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Write custom JRXMLs

Custom JRXML definitions provide a large range of possibilities for formatting and manipulating the report dataset.

There are six main sections in a JRXML file:

  1. Styles
  2. Parameters, fields, variables
  3. Title
  4. Page header
  5. Detail
  6. Footers

Styles

Style definitions are simple XML elements used to define font, background color, etc.

<style name="Verdana_Bold" isDefault="false" 
    fontName="Verdana" fontSize="5" 
    isBold="true" isItalic="false" isUnderline="false" isStrikeThrough="false"
    />
Style definitions can then be referenced elsewhere in the document. 
<reportElement style="Verdana_Bold" mode="Opaque" 
    x="0" y="0" width="80" height="35" 
    forecolor="#FFFFFF" backcolor="#042275"
    />

Parameters, fields, variables

Parameters

The JRXML file can use the values of action analytic parameters. For example, if a report has a filename analytic parameter then we declare the field name as follows: 

<parameter name="filename" class="java.lang.String"/>
Note that the type of the parameter defined here must match the actual type of the analytic parameter. The parameter can then be referenced in the JRXML doc using $P{paramName}. 
<textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
    <![CDATA[$P{filename}]]>
</textFieldExpression>

The above textFieldExpression would evaluate to the value of the filename parameter passed to the Document Generator.

Fields

The report dataset columns are referenced by means of field definition. 

<field name="fillPrcnt" class="java.lang.Integer"/>
The value of this field (for the current data row) can then be referenced using the expression $F{fillPrcnt}.

Variables

Variables can be set, and then read elsewhere in the document. 

<textarea rows="5****" cols="80" style="border:none;">
<variable name="sumRequests" class="java.lang.Long" calculation="Sum">
        <variableExpression><![CDATA[$F{requests}]]></variableExpression>
        <initialValueExpression><![CDATA[0]]></initialValueExpression>
</variable>
</textarea>
The above defines a variable sumRequests whose value is the sum of all values in the requests column.

The variable can then be read elsewhere in the JRXML using the expression $V{sumRequests}.

Title

The Title section defines the appearance and structure of the overall document title, which will be displayed at the top of the first page. 

<textarea rows="28" cols="100" style="border:none;">
    <band height="100">
        <image scaleImage="FillFrame">
            <reportElement x="0" y="5" width="50" height="40"/>
            <graphicElement/>
            <imageExpression class="java.lang.String">
                <![CDATA["FDlogo.jpg"]]>
            </imageExpression>
            <hyperlinkTooltipExpression>"FD Logo"</hyperlinkTooltipExpression>
        </image>
        <line><reportElement x="0" y="0" width="575" height="1"/></line>
        <textField isBlankWhenNull="true" bookmarkLevel="1">
            <reportElement style="Verdana_Normal" 
                x="0" y="10" width="485" height="30"/>
            <textElement textAlignment="Center"><font size="22"/></textElement>
            <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                <![CDATA["Taker Daily Report"]]>
            </textFieldExpression>
            <anchorNameExpression><![CDATA["Title"]]></anchorNameExpression>
        </textField>
        <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
            <reportElement style="Verdana_Normal" 
                x="0" y="40" width="485" height="20"/>
            <textElement textAlignment="Center"><font size="8"/></textElement>
            <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                <![CDATA[$P{Date}.toString()]]>
            </textFieldExpression>
        </textField>
    </band>
</textarea>
The above JRXML will generate a title that looks like this:

Screenshot

The example above shows how an image element can be incorporated. Note that the image file (FDLogo.jpg in this case) must be located on the Document Generator’s classpath.

Also note how the example uses the value of the analytic parameter Date to generate a dynamic sub-heading.

