Walkthrough: Creating a Report Bound to Date Effective Data

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

In this walkthrough, you will create a report that is bound to date effective data. Date effective data is valid time state data for which changes must be tracked at different points in time. On a table in the AOT, you can set the ValidTimeStateFieldType property to make it a valid time state table. Setting this property causes the system to automatically add the ValidFrom and ValidTo columns which track a date range for each row. Reports that are bound to valid time state data will provide a parameter for the date range or a specific date on the parameter form when you run the report. For this example you will create a report that lists employees that were on leave during a date range or on a specific date.

This walkthrough illustrates the following tasks:

• Creating a reporting project

• Adding a dataset

• Designing and Previewing a report

Prerequisites

To complete this walkthrough, you will need:

• Microsoft Dynamics AX with sample data

  Note

  This walkthrough uses the HcmEmploymentLeave table. To view data in the report, this table must be populated with data.

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010

• Microsoft Visual Studio tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX

Creating a Reporting Project

In this section, you will create a reporting project in Microsoft Visual Studio. In this walkthrough, you will use the Report Model template.

To create a reporting project

1. Open Microsoft Visual Studio.

2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project. The New Project dialog box displays.

3. In the Installed Templates pane, click Microsoft Dynamics AX. In the Templates pane, click Report Model.

4. In the Name box, type SampleLeaveReport. In the Location box, type a location.

5. Click OK.

Adding a Dataset

Now that you have created a reporting project, you are ready to add a dataset to the report design that will bind the report to specific data. In this example, you will bind the report to a query. You will use the HCMEmployeeLeave query because it has the HCMEmployment table as a data source, and that table supports valid time state. Valid time state is supported when the ValidTimeStateFieldType property for the table is set to Date or UtcDateTime. The following procedure explains how to add a dataset to a report that is bound to a Microsoft Dynamics AX query.

To add a dataset

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the SampleLeaveReport project, point to Add, and then click Report.

2. In Model Editor, right-click the new report and then click Rename. Type LeaveReport as the name.

3. Right-click the Datasets node and then click Add Dataset.

4. Select the node for the dataset.

5. In the Properties window, specify the following values.

   Property	Value
   Data Source	Dynamics AX
   Data Source Type	Query
   Default Layout	Table
   Name	EmployeesOnLeave
   Query	Click the ellipsis button (…). A dialog box displays that you can use to select a query that is defined in the AOT and identify the fields that you want to use. Select the HcmEmployeeLeave query and then click Next. Under the HcmWorker node, expand the All Fields node and select PersonnelNumber and Person [DirPartyTable.3.AutoIdentification]. Expand the HcmEmployment node. Expand the HcmEmploymentLeave node, expand the All Fields node, and then select StartDate and EndDate. Expand the HcmLeaveType node, expand the All Fields node, and then select description. Click OK.

Design and Preview a Report

Next, you will add an auto design report. You will specify layout and style templates for the report, and then preview the report in Visual Studio. A layout template is used to define the placement of the headers and footers in a report. Style templates are used to adjust the style settings for the data regions that are displayed in a report, such as the size of the text, borders, and background color. Layout and style templates are useful for defining reusable layout and style settings. A template can be applied to many reports to maintain consistent appearance for all of the reports.

The following procedures explain how to add an auto design report, how to apply a layout template and a style template, and how to preview the report.

To add an auto design report

• In Model Editor, select the EmployeesOnLeave node and drag it onto the Designs node. An auto design named AutoDesign1 is created for the report.

To apply layout and style templates

1. In Model Editor, select the AutoDesign1 node.

2. In the Properties window, set the Layout Template property to ReportLayoutStyleTemplate. Also, type Employees on leave for the Title property.

3. In Model Editor, expand the AutoDesign1 node, and then select the node for the EmployeesOnLeaveTable data region.

4. In the Properties window, set the Style Template property to TableStyleTemplate.

To preview the report

1. In Model Editor, select the AutoDesign1 node.

2. From the Model Editor toolbar, click Preview.

3. In the preview window, click the Select button. Enter a date range during which some employees were on leave. Click OK.

4. In the preview window, select the report tab to view the report. The report displays the workers that were on leave for the date or dates you entered.

5. Close the Preview window.

To us the report in Microsoft Dynamics AX, you would add it to the AOT by right-clicking the SampleLeaveReport project and then clicking Add SampleLeaveReport to AOT. For information about how to integrate new reports into Microsoft Dynamics AX, see Walkthrough: Integrating New Reports into Microsoft Dynamics AX.

See also

Creating Reports Overview