Presentation styles and data sources
When you define a DataWindow object, you choose a presentation
style and a data source.
Presentation styles
A presentation style defines a typical style of report and
handles how rows are grouped on the page. You can customize the
way the data is displayed in each presentation style. The presentation
styles include:
Presentation |
Description |
---|---|
Tabular |
Data columns across the page and headers |
Freeform |
Data columns going down the page with |
Grid |
Row-and-column format like a spreadsheet |
Label |
Several labels per page with one row |
N-Up |
Two or more rows of data next to each |
Group |
A tabular style with rows grouped under |
TreeView |
A tabular style that groups data hierarchically |
Composite |
Several DataWindow objects grouped into |
Graph |
Graphical presentation of data. Not supported |
Crosstab |
Data summary in a row-and-column format. |
RichText |
Paragraphs of text with embedded data |
OLE |
An OLE object linked or embedded in the |
For examples of the presentation styles, see the PowerBuilder
Users Guide.
Data sources
The data source specifies
where the data in the DataWindow comes from and what data items
are displayed. Data can come from tables in a database, a Web service,
a file with data that you can import, or code that specifies the
data. For databases, the data specification is saved in a SQL statement. In all cases, the DataWindow
object saves the names of the data items to display, as well as their
datatypes.
Data source |
Description |
---|---|
Quick Select |
The data is coming from one or more tables |
SQL Select |
You want more control over the select |
Query |
The data has already been selected and |
External |
The data is not stored in a database, |
Stored Procedure |
The data is defined in a database stored |
Web Service |
The data is defined in a Web service. |