Using UI Builder Class to Develop SSRS Reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

UI Builder Class Overview

User Interface (UI) Builder Class is used to define the layout of the parameter dialog box that opens before a report is run in Microsoft Dynamics AX. It is used to add the customizations as well as additional fields in the dialog.

Following are the scenarios where UI Builder Class can be used:

1. Grouping dialog fields
2. Overriding dialog field events
3. Adding a customized lookup to a dialog field
4. Binding dialog fields with Report contract parameters
5. Changing the layout of the dialog
6. Adding custom controls to the dialog

To create a UI builder class, extend it with SrsReportDataContractUIBuilder.

Pre-requisites

1. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
2. Reporting services extensions must be installed in Dynamics AX
3. Report contract class

Sample UI Builder Class

1. Create a new class. Open AOT à Classes
2. Right Click on Classes and select New Class. Name it as SSRSDemoUIBuilder

3. Open the Class declaration by right clicking on it and selecting View code

4. Write the following code

public class SSRSDemoUIBuilder extends SrsReportDataContractUIBuilder
{

}

5. Now open the contract class and add the following line to the header of the class. It will tell the contract class to build the parameter dialog. In other words, it will link the UI Builder Class with the contract class.

SysOperationContractProcessingAttribute(classStr(SSRSDemoUIBuilder))

Examples of UI Builder Class Usage

Based on different scenarios, different methods are overridden as shown in the following examples:

1. Grouping the dialog fields/Changing the layout of the dialog/Adding custom controls to the dialog
• To customize the layout and add custom fields, override the build as shown below:

public void build()
{
    DialogGroup dlgGrp;    

    //get the current dialog
    Dialog      dlg = this.dialog();       

    //make required modifications to the dialog
    dlgGrp = dlg.addGroup('Dates');  
    dlgGrp.columns(2);   
    dlg.addField(identifierStr(FromDate));
    dlg.addField(identifierStr(ToDate));    
        
    dlgGrp = dlg.addGroup('Customer');  
    dlg.addField(identifierStr(CustAccount));    
}

• ThIS build method is called by the report framework to generate the layout of the dialog.
2. Binding dialog fields with Report contract parameters
• Write the following code in the build method:

//get the report data contract object
contract = this.dataContractObject();
    
//associate dialog field with data contract method
this.addDialogField(methodStr(SSRSDemoContract,parmCustGroupId), contract);

3. Overriding dialog field events/Adding a customized lookup to a dialog field

• To add a customized lookup or to override a control method, create a new method containing the business logic. The new method must have the same signature as the method you want to override.
• Then, override the postBuild method and register the method to override with the new method created.
• In the following example, the lookup method of a field is to be overridden. To do this, create a new method lookupCustGroup and add the following code:

public void lookupCustGroup(FormStringControl _formStringControl)
{    
    Query query = new Query();
    QueryBuildDataSource DS;    
    SysTableLookup sysTablelookup;

    //create a table lookup    
    sysTablelookup = SysTableLookup::newParameters(tableNum(CustGroup),_formStringControl);
    sysTablelookup.addLookupfield(fieldNum(CustGroup,CustGroup));
    sysTablelookup.addLookupfield(fieldNum(CustGroup,Name));

    //create a query
    DS = query.addDataSource(tableNum(CustGroup));
    DS.addRange(fieldNum(CustGroup,PaymTermId)).value('N030');

    //assign the query and call lookup
    sysTablelookup.parmQuery(query);
    sysTablelookup.performFormLookup();
}

• Now, override the postBuild method and write the following code:

public void postBuild()
{
    DialogField dlgCustGroup;
    
    super();
    
    //get the field to override by providing the data contract object and the associated attribute/method
    dlgCustGroup = this.bindInfo().getDialogField(this.dataContractObject(),
                methodStr(SSRSDemoContract,parmCustGroupId));

    //register the method we want to override
    dlgCustGroup.registerOverrideMethod(
          methodStr(FormStringControl, lookup),
          methodStr(SSRSDemoUIBuilder,lookupCustGroup),
          this);    
}

• bindInfo returns an object of type SysOperationUIBindInfo. It contains information about the dialog controls bounded to a report contract.
• postBuild method is called when dialog is created.

Using Controller Class in Developing SSRS Reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

Overview

Controller class is used to control the report execution as well as preprocessing of the report data. The SSRS reporting framework uses this class to modify the report dialogs, calling the SQL Server reporting services, as well preprocessing parameters for the report.

Following are the scenarios where Controller class can be used:

1. Modifying a report query based on the input data
2. Modifying report contract data based on the input data
3. Control a report parameters dialog
4. Open different reports/designs from the same menu item based on the input data
5. Reports that are opened from a form

To create a controller class, extend it with SrsReportRunController.

Prerequisites

1. Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
2. Reporting services extensions must be installed in Dynamics AX

Sample Controller Class

1. Create a new class. Open AOT → Classes
2. Right Click on Classes and select New Class. Name it as SSRSDemoController.


3. Open the Class declaration by right clicking on it and selecting View code.


4. Now write the following code:

class SSRSDemoController extends SrsReportRunController

{

}

5. Create a new method and write the following code:

public static client void main(Args args)

{

//define the new object for controller class

SSRSDemoController ssrsDemoController;

ssrsDemoController = new SSRSDemoController();

//pass the caller args to the controller

ssrsDemoController.parmArgs(args);

//set the report name and report design to run

ssrsDemoController.parmReportName(ssrsReportStr(SSRSSessionQuery,Design));

//execute the report

ssrsDemoController.startOperation();

}

Examples of Controller Class Usage

Based on different scenarios, different methods are overridden as shown in the following examples:

1. Modifying report query based on the input data

• Used in those scenarios where a report query needs to be modified based on the caller args parameters or recorded before the report parameter dialog is rendered.
• Override prePromptModifyContract method to modify the report query as shown below:

public void prePromptModifyContract()
{
    //add a range in the report query  
      SrsReportHelper::addParameterValueRangeToQuery(this.getFirstQuery(),tableNum(SSRSReportDemo),fieldNum(SSRSReportDemo, RecId),SysQuery::value(this.parmArgs().record().RecId));
}

Note: prePromptModifyContract is called by report controller before the parameter dialog is shown to the User.

2. Modifying report contract data based on the input data

• Used in those scenarios where report contract parameters need to be modified based on the caller args prior to the execution of the report.
• Override preRunModifyContract method to modify the report contract as shown below:

protected void preRunModifyContract()
{    
    //define object for report contract
    SSRSDemoContract contract;

    //get the reference of the current contract object
    contract = this.parmReportContract().parmRdpContract() as SSRSDemoContract;

    //modify the parameter value of the contract
    contract.parmType(this.parmArgs().parm()); 
}

Note: preRunModifyContract is called by report controller before the report is run.

3. Control report parameters dialog

• In some scenarios, a report parameter dialog should not be visible to the end user. Controller class is also used to control the visibility of the report parameter UI.
• Add the following code in the main method of the controller class before startOperation method call to hide/show the report parameter UI:

//hide the report parameter dialog
ssrsDemoController.parmShowDialog(false);

4. Open different reports from the same menu item based on the input data

• It is used in those scenarios where different reports or different designs of a same report need to be opened from a same menu item depending upon the caller args.
• Write the following code in main method to achieve this scenario:

public static client void main(Args args)
{    
    //define the new object for controller class
    SSRSDemoController ssrsDemoController;
   
    ssrsDemoController = new SSRSDemoController();
    
    //pass the caller args to the controller
    ssrsDemoController.parmArgs(args);
        
    //if report is run from edit mode then run the EditDesign of the report otherwise run the NewDesign of the report
    if(args.parmEnum() == FormOpenMode::ForEdit)
    {
        //set the report name and report design to run
        ssrsDemoController.parmReportName(ssrsReportStr(SSRSSessionQuery,EditDesign));    
    }
    else
    {
        //set the report name and report design to run
        ssrsDemoController.parmReportName(ssrsReportStr(SSRSSessionQuery,NewDesign));    
    }   
    
    //execute the report
    ssrsDemoController.startOperation();   
}

5. Reports that are opened from a form

• Controller class is also used when reports are opened from a form and are needed to show selected record details.
• Use either prePromptModifyContract method or preRunModifyContract method to achieve this scenario.

Hiding the lookup elements if the element is assigned with records

public void lookup()
{
 
    Query                                 query;
    QueryBuildDataSource      qbds,qbds1;
    QueryBuildRange              qbr;
    TableA                               tableA                 ;    // the table having form where we insert the lookup           values
    TableB                              tableB ;  // the table from where lookup has taken i.e "Field"
    SysTableLookup sysTableLookup =            sysTableLookup::newParameters(tableNum(tableB ),     this);

    query                         = new Query();
    qbds                          = query.addDataSource(tableNum(tableB ));
    qbds1                         =qbds.addDataSource(tableNum(TableA                 ));
    qbds1.joinMode(JoinMode::NoExistsJoin); // to negotiate the assigned elements
    qbds1.relations(true);
 
    qbr                           = qbds.addRange(fieldNum(tableB ,Field));
    sysTableLookup.parmQuery(query);
    sysTableLookup.addLookupfield(fieldNum(tableB , Field));
    sysTableLookup.performFormLookup();
}