Now that you have created your view it's time to create a data source. A data source provides access to the data contained in the view. We are not concerned with presentation at this point, however, we can define column behaviours and output formats.
Adding a Data Source
When creating a data source you define three fields:
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Name | The name of the data source that you will reference when creating reports and invoices |
Data Source Type | Specifies the target of the data, report or invoice |
View Name | The database view to use |
Preview and Generate Limits
Upon creating a new view you will notice that there are default values for preview and generate limits.
Preview Limit- specifies the maximum number of rows to return when creating a preview in the UI
Generate Limit- specifies the maximum number of rows for client side report creation. The report server will format and notify the user when a larger report is ready.
Columns
You will notice that each column in the view is now available via the data source. You will see the name, datatype, visibility status, and whether or not the column can be used to group the data. Each column has the following properties:
Column | Description |
|---|---|
Name | The column name for reporting purposes |
Is Groupable | Indicates if the data is to be grouped using the column |
Visible | Indicates if the column will be visible to the report/invoice. Please note: you can select which columns to present at the report/invoice level. |
Type | A static property indicating the datatype |
Alignment | Indicates how the row data for the column should be aligned. Possible values are: left, center, and right. By default number data types are right-aligned while others are left-aligned. |
Date/Time Format | If the datatype is Date/Time, you can specify the format here |
Sample | A sample of the output format for a Date/Time |