We are starting a series of articles about two-dimensional barcodes and how to use them in the reports created in Stimulsoft tools. The first article of the series is about the DataMatrix barcode, in which we’ll tell you how to place and customize it in your report.Note
Starting from the 2022.1 version, we added the Aztec barcode to the Stimulsoft reporting tools and data analytics. You can read about it in more detail here.

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Barcodes history

The encryption of data for subsequent automatic reading was invented in the 1930s, when scientists created the first barcode, taking a well-known method of coding information as a basis – the Morse code. Scanning barcode data immediately became a standard in business practice, especially when using it in documents, where a large amount of information needs to be stored, for example, in reports.

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What is DataMatrix

DataMatrix barcode consists of black and white pixels and has an L-shaped border and a square or rectangular shape. The encryption uses a universal algorithm based on the ASCII table, in which characters are encoded into numbers. This barcode was created by CiMatrix company in the middle of the 1980s and was intended to place some information on a small surface. It can store a large amount of data, like text, phone numbers, links, etc. The main advantage of the DataMatrix over other types of barcodes is its compactness. Firstly, that makes it easy to place it on a surface of almost any size. In addition, it allows you to read some information when 30% of a barcode surface is damaged, and the probability of reading errors is very small. The DataMatrix barcode became a standard of the International Bar Coding Organization, a standard of identification of medical devices and medicines. It is used in everyday life along with a QR code.

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How do I create and customize the DataMatrix barcode in the report designer

To add the barcode to your report, you should:

• Go to the Insert tab;
• Click the Bar Code in the Categories group;
• Select the Two-Dimensional in the drop-down menu;
• Select DataMatrix in the detail list.

The barcode is customized in its editor, that can be opened, having clicked on the barcode twice:

• The Type tab displays the type of the barcode (in this case, it is DataMatrix);
• The Code tab allows you to enter the text, intended for encryption in the barcode;
• The Angle tab allows you to customize the rotation of the barcode;
• The Fore Color and Back Color tabs display the colors of the barcode;
• The Font tab allows you to select a font of the text;
• The Show Label Text check box defines whether or not to show an inscription;
• The Show Quiet Zones checkbox enables or disables the conditional border at the start and at the end of the barcode.

To the right of the above list are the tabs for more in-depth customization:

• The Encoding Type tab shows a coding type of the barcode;
• The Matrix Size tab displays the size of the barcode;
• The Module tab sets the barcode proportions;
• The Use Rectangular Symbols tab displays whether rectangular characters are used in the barcode;
• The Process Tilde tab shows whether the ~ character is used when encoding.

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Samples of reports with the DataMatrix barcode

In the Footwear Industry Report, a link to the shoe company’s website is encrypted in the DataMatrix barcode. Such a report can be used as a label for a shoe box.

Checks With DataMatrix - a report divided into checks. Here, the GTIN is encrypted in the barcodes – a global number of production of the world standard required for product labeling.

Medical Invoice With Barcodes - Invoice. In this report, a formula that calculates the total cost of the specified goods in the report is encrypted in the barcodes.

Medical Clinic Invoice With DataMatrix is an invoice that uses DataMatrix barcodes. It also encodes the formula that is used to calculate the total cost.

We continue to tell you about the report designer and its main components. Last time we presented you with the Progress element, showed how you may use it in dashboards and described its main options and features. This time, we’re going to tell you about the Pivot Table.

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Pivot Table

The Pivot table is an interactive tool for rapid and effective data visualization. It is widely used in business intelligence. Using it, you can perform calculations and create reports and dashboards. Unlike the usual table we wrote about earlier, it displays data a little differently: data value cells are formed at the intersection of columns and rows.

Let’s take a closer look at the main options and features of this element using the example of a dashboard with statistics for fast food restaurants in the United States, where we displayed the sales volume of such restaurants from each state using the Pivot Table.

Columns

This field specifies the data displayed as column headers in the pivot table. Thus, having added the needed data here, we showed the names of states.

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Rows

Headers of rows are specified here. Having dragged the data about the restaurants and products to this field, we displayed them in the pivot table as follows:

Summary

To display sales volume, we added data to the Summary field, since the values of the data columns from this field are displayed in the cells that are formed at the intersection of columns and rows.
In addition, you can add several data columns to the Summary field, due to this your Pivot table will contain Total cells for each data field. As in our case, where we specified three data columns, having displayed sales volume:

• McDonald’s;
• Burger King;
• Wendy’s.

Now let's look at additional parameters of the Pivot table element.

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Swap rows and columns

You can swap the Columns and Rows fields in the Pivot table editor. At the same time, they will retain the order in which data columns are placed.

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Top N

This option will help you create a list of maximum, minimum and summarized values in a Pivot table. Also, you can select the number of Top N values and the summary field, which values will be analyzed. Here is an example of a list of summarized (Others column) and maximum values that show the states with the highest sales volume.

You can find more information about the features of this parameter here.

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Nesting, Collapsing, and Expanding

In the PivotTable, you can nest rows or columns within others and then collapse and expand them when viewing. Also, the Expand property will help you to define the group expansion condition by default.

