Insert Table/Form Dialog
The
Insert Table/Form dialog is the most flexible tool of the template builder. It
allows you to perform the following tasks:
·
Create
a simple or nested table with a variable number of rows.
·
Associate
a group of data elements, such as a complete invoice or a purchase order
line, with a form in the document that will be repeated for each
occurrence of the data element
·
Select
and define a layout for all the data fields in the template
·
Group
or re-group the data
On
the Insert menu click Table/Form… to open the Insert Table/Form
dialog.
The
Insert Table/Form dialog shows you two tree view panes. The left pane shows the
data source structure, while the right pane shows the elements that will be
copied to the template when you click the Insert button.
Note:
This dialog is based on the Drag & Drop paradigm like the Microsoft
File Manager.
Selecting Data Fields
First
you select the data fields that you want to insert in the template and then you
define how to format them. Drag an XML element from the left Data Source
pane to the right Template pane to select it. If the XML element has
children, you will see a pop-up menu with the following options:
·
Drop
Single Node
·
Drop
All Nodes
·
Cancel
Select
Drop Single Node if you want to move only the selected node or Drop
All Nodes if you want to move the node and all its children
If
you drag an additional data field from the left Data Source pane to the
right Template pane, it is either inserted at the same level (Same
Level) or below the node (Child) where you release the node. The Insert
Position box defines which way the node is inserted.
Note:
If you use the left mouse button for drag and drop, the node and all children
are copied. However, if you use the right mouse button for dragging, a dialog
pops up when you release the mouse button. The dialog gives you the option to
copy either only the selected node or the selected node and all children.
Find
For
an XML document with a large and complicated structure, use the find
functionality to find a specific field. Enter a partial string of the field
name you are searching into the Find field and click the Find Next
button. The next occurrence of a name that includes your search expression will
be selected. Click the Find Next button again to see the next
occurrence.
Example
When
you select a field name in the data source view, an example value from the
sample XML file for this data field is shown below the view behind Example.
Defining the Layout
When
you select an element in the right Template pane, you will see its properties
as well as a preview of how the node will be rendered. There are two kinds of
nodes:
·
Data
Fields
·
Data
Groups
Data
Field nodes (leaf nodes) do not have any child nodes. They represent simple
attributes such as the total amount for an invoice or the subtotal for a
purchase order line.
Data
Group nodes (parent nodes) are nodes that do have child nodes. Typically, they
do not represent data attributes, but groups of data – such as an invoice, a
purchase order, a purchase order line or a shipment.
Data Field Properties
If a
Data Field node is selected, you may define a calculation function for this
node. Select the data field in the tree view and then select one of the aggregation
functions from the Calculation list box:
·
Average
·
Count
·
Minimum
·
Maximum
·
Sum
Data Group Properties
If a
Data Group node is selected, its properties are shown in the Properties pane.
You have the following options to describe how the template builder should
render the group:
o
Create as Table: if you want a Microsoft Word table to be
created around the data fields, select Yes; otherwise select No.
If Form is selected for Style, you can only select No.
o
Style: if you want the data to be displayed in a
Microsoft Word table use Table. If you want to display the fields below
each other, use Form. If Create as Table is set to Yes,
you can only select Table.
o
Label: if you want a column header above the
table or labels in front of the data fields, select Yes; otherwise
select No.
o
Grouping: Grouping is an advanced operation that
allows you to group data. You may select a child element of the selected
element as a grouping criterion. See below for more information.
o
Show Grouping Value: This property will only be shown
if you have selected a node created by the Grouping functionality. You can
choose for a group if the Data Field node used as a grouping criterion is shown
in the table or form.
The
order in which the data elements are shown reflects the order of the columns in
the table. If you want to reorder the columns, change the Insert Position
box from Child to Same Level. Then drag the elements into the
correct order.
Inserting Tables and Forms
Once
you have dragged all data fields over and defined the layout, then you must
tell the Template Builder to create the tables and forms in your document.
Insert Button
The Insert
button creates the tables and forms at the current cursor position of the
template.
Close Button
Click
the Close button to close the Insert Table/Form dialog. The Close
button will not automatically insert any tables or forms into the document.
Grouping
You
can group any Data Group node, by any of its child Data Field Nodes. For
example if you have sales data for multiple quarters, you may want to show the
sales data organized by quarter. In this case you would group the sales data
rows by the quarter element.
Assume
the following structure:
Sales
Transaction
Quarter
Customer
Amount
To
group the child nodes of a node (Sales Transaction), you select one of the
child nodes (Quarter) as the grouping property of the parent node (Sales
Transaction). The Template Builder creates will make this node (e.g. quarter)
the parent of the other child nodes (Customer and Amount).
The
new structure will look like:
Sales
Transaction
Quarter
Customer
Amount
The
grouping criterion (Quarter) now behaves like any other Data Group Node with
the child node. That means that you can define how the layout of its children
is rendered by the Template Builder using the Create As Table, Style, Label,
Grouping, and Show Grouping Value properties.
Please
refer to the Oracle XML Publisher User’s Guide for additional
information on grouping.
Advanced Information
The
Insert Table/Form Dialog creates two kinds of form fields:
·
Form
fields representing data elements
·
Form
fields with processing instructions for repeating table rows or document
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