About Parameter Form fields About Parameter Form boilerplate About Parameter Forms for Web reports

Basic Concepts 1-31

1.9.2 About Parameter Form fields

Fields in the Paper Parameter Form view Section 1.6.5, About the Paper Parameter Form view act as placeholders for parameters. They define the formatting attributes for the parameters displayed in the Runtime Parameter Form. By default, one field is created for each parameter that you select in the Parameter Form Builder. See also Section 1.8.4, About fields Section 4.11.5, Creating a default Parameter Form Section 4.11.7, Displaying the Parameter Form at runtime

1.9.3 About Parameter Form boilerplate

Boilerplate in the Paper Parameter Form view refers to text and graphics that appear in the Runtime Parameter Form each time it is run; for example, a label denoting a particular parameter is boilerplate text created by Oracle Reports Builder. Lines or boxes that you create in the layout are also considered boilerplate, as well as any added text. Boilerplate enables you to customize the Runtime Parameter Form. By default, a boilerplate label is produced for each field that appears on the Runtime Parameter Form. See also Section 1.8.5, About boilerplate objects Section 4.11.5, Creating a default Parameter Form Section 4.11.7, Displaying the Parameter Form at runtime

1.9.4 About Parameter Forms for Web reports

You can design a Parameter Form for both Web and paper reports. However, at runtime, the Runtime Parameter Form displays only when running the paper report layout. For JSP-based Web reports, the Runtime Parameter Form displays when you run your report within Oracle Reports Builder for debugging purposes, but will not display at runtime. Because you now have the flexibility to display your reports on any Web page, the report may be just one object on a Web page containing many other portlets and objects, and parameters for the report may be retrieved from sources other than the Parameter Form. For example, parameters might be provided by the Web page to all portlets on the page. Therefore, it does not make sense to display a Runtime Parameter Form for JSP-based Web reports before the report is formatted. In the absence of the Runtime Parameter Form, you will need to use an alternate method to provide required parameters to a JSP-based Web report designed with a Parameter Form. For example: ■ When you design the report, set all parameters to a default value. ■ If you run your report using a URL, provide the parameters through the URL. ■ Create an HTML form that your report calls to provide parameter values, either as static values, or as a list of values using the Oracle Reports custom JSP tags. ■ If the report displays as a portlet in a Web page, you can pass the page level parameters to the report. 1-32 Oracle Reports Users Guide to Building Reports ■ Use the JSP tag rw:reports id=myReport parameters=yourParameterList, where yourParameterList can be a Java variable. For example: String myParameterList=userid=scotttigerp_deptno+10; rw:report id=myReport parameters== myParameterList For more information on creating a Parameter Form for a JSP-based Web report, see Chapter 42, Building a Simple Parameter Form for a JSP-based Web Report . See also Section 1.2.2, About Web Reports Section 1.6.5, About the Paper Parameter Form view Section 1.11.1, About the Runtime Parameter Form Section 2.5.1, About Parameter Form HTML extensions

1.10 The Property Inspector