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Sorting rows and columns

This property allows you to sort columns and rows in ascending and descending order. If you select the None mode, the values of columns and rows will be displayed in the order they are in the data source. Below you can see an example of sorting a column in descending order.

You can read about how to create a dashboard with the Pivot Table element in the documentation.

We continue to acquaint you with new features of the version of Stimulsoft Reports and Dashboards 2022.3. Today we’re going to tell you about the HTML Preview Mode.

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Introduction

Various components can be used to design reports and dashboards. Custom design settings can be applied to these components - rotation to a certain angle, stretching components, applying brushes to their background or content, etc. All of this allows you to create complicated structures in the template with an individual design of a report or dashboard components. Then a report or dashboard can be viewed in a web browser using the component viewer. And in this case, you may face some issues.

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Table and Div modes

The thing is that the web viewer component supports two modes of report display – Table and Div. Each mode has its advantages and disadvantages, but while writing this article, the Div mode is more flexible, has fewer restrictions, and generally, its application is more prospective. We’re improving both modes of display all the time. However, there are restrictions that don’t depend on us. Before the release of version 2022.3, it was possible to change the report display mode in the web viewer only using the component option.

New features of the version 2022.3

Starting with the release 2022.3, we have changed the approach to resolve the issue of changing the preview mode. Its essence is as follows:

• Now a report developer selects a mode of report display by his own in template settings;
• By default, the web viewer component will use a report display mode that is defined in template settings.

Changing the display mode in a report

You can change report display mode using the HTML Preview Mode parameter. You may find this parameter in the preview settings editor, which is set as the Div parameter by default. To open the preview settings editor, you should select the template area in the report designer and click the Browse button next to the property of the same name in the Properties panel.

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Changing the preview mode in the viewer options

The ReportDisplayMode option (for JS viewer – reportDisplayMode) is responsible for the report preview mode in the viewer. All components for various platforms contain this option. By default, the ReportDisplayMode is set as the FromReport value, i.e., the display mode depends on the parameter in the report template. However, it can be set in Div and Table values, i.e., regardless of the parameter in the template, Div and Table display modes will be applied accordingly. ReportDisplayMode = StiReportDisplayMode.Table In addition, it’s worth noting that the report designer contains the Preview tab, where a report is rendered and displayed. If you need to define a preview mode for this tab, you should set the ReportDisplayMode in the report designer settings at a required value. By default, the option is set in the FromReport value like the viewer is.

This way, we have added flexibility in the 2022.3 release to define a report preview mode. Creating a report allows you to change its preview mode in the web viewer. At the same time, if you need to apply Div or Table preview modes for all reports, you can set the option of the ReportDisplayMode component in a necessary value.

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A video on the topic of this article is also available on our YouTube channel:

We continue to tell you about the Stimulsoft 2022.3 version and its new features. In the previous article, we told you about the Ribbon chart, and today you’ll learn about the new data adapter – GraphQL.

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Creating a data source and using GraphQL queries solves several urgent problems like obtaining the necessary data from different sources and simplifying data processing and analysis.

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GraphQL creation

To create reports and dashboards based on the data received using GraphQL, you should first create a data source in the Dictionary. In general, the process of creating such a data source is similar to the process of creating other sources. The only difference is that you should specify specific connection parameters for GraphQL.

After filling in the form of connection, you should click OK, and the report writer will send a query, get data and display them as a data source. Now, you can render a report or dashboard based on this source.

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Change a select query

After creating and obtaining data, you may need to change a data selection query. In the case of using GraphQL data sources, there is an important feature. Since a data selection query is specified as a connection parameter and not in the Data Source of the Dictionary, then to change it, you should edit the connection. You should select the GraphQL connection and the Edit command in the dictionary. Change a query and save changes, having clicked OK in the connection editor.
Using the GraphQL query language, you can select only the necessary data, which, in turn, will reduce the time it takes to obtain and process it and, accordingly, reduce the time it takes to render a report and display a dashboard.

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On our YouTube channel, you can find a video about the work with the GraphQL data adapter, watch it, and don’t forget to subscribe to the channel to get the latest videos.

Greetings to all readers of the Stimulsoft blog! We continue the series of articles about the report designer and its basic components.

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In the previous articles, we told you about:

• First run of the report designer, how and where to download and install it, about skill levels and how they exert influence over the application;
• Data connection, creating connections, a file data source, etc.

Also, we’ve explored such dashboard elements as:

• Table;
• Chart;
• Gauge;
• Online map;
• Indicator.

Today you’ll learn about another element – Progress, its basic features and how it is applied in dashboards.

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Progress

Progress is a data visualization component that demonstrates the growth rate of a value relative to a target. In addition, it allows you to calculate the relative share of a value.

The Progress has various features and settings, let’s take a closer look at the main of them.
The first thing we’d like to start with is that it’s possible to enter data manually and add them from data sources in the element editor. Also, you can select a type of Progress using the Mode, where there are 3 options: Circle, Pie, and DataBars.

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Using the Progress element in dashboards

Worldwide