  4. Add a signature line and a barcode with the loan id.
  5. Preview with a real loan; fix any overflow.
  6. Publish.

The overdue report

  1. Reports, New overdue-loans; data source the overdue view.
  2. Columns: Item, Borrower, Due, Days late (a formula: today minus due).
  3. Group by borrower with a count in the group footer.
  4. Preview, then Publish. Add an Export to Excel button on the Loans page.

Check it worked ​

The receipt prints on one page with the values filled in; the Excel file opens with the grouped rows.

Common mistakes ​

  • Merge field names that differ from the data field names.
  • Designing on screen sizes: set the real paper size first.
  • Forgetting Print / Report permissions for the roles that print.

Next ​

Dashboards.