Populating a Data Band Directly from the Data Dictionary in Report Designer

Populating a Data Band Directly from the Data Dictionary in Report Designer

The articles in this section of the Knowledge Base involve working with Lists for display in your reports. To learn more about Lists and how to access the Report Designer, see Creating Lists in Report Designer. This article provides information for dragging and dropping from the Data Dictionary.

Accessing the Data Dictionary

There are multiple ways to access the Data Dictionary:

  1. Select the Page Tab > select Panels > select Dictionary
  2. Keyboard shortcut, “ctrl + shift + d”
  3. Select the Dictionary tab at the bottom of the Properties panel (Figure 02)

Fig. 01 – Dictionary Tab

Creating Data Bands from the Data Dictionary

Within Report Designer, you can drag and drop data sources, columns, variables, functions, and more. You can create a list by merely dragging the Data Source from the Data Dictionary into the report template.   Figure 02 demonstrates an example of dragging the Data Source “Products” from the Data Dictionary on to the report page.

 
Fig. 02 – Dragging and Dropping from the Data Dictionary

Once you’ve dragged the Data Source, the Data window will automatically open.


Fig. 03 – Data Window – Data Tab

  1. This panel displays the table (Data Source) and the columns within it. The columns selected determine which data is displayed from the original table.  
  2. This panel displays the Data Columns that were selected for display on the Data Band.
  3. Change the order the Data Columns will appear on the Data Band.
  4. Mark All – Select all of the Data Columns in Panel 1.
  5. Reset – Unselects all of the Data Columns in Panel 1.
  6. Choose between containers for the Data Columns of the Data Source to be displayed. The options are a Data Band (List) or a Table.
  7. Checking both of these boxes will insert a Header and Footer Band around your Data Band or Table. You can display one or the other if you prefer.

For this example, I included Header and Footer Bands, I selected a Data Band, and chose four Data Columns to be included. The Report Template auto-populated, as seen in Figure 04.


Figure 04 – Report Template after Automatic Population

As can be seen, the Report Designer automatically added the appropriate labels to the Header Band. Text Components were added to the Footer, but they are empty by default. I inserted a Count variable into the Footer for purposes of display. When rendered, with no additional alterations, the report should look something like Figure 05.


Fig. 05 – Rendered Report

    • Related Articles

    • Adding a Data Source to a Data Band in Report Designer

      The articles in this section of the Knowledge Base involve working with Lists for display in your reports. To learn more about Lists and how to access the Report Designer, see Creating Lists in Report Designer. This article provides an overview of ...

    • Applying a Sort to a Data Band in Report Designer

      The articles in this section of the Knowledge Base involve working with Lists for display in your reports. To learn more about Lists and how to access the Report Designer, see Creating Lists in Report Designer. This article provides information for ...

    • Applying a Filter to a Data Band in Report Designer

      The articles in this section of the Knowledge Base involve working with Lists for display in your reports. To learn more about Lists and how to access the Report Designer, see Creating Lists in Report Designer. This article provides information for ...

    • Adding a Header to a Table in Report Designer

      The articles in this section of the Knowledge Base involve working with Lists for display in your reports. To learn more about Lists and how to access the Report Designer, see Creating Lists in Report Designer. This article provides information on ...

    • Report Band Properties in Report Designer

      The articles in this section of the Knowledge Base involve working with Report Bands for display in your reports. To learn more about Report Bands, and how to access this section within the Report Designer, see Understanding Report Bands in Report ...

    • Recent Articles

    • Microvellum Release Notes | Build 26.1.0723.641

      The following release notes apply to Microvellum build 26.1.0723.641. Function UI Update The Function Arguments interface has received a major visual overhaul to improve the usability, clarity, and visibility of several elements. Input fields are now ...

    • Microvellum Release Notes | Build 26.1.0702.641

      Dark Mode Fig. 1: The MV Palette in Dark Mode. To enhance the user experience when working within Microvellum, a new Dark Mode setting has been added to the software. Enabling this will apply a dark theme to most interfaces, allowing for a greater ...

    • Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes | Build 26.0630

      Additions: Added new Fixture product Die Wall Advanced. This product takes the legacy Die Wall products to a new level. More features and advanced parametric abilities: Up to five individual unique subassembly segments, widths controlled via ...

    • Microvellum Foundation Library Release Notes | Build 26.0527

      The following release notes apply to the Microvellum Foundation Library build 26.0527. Additions Added new features for the Wood Drawer Box to have reduced sides, sub front, or back. Added 3 new global and subassembly prompts: “Wood Drawer Side ...

    • Microvellum Release Notes | Build 26.1.0529.641

      The following release notes apply to Microvellum build 26.1.0529.641. BSB Docking Size Fix An issue was reported to be occurring in Microvellum BSB 2026: when adjusting the size of a docked Microvellum palette, users found that the palette would ...