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SSRS Report Docentric Replicas

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Accounts receivable

SSRS report name Description Resources How to use
SalesInvoice.Report Customer invoice
See how to design this report step by step >> 		Optimized replica
FreeTextInvoice.Report Free text invoice Optimized replica
CustAccountStatementExt.Report Customer account statement Optimized replica
CustInterestNote.Report Interest note Optimized replica
CustCollectionJour.Report Collection letter note Optimized replica
AgreementConfirmation.Report Sales agreement confirmation Replica
SalesQuotationConfirmation.Report Confirmation Optimized replica
Replica
SalesQuotation.Report Quotation Optimized replica
Replica
SalesConfirm.Report Sales order confirmation Optimized replica
Replica
SalesPackingSlip.Report Sales order packing slip Replica

Accounts payable

SSRS report name Description Resources How to use
PurchPurchaseOrder.Report Purchase order Optimized replica
Replica
PurchReceiptsList.Report Purchase order product receipt Replica
PurchPackingSlip.Report Purchase order receipts list Replica
RFQSend.Report Request for quotation Optimized replica
AgreementConfirmation.Report Purchase agreement confirmation Replica
VendInvoiceDocument.Report Vendor invoice Optimized replica

General ledger

SSRS report name Description Resources How to use
LedgerTransListAccount.Report Ledger transaction list Replica

Instructions

How to use Docentric replicas

How to use Optimized Docentric replicas

FAQ

1. What are Docentric replicas

This are copies or replicas of the built-in SSRS report designs created with Docentric designer. All data from a SSRS report is by default completely reused in the created Docentric design. Docentric designs or layouts are called report templates. These templates are just ordinary Word documents with special tags used to show report data. So, a Docentric replica of a particular SSRS report design is a Docentric template which has the same data and uses similar styles and formats as the source SSRS report design.

Docentric replicas are meant to serve as a starting point for report customization in the same way as the built-in SSRS report designs are.

2. What are Optimized Docentric replicas

These are Docentric replicas with optimized report data source. Sometimes in the source SSRS report there is only one table which contains both header and line fields (e.g. Customer account statement, Collection letter note, etc.). This can cause performance issues and also difficulties when such a report is customized. This is the reason why their data source is reshaped and restructured into header and line ‘records’. On the other hand, in some reports such as Customer or Free text invoice, hundreds of fields are kept together in the single table instead of multiple ones, so these data are also reshaped and regrouped into meaningful sections, enabling this way much easier and faster report design.

Thus, we have optimized data sources for some reports because of a lot easier design and also because of report performance.

3. Why some reports only have Optimized replicas

Some reports have only Optimized replicas because otherwise it would be very hard to design and customize them, or their performance would be affected.

4. How report data source is optimized for Optimized Docentric replicas

To be able to reuse original SSRS report data, Docentric AX Framework fetches the data from SSRS report RDP tables that are filled by SSRS report data provider, and serialize them into XML always in the same manner: each record from a report RDP table becomes an XML element and each field from this table becomes its XML attribute. This XML is called DDSP (Docentric Data Source Package), and both Docentric designer and Docentric Server understand it. Serialization of SSRS RDP tables to DDSP is done by the the default Docentric DSP (Data Source Provider) class called DocDataSourceProviderSrsReporting.

Optimization of report data source means nothing else but creating a custom Docentric DSP class for a particular report, by extending the base DocDataSourceProviderSrsReporting class, and changing (in this inherited class) the default way of report data serialization to the resulting XML (i.e. DDSP). This way the report data source gets reshaped.

Thus, we could also say that Optimized Docentric replicas are those which use a custom Docentric DSP class.
Read more about Docentric DSP classes >>

5. How can I add some additional data to my report

Standard approach

If you want to add some additional data to your report, you can do it in the standard way: add new fields to the built-in SSRS report RDP table(s), and implement business logic within the built-in SSRS report data provider class (e.g. PurchPurchaseOrderDP for the Purchase order report). The newly added fields will be visible immediately in the regenerated DDSP file, so you can use them to customize your report further with Docentric designer.

We encourage you to use this standard approach for a particular report if you plan to switch from Docentric to SSRS design in the same AX project. Sometimes this can be a better approach in terms of performance as well.

If you use an Optimized replica (that has a custom Docentric DSP class), it can happen that you don’t see the newly added fields in the regenerated report DDSP file. For this situation please see the next question.

Docentric approach

The alternative way of adding additional data to your report is to add them without modifying the built-in SSRS report artifacts (RDP tables, DP class) through the code in a custom Docentric DSP class for this report.
Read all about this technique >>

Docentric approach enables you to add additional data in more flexible and significantly faster way. Also, upgrades of your ERP system regarding customized reports will be smoother and faster if you use this approach, since it doesn't require modifications of built-in report artifacts.

Hence, using a custom Docentric DSP class doesn't mean only optimizing report data source. It also enables much faster development as well as great flexibility regarding data shaping and structuring. For example, using this approach you can easily add a sub-line for each line of a quote, or any other entity. Otherwise, you would need to create and fill an additional RDP table. You can also structure additional (and existing) data into meaningful groups, exclude unnecessary data, etc.

6. Why do I not see my custom data in Optimized replica

If you use an Optimized replica (that has a custom Docentric DSP class), it can happen that you don’t see the custom fields your company has added to the built-in SSRS report RDP tables for customization purposes in the report DDSP file, or similarly, you don’t see the newly added fields in the regenerated report DDSP file.

Custom fields are not visible in the report DDSP file means that you don’t see these fields in the Docentric designer when you load the DDSP file while customizing the report, starting from its Optimized Docentric replica.

In this case please open the custom DSP class and search for all TODO tasks. One of them will suggest you where and how to handle this issue.

7. How can I develop a completely new SSRS report

You can imagine that custom Docentric DSP classes play the main role when developing a custom report from scratch. Learn more >>

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