Glossary

A horizontal area of the page that holds report items. In NCReport, every report section is a band. See also Section and Zone.

A running mode in which several report definitions are rendered one after another into a single output document.

A table item (also called a pivot table) that presents data source records as columns and data source columns as rows, often with horizontal and vertical totals.

An object that provides the data of a report, row by row. NCReport supports SQL queries, text (CSV) data, XML data, Qt item models, string lists, and custom data source classes.

A parent–child link between two data sources. The child data source is filtered or re-run for each record of the parent, which makes master–detail (sub-query) reports possible.

NCReport Designer, the standalone GUI application used to create and modify report definitions.

The section that is printed once for each record of its assigned data source. A report can contain several detail sections.

A running mode in which the report is processed twice. The first (test) pass calculates values that are only known at the end, such as the total number of pages; the second pass produces the real output.

A formula that is evaluated at run time. Expressions can reference data source columns ($D{}), parameters ($P{}), variables ($V{}), and other values, and can be evaluated by the script engine.

A report item that displays a dynamic value: data source column, parameter, variable, system variable, or the result of an expression.

A set of consecutive detail records that share the same value of the group expression. Each group can have its own header and footer section and can reset variables.

An object placed in a section, such as a label, field, line, rectangle, ellipse, image, barcode, rich text, table, chart, or custom item.

A report item that displays static text which does not change while the report is rendered.

The target of the rendered report, for example the print preview, a printer, a PDF, SVG, or image file, HTML, or plain text.

A section printed at the bottom of every page.

A section printed at the top of every page.

A named value passed to the report by the host application, the Designer, or the command line tool. Parameters are referenced as $P{name}.

A logical expression attached to an item or section. The item or section is printed only when the expression evaluates to true.

The XML template file (or database record) that describes the layout, data sources, and logic of a report. Also called a report template.

The part of the report engine that controls the rendering process: it iterates the data sources and manages the printing of sections and items.

The NCReport library (and the command line tool built on it) that reads a report definition, processes the data, and renders the result to an output.

A section printed once, at the end of the report.

A section printed once, at the beginning of the report.

The origin of the report definition: a file, a string, or an SQL database table.

A band of the report, such as a page header, report header, detail, group header, group footer, report footer, or page footer.

A report part that is iterated for each record of a master data source, using its own data source and detail sections.

An additional detail section linked to a parent section and always rendered directly below it.

A built-in variable provided by the report engine, such as the current page number, the total page count, or the current date and time.

A field or text mode in which references such as $D{}, $P{}, and $V{} are substituted inside a fixed text, for example Page $V{pagenum} of $V{pagecount}.

A named value calculated during report processing, typically used for counts, sums, averages, and other totals. Variables are referenced as $V{name}.

A virtual band inside a section, formed by items that share the same zone ID. Empty zones are skipped, so the section shrinks accordingly.