Data Access Worldwide has announced the release of Visual Report Writer 2012/v2.0, delivering their easiest to use and most efficient report writing tool to date.
This release is packed with new features and enhancements, providing a more functionally rich environment within which to create better looking reports.
What’s new in Visual Report Writer 2012?
There are a number of new features in this release that significantly broaden the scope for developers building reports within Visual Report Writer. Here’s a summary of the new features in this release and the benefits they bring:
- Create and use virtual tables for data that’s not held in a database
The new Runtime Data Source (RDS) feature allows you to create virtual tables using the Visual Report Writer Designer and populate the tables with data using the Integration Library. Sample data for RDS tables can be saved within the report allowing full preview capabilities with the VRW designer.
Read more about using this feature in the Use of Runtime Data Source Development Team blog. - Define and use your own functions within reports
Use the new External Library Functions (ELFs) feature to define the functions you want (using your preferred development tool, e.g. C++) in external libraries, for use in your reports. - Report on Rich Text Format (RTF) text stored in a data source
Version 2.0 adds the capability to report on RTF text stored in a data source. Using the ’Field Properties’ dialog, fields can be marked as RTF text. - Make use of user-defined parameters
User-defined parameters can now be added to reports and referenced in functions. The parameter values can easily be changed at runtime using the Integration Library. - Set default formatting for data types within a report
You can now specify default formatting for different data types within a report, e.g., the default date format to be used for all date fields in a report.
Enhancements to existing Visual Report Writer Features
The following changes have been made to existing features in Visual Report Writer :
- Rotated Text Support
Fields can now be rotated using the Field Properties dialog, allowing output of, for example, vertical or upside down text. - Improved PDF Export
Version 2.0 includes a new PDF library which fixes a number of problems with PDF export. - Improved Database Expert
Visual table linking used in the New report wizard and Database Expert has been improved. Improvements include: Link types (Inner join, Left outer join) are now immediately visible and the location of the tables is now saved in the report. - Improved Section Expert
The Section Expert has new options and the conditional use of section options using functions are now easier to use. - Filler Sections
Filler sections can be used to ’fill’ blank space between sections. This new option allows you to, for example, create vertical lines along the entire length of a page. - Integration Library
The integration library supports all the new features found in version 2.0 and includes new classes which no longer require the use of the ’callback mechanism’. The old classes are deprecated but still included for backward compatibility.
Download Visual Report Writer 2012
To download Visual Report Writer you will need a Data Access Global Account.