DataSource
Overview
TFORMer Designer allows to define a DataSource as part of a FormLayout. Such an user-defined DataSource can be used for printing directly from within TFORmer Designer or may be re-used by TFORmer SDK for providing JobData (see JobDataDataSource).
A DataSource defines how data is retrieved (e.g. from an ODBC database), the field-mappings (see DataSource Field Mapping), computed fields (see ComputedField) and optional data source parameters (see DataSourceParameter). Each DataSource is identified by its unique name. Optional DataSourceParameters can be defined to control certain aspects (like filenames, SQL statement or an ODBC-DSN) during runtime.
By default TFORMer Designer creates a DataSource named _Default_. This DataSource is used for printing as long as neither a DataSource is specified for JobData nor the FormLayout has an active DataSource set in design. This DataSource retrieves the data from the file that is stored along with the FormLayout file (extension .xml) and contains the DataField values entered during the last TFORMer Designer session.
The available data-source types are DataSourceCsv, DataSourceOdbc and DataSourceXml.
Escape Sequences
For a configured DataSource, escape-sequence handling is controlled by the source definition. Configure this behavior in TFORMer Designer. It is separate from the direct-input JobData setting. See Escape Sequences for the supported sequences.
Record Copies
Each Record of a DataSource is usually considered exactly once for generating output. Select the source field containing the copy count in the DataSource definition in TFORMer Designer. This feature is helpful whenever a single Record of a DataSource should be printed multiple times (e.g. if a certain number of identical labels should be printed).
Computed Fields
Computations can be centralized in the DataSource instead of performing the computations in the FormLayout. The result of a ComputedField is available in the DataSource like any other source-field.
Examples
Sample code that iterates all DataSource of a given Repository:
ERRCODE IterateDataSourcesProject (HTFORM hTForm, LPCSTR pszProjectName)
{
ERRCODE eCode = ErrOk;
HDATASOURCE_ITERATOR itDataSource = NULL;
BOOL bDataSourceValid = FALSE;
LPCSTR pszDataSourceName = NULL;
HDSPARAMETER_ITERATOR itDSParam = NULL;
BOOL bDSParamValid = FALSE;
LPCSTR pszDSParamName = NULL;
itDataSource = TFormer_GetFirstDatasourceIt (hTForm, pszProjectName, &eCode);
bDataSourceValid = (itDataSource != NULL);
// TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND should not be treated as error
if (eCode == TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND)
eCode = ErrOk;
while (bDataSourceValid && eCode == ErrOk)
{
pszDataSourceName = TFormer_DatasourceItGetName (itDataSource, &eCode);
if (pszDataSourceName != NULL && eCode == ErrOk)
printf ("datasource name: '%s'\n", pszDataSourceName);
// Print information for the DataSourceParameters of the DataSource
if (eCode == ErrOk)
{
itDSParam = TFormer_GetFirstDSParameterIt (hTForm, pszProjectName, pszDataSourceName, &eCode);
bDSParamValid = (itDSParam != NULL);
// TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND should not be treated as error
if (eCode == TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND)
eCode = ErrOk;
while (bDSParamValid && eCode == ErrOk)
{
pszDSParamName = TFormer_DSParameterItGetName (itDSParam, &eCode);
if (pszDSParamName != NULL && eCode == ErrOk)
printf (" parameter name: '%s'\n", pszDSParamName);
// retrieve next DSParam
bDSParamValid = (TFormer_GetNextDSParameterIt (itDSParam) == ErrOk);
}
TFormer_FreeDSParameterIt (itDSParam);
}
// retrieve next DataSource
bDataSourceValid = (TFormer_GetNextDatasourceIt (itDataSource) == ErrOk);
}
TFormer_FreeDatasourceIt (itDataSource);
return eCode;
} // Connect to a Repository (extension *.tfr)
// Examples are usually installed in
// - Windows Vista: C:/Program Data/TEC-IT/TFORMer/9/Examples
