Creating a Word Layout Report

Article
04/26/2022
3 minutes to read

When you create a new report, there are two tasks main tasks. First, you define the report dataset of data items and columns. Then, you design the report layout. These steps will show how to create a report based on a Word layout. For more information about the report object, see Report Object and Report Extension Object.

Later in this topic you can read more how to enable multiple report layouts. For more information, see Enabling the Microsoft Word rendering engine.

Create a Word layout report

The following example extends the Customer List page with a trigger that runs the report as soon as the Customer List page is opened.

Note

The Different first page and Different odd and even options for headers and footers in Word aren't supported for HTML conversion. If you select either of these options, the header and footer won't appear in rendered output, such as an Email Body.

Create a new extension to the Customer List page that contains code to run the report and a report object by adding the following lines of code:

pageextension 50100 MyExtension extends "Customer List"
{
    trigger OnOpenPage();
    begin
        report.Run(Report::MyWordReport);
    end;
}

report 50124 MyWordReport
{
    DefaultLayout = Word;
    WordLayout = 'MyWordReport.docx';
}

Build the extension (Ctrl+Shift+B) to generate the MyWordReport.docx file.

Add the Customer table as the data item and the Name field as a column to the report by adding the following lines of code to the report. For more information about defining a dataset, see Report Dataset.

report 50124 MyWordReport
{
    DefaultLayout = Word;
    WordLayout = 'MyWordReport.docx';

    dataset
    {
        dataitem(Customer; Customer)
        {
            column(Name; Name)
            {

            }
        }
    } 
}

Build the extension (Ctrl+Shift+B).
Open the generated report layout file in Word.
In Word, edit the layout using the XML Mapping Pane on the Developer tab.

Note

If you do not see the Developer tab, go to Options, then Customize Ribbon, and in the Main tabs section, select the Developer check box.
In Word, to the right, in the Custom XML part lookup, locate the report, and then open the layout.
Right-click on the Customer table, and in Insert Content Control, select Repeating to add the repeater data item.
Right-click on the Name field and in Insert Content Control, select Plain Text to add the column as a text box.
Save the report layout when you're done and then close it.
Back in Visual Studio Code, press Ctrl+F5 to compile and run the report.

You'll now see the generated report in preview mode.

Note

If the report layout is not generated, open the settings.json from Visual Studio Code. Use Ctrl+Shift+P, then choose Preferences: Open User Settings, locate the AL Language extension. Under Compilation Options, choose Edit in settings.json and add the following line:

"al.compilationOptions": {
  "generateReportLayout": true
}

Tip

From the Business Central client, you can export report results as raw data to a Microsoft Excel file. The file contains all columns of the dataset, but without the layout applied. Use the file to help validate that the report returns the expected data, and to ensure that the report layout controls match the dataset value types. To export a report, run the report and select the Send to > Microsoft Excel Document (data only) on the request page. For more information, see Working with Reports - Send to Excel.

Enabling the Microsoft Word rendering engine

APPLIES TO: Business Central 2022 release wave 1 and later

The rendering of Word reports is controlled by an application feature key. Enabling the key RenderWordReportsInPlatform in the Feature Management page in Business Central will switch the Microsoft Word report rendering to the new platform rendering which supports multiple layouts and new triggers for Save and Download actions.

Note

Application rendering is obsolete and will be deprecated in a future release. It is recommended to stay on the old platform if you have extensions that use custom Word layouts and therefore cannot use the new platform, for example, because of dependencies on the OnBeforeMergeDocument or OnBeforeMergeWordDocument events.

The following AL snippet can be used in code to implement rendering differentiation in extensions.

 var
    FeatureKey: Record "Feature Key";
    PlatformRenderingInPlatformTxt: Label 'RenderWordReportsInPlatform', Locked = true;

// code snippet
if (FeatureKey.Get(PlatformRenderingInPlatformTxt) and (FeatureKey.Enabled = FeatureKey.Enabled::"All Users")) then
    // Platform rendering of Word reports, Custom layout types will be handled by the OnCustomDocumentMerger event
    ....
else
    // App rendering - The report type will be treated like a Word file and rendered by the application
    ...

For more information about feature management, see Enabling Upcoming Features Ahead of Time.

Creating a Word Layout Report

Create a Word layout report

Enabling the Microsoft Word rendering engine

See Also

Feedback