There are two types of reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
- Query based report
- RDP class based report
I will be explaining these reports in details, but before
jumping into it we need to be clear about the objects that a developer will be
developing for any report.
I am distributing the report development in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012 into three parts.
In the first part we will discuss what objects are involved
in a report development and the purpose of each object in Microsoft Dynamics AX
report.
In the second part we will be developing a basic query based
report.
In the third part we will be developing a basic RDP based
report.
So without further delay, let us start our first chapter of
report development which is based on the concepts of report artifacts in
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
Following are the common objects required to develop a
report in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.
- A contract class
- An AOT query
- A Report Data Provider(RDP) class
- Temporary Table
- Visual studio AX report project with report design
- A UIBuilder class(optional/Conditional)
- A controller class(optional)
Contract Class:-
A contract class in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is
responsible for generating an input form. The input parameters are developed
through code using “parm” methods.
Each parm method will going to end up as an input field on the form which was
generated by your contract class.
The contract class has some attributes define on the class
level which mark your class as data contract.
You can implement many other interfaces with your contract
based on your requirement.
An AOT query:-
This query is responsible for fetching data and to provide
your report with a dataset.
Report Data Provider Class:-
Report data provider class is only developed when you need
to perform certain actions on the data provided to you by your query. You can
manipulate the data from your query into any form in your data provider class.
I will show you an example of RDP class in my upcoming
posts, till now all you need to keep in mind that RDP is use to transform data
into your desired form and sits between your query and report.
Temporary Table:-
When using a RDP class in your report and you have performed
necessary transformation of data, now we are in a stage to store data so that
report can fetch it. For this purpose we will be developing a temporary table
which will contain the data transformed by RDP class.
The temporary table we use here is only to store the data
transformed by RDP class.
Visual studio AX report project with report design:-
For Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 you need to develop reports
in visual studio. All you need to do is to create a report model project add a
report in it. Provide the report with your data set.
For query based report, you need reference an AOT query.
For RDP based report, you need to reference your RDP class.
After the dataset you need to work on the design of report.
There are two type of designs available in dynamics AX.
- Auto design
- Precision design
We will be discussing both of them in detail in future
posts.
After the design you need to reference your fields from the
dataset(Query/RDP) to the report. Now you need to add your report to AOT and
deploy the report.
UIBuilder class:-
The UIBuilder class is use to design your contract form in
which you are taking input from user. There are several scenarios in which you
need to show or hide different fields on the bases of user selection, also
there are scenarios in which you need to show a lookup to user on the report
contract.
For the above mentioned scenarios you need to create a
UIBuilder clas. In contract class we don’t have enough control on the dynamically
created form so we add a UIBuilder class in our report to gain control over the
input form of report.
Controller class:-
A controller class has various functions which we can use.
There are lot of methods which we can override to achieve our desired
functionality. You can modify your query in the controller class. You can apply
ranges in your query in the controller class. You can add a logic before the
opening of contract of report, similarly you can perform different actions
after the contract has been run.
Conclusion:-
The above mentioned objects are the main objects which we
need to develop in order to develop a Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 report.