// - Older Microsoft Windows versions: C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/TEC-IT/TFORMer/9/Examples
eCode = TFormer_SetRepositoryName (hTForm, "C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/TEC-IT/TFORMer/9/Examples/Demo Repository/Demos.tfr"); ERRCODE eCode = ErrOk;
HPROJECT_ITERATOR itProject = NULL;
BOOL bProjectValid = FALSE;
LPCSTR pszProjectName = NULL;
// Iterate the DataSources of the global Project
// If a Repository is used, the global Project and additional user-defined Projects may exist
printf ("Global project\n");
eCode = IterateDataSourcesProject (hTForm, NULL);
if (eCode != ErrOk)
return eCode;
// Iterate additional Projects
// Additional Projects are only possible when using a Repository
itProject = TFormer_GetFirstProjectIt (hTForm, &eCode);
bProjectValid = (itProject != NULL);
// TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND should not be treated as error
if (eCode == TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND)
eCode = ErrOk;
while (bProjectValid && eCode == ErrOk)
{
pszProjectName = TFormer_ProjectItGetName (itProject, &eCode);
if (pszProjectName != NULL && eCode == ErrOk)
{
printf ("project name: '%s'\n", pszProjectName);
// Iterate the DataSources of the Project
eCode = IterateDataSourcesProject (hTForm, pszProjectName);
}
// Get the next Project
bProjectValid = (TFormer_GetNextProjectIt (itProject) == ErrOk);
}
TFormer_FreeProjectIt (itProject); Sample code that iterates all DataSource-objects of a given stand-alone FormLayout:
ERRCODE IterateDataSourcesProject (HTFORM hTForm, LPCSTR pszProjectName)
{
ERRCODE eCode = ErrOk;
HDATASOURCE_ITERATOR itDataSource = NULL;
BOOL bDataSourceValid = FALSE;
LPCSTR pszDataSourceName = NULL;
HDSPARAMETER_ITERATOR itDSParam = NULL;
BOOL bDSParamValid = FALSE;
LPCSTR pszDSParamName = NULL;
itDataSource = TFormer_GetFirstDatasourceIt (hTForm, pszProjectName, &eCode);
bDataSourceValid = (itDataSource != NULL);
// TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND should not be treated as error
if (eCode == TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND)
eCode = ErrOk;
while (bDataSourceValid && eCode == ErrOk)
{
pszDataSourceName = TFormer_DatasourceItGetName (itDataSource, &eCode);
if (pszDataSourceName != NULL && eCode == ErrOk)
printf ("datasource name: '%s'\n", pszDataSourceName);
// Print information for the DataSourceParameters of the DataSource
if (eCode == ErrOk)
{
itDSParam = TFormer_GetFirstDSParameterIt (hTForm, pszProjectName, pszDataSourceName, &eCode);
bDSParamValid = (itDSParam != NULL);
// TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND should not be treated as error
if (eCode == TYPE_E_ELEMENTNOTFOUND)
eCode = ErrOk;
while (bDSParamValid && eCode == ErrOk)
{
pszDSParamName = TFormer_DSParameterItGetName (itDSParam, &eCode);
if (pszDSParamName != NULL && eCode == ErrOk)
printf (" parameter name: '%s'\n", pszDSParamName);
// retrieve next DSParam
bDSParamValid = (TFormer_GetNextDSParameterIt (itDSParam) == ErrOk);
}
TFormer_FreeDSParameterIt (itDSParam);
}
// retrieve next DataSource
bDataSourceValid = (TFormer_GetNextDatasourceIt (itDataSource) == ErrOk);
}
TFormer_FreeDatasourceIt (itDataSource);
return eCode;
} // Connect to a stand-alone FormLayout (extension *.tff)
// Examples are usually installed in
// - Windows Vista or later: C:/Program Data/TEC-IT/TFORMer/9/Examples
// - Older Microsoft Windows versions: C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/TEC-IT/TFORMer/9/Examples
eCode = TFormer_SetRepositoryName (hTForm, "C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/TEC-IT/TFORMer/9/Examples/Command Line/ODBCReportPDF/ODBCReportPDF.tff"); ERRCODE eCode = ErrOk;
// Iterate the DataSources of the global Project
// If a stand-alone FormLayout is used, the global Project is the only Project
eCode = IterateDataSourcesProject (hTForm, NULL);More Information
See also
Related documentation: