About Data

Data elements, inserted in a template, define and customize a generated report file.

This page discusses:

See Also
Inserting Terminal Data and Loops

Data Tab

From the Data tab, you can access data elements stored in the database.

The content of this tab depends on the options defined in the Preferences dialog box. For more information, see Customizing Preferences for Design Tasks.

The Data tab contains the following elements sorted alphabetically and organized in trees:



Icon Description

or

Each root of a tree is an internal variable usable in a template.

A variable can be:

  • A parameter or defined for an entire template.
  • An iteration variable used to iterate on a data element of loop type.

Folders gather provided methods and customized methods by topics.

The following categories are usually available in the Data tab:

  • Attributes: basic attributes of a data element such as name, version, creator...
  • Filtering: filtering method based on a product configuration or a predefined configuration
  • Extensions: additional methods
  • Implement Links: methods relative to implement links navigation
  • Incoming Relationships, Outgoing Relationships, and Relationships: relationships methods
  • Navigation: methods providing specific access to objects, navigation, and shortcuts
  • Types: methods attempting conversion to subtype

For more information about methods writing, see OTScript Language Guide.

or

At this level, the node corresponds to a method name.

A method handles data elements and returns a data reference. A method can have parameters.

A data reference can be:

  • A terminal data which is a text, a rich text, an image, or a file attachment.
  • A loop identified by a method name, a receiver which is variable, and an iteration variable.

Important: Avoid to download huge size file attachment, because it could cause a trouble depending on the output format or web-browser used for HTML report.

For example, avoid to download a 40MB MOV file from an RTF report.

Tips: You can:
  • Select the Collapse All button to collapse all the expanded variable trees.
  • Double-click a variable from the Data tab, to select the corresponding loop or terminal data in the graphical area.
  • Double-click a loop or a terminal element from the graphical area, to select the corresponding variable in the Data tab.
  • Enter a string in the box next to Apply in the Data tab, and then click Apply to narrow down the list of categories, methods, types, and variable names. You can enter the wildcard character '*' in the string.

Data Elements Insertion

A data element is inserted in an appropriate structure element by drag and drop. For more information, see Data, Structure Elements, and Instructions.

To build a template, drag a data element from the Data tab into the Graphical area as follows:

  • If you cannot drop the element, the cursor turns to a forbidden symbol. The element is not inserted.
  • If you can drop the element, an horizontal or vertical line appears to highlight the insertion position. The element is inserted.
Note: You can undo and redo a data element insertion.

Loop Creation

If you drop a method which inserts a loop in a template, the two following elements are created:

  • In Graphical area: a representation of a loop
  • In Data tab: a new iteration variable associated with the loop.
    Note: You can replace the default name of this variable by another unique name, even if the variable is used. For more information, see Renaming Template Elements.

Important: From the Data tab, all the methods depending on an iteration variable can be dropped only in a loop or in a subloop associated with this variable, otherwise an error is raised. For more information, see Table 1.
Data Insertion