First time user of reports (and bug in commit dfcfc5b4accb)

[Rolf]

I am only trying out nuBuilder report function, please bear with me. I created a very simple report of a very simple MySQL view containing only two columns, Name and Amount. I want to use the report to get a total of Amount over all Names. I used the Report Builder and FR0 was created.

When I run the report, I essentially get a blank page. The breadcrumbs show "Home ► Run Report ► Check Total". Is that to be expected? When I use Ctrl+Shift+R to reload (or the equivalent entry in the three-dot-menu) this changes to "Home ► Run Report ► Blank". Seems at least odd to me. When I am on the page with "Home ► Run Report ► Check Total" I noticed a small button with "Run" at the top of the page and that indeed finally seems to run the report (why this additional step?). That's when I ran into a bug apparently introduced in commit dfcfc5b4accb. Unless I revert that commit, I get an error "TCPDF ERROR: The font definition file has a bad format: /var/www/nubuilder4/tcpdf/fonts/uni2cid_ac15.php".

$ file tcpdf/fonts/uni2cid_ac15.php
tcpdf/fonts/uni2cid_ac15.php: PHP script, ASCII text, with very long lines

Can I just run the report without creating a PDF? How do I get nuBuilder to show me a list with all Names, their Amount and then a total of Amount over all Names in the most simple way (as in not requiring two clicks, for example)?

[admin]

Rolf,

You said...

ASCII text, with very long lines

You'll have to take that up with the people that wrote TCPDF.

You may need to try an earlier commit of nubuilder4 to fix the font thing.

In respect to Running a Report, you are doing it the correct way, I'm sorry you think its odd.


Steven

[Rolf]

In respect to Running a Report, you are doing it the correct way, I'm sorry you think its odd.

Steven, you honestly don't think it's VERY odd to present a white page? You don't think that would be confusing? What's the purpose of that white page? I'm truly puzzled.

[kev1n]

Rolf,

I also think that the blank page does not need to be displayed if no "Launch From" was specified. Instead, a report could be executed directly.

But that's the way it was programmed:
You select the report which you want to run in the browse screen "Run Report".
And then, if a "Launch From" was specified, that form is shown. But If no form (or nublank) was specified, a blank form is displayed instead.

Here's a JavaScript function that will make a report run automatically. (Add under Setup -> Header and don't forget to log out and login again)

Code: Select all

function autorunReport() {
	var f = nuGetProperty('form_id');
    if ((f == 'nublank' || f = '')  && nuGetProperty('call_type') == 'getreport') {
      // run the report
      $('#nurunButton').click();
      // go back to the report browse screen
        var l = window.nuFORM.breadcrumbs.length;
        if (l > 1) {
            nuGetBreadcrumb(l - 2);
        }
    }
}

function nuOnLoad() {
    autorunReport();
}

Of course this is just a workaround and it would be nicer if nuBuilder wouldn't show a blank page at all.

[Rolf]

Thanks, Kevin. I will test that out.

This ties in with a broader concern of mine. Nubuilder is really awesome, but truth be told, despite me wrangling with it for many years, I seem to run into oddities every time I pick it up,having to restart again the learning curve essentially from zero and get stuck with something mundane that makes me pull my hair out. On the other hand, I tried out caspio.com and airtable.com the other day. I was literally able to accomplish things that took me days or never finished with nuBuilder and got it done in two to three hours. Obviously, I'd rather stay in control of my own data and use neither of those two sites. Yet, sitting in front of a white screen trying to figure out what I did wrong again is one example of a situation that slowed me down for hours wondering what I was doing wrong this time.