Page header

The pageHeader section defines the content and appearance of the headings that appear at the top of the results table on each page. An example (partial) header: 

<textarea rows="24" cols="100" style="border:none;">
<pageHeader>
    <band height="35">
        <staticText>
            <reportElement style="Verdana_Bold" mode="Opaque" 
                x="0" y="0" width="80" height="35" 
                forecolor="#FFFFFF" backcolor="#042275"/>
            <textElement textAlignment="Center"/>
            <text><![CDATA[Taker]]></text>
        </staticText>
        <staticText>
            <reportElement style="Verdana_Bold" mode="Opaque" 
                x="80" y="0" width="80" height="35" 
                forecolor="#FFFFFF" backcolor="#042275"/>
            <textElement textAlignment="Center"/>
            <text><![CDATA[Pool]]></text>
        </staticText>
        <staticText>
            <reportElement style="Verdana_Bold" mode="Opaque" 
                x="160" y="0" width="35" height="35" 
                forecolor="#FFFFFF" backcolor="#042275"/>
            <textElement textAlignment="Center"/>
            <text><![CDATA[EUR/USD]]></text>
        </staticText> 
        …
    </band>
 </pageHeader> 
</textarea>

Detail

This section defines the format and content of each row in the displayed table.

The x values of each element here should match the x values in the pageHeader section; otherwise the data will be misaligned. 

<textarea rows="35" cols="100" style="border:none;">
    <detail>
        <band height="10">
            <textField isStretchWithOverflow="true">
                <reportElement x="0" y="0" width="80" height="10"/>
                <box leftPadding="10" rightPadding="10">
                    <topPen lineWidth="0.5"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="0.5"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="0.5"/>
                </box>
                <textElement verticalAlignment="Middle"/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                    <![CDATA[$F{taker}]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField isStretchWithOverflow="true">
                <reportElement x="80" y="0" width="80" height="10"/>
                <box leftPadding="10" rightPadding="10">
                    <leftPen lineWidth="0.5"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="0.5"/>
                </box>
                <textElement verticalAlignment="Middle"/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                    <![CDATA[$F{pool}]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField isStretchWithOverflow="true">
                <reportElement x="160" y="0" width="35" height="10"/>
                <box leftPadding="10" rightPadding="10">
                    <leftPen lineWidth="0.5"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="0.5"/>
                </box>
                <textElement verticalAlignment="Middle"/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.Double">
                    <![CDATA[Math.round($F{EUR/USD}*1000.00)/10000.0]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            …
        </band>
    </detail>
</textarea>

Note how the third element above makes use of the Java Math.round method. In general, any Java expression can be used in JRXML expressions.

Footers

There are typically two footer sections, a pageFooter displayed at foot of every page and a lastPageFooter displayed once at the end of the document. Below is a typical example, which illustrates use of built-in JasperReport variables PAGE_NUMBER and REPORT_COUNT: 

<textarea rows="46" cols="100" style="border:none;">
    <pageFooter>
        <band height="40">
            <line><reportElement x="0" y="10" width="515" height="1"/></line>
            <textField>
                <reportElement x="200" y="20" width="80" height="10"/>
                <textElement textAlignment="Right"/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                    <![CDATA["Page " 
                        + String.valueOf($V{PAGE_NUMBER}) 
                        + " of"]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField evaluationTime="Report">
                <reportElement x="280" y="20" width="75" height="10"/>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                    <![CDATA[" " + String.valueOf($V{PAGE_NUMBER})]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
        </band>
    </pageFooter>
    <lastPageFooter>
        <band height="60">
            <textField bookmarkLevel="1">
                <reportElement x="0" y="10" width="515" height="10"/>
                <textElement textAlignment="Center"/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                    <![CDATA["There were " 
                        + String.valueOf($V{REPORT_COUNT}) 
                        + " address records on this report."]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
                <anchorNameExpression><![CDATA["Summary"]]></anchorNameExpression>
            </textField>
            <line><reportElement x="0" y="30" width="515" height="1"/></line>
            <textField>
                <reportElement x="200" y="40" width="80" height="10"/>
                <textElement textAlignment="Right"/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                    <![CDATA["Page " + String.valueOf($V{PAGE_NUMBER}) + " of"]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField evaluationTime="Report">
                <reportElement x="280" y="40" width="75" height="10"/>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String">
                    <![CDATA[" " + String.valueOf($V{PAGE_NUMBER})]]>
                </textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
        </band>
    </lastPageFooter>
</textarea>

A large range of other features are available including: conditional styles, grouping, sub-reports, and summary cross-tabs. They are beyond the scope of this document – see online JasperReports documentation for more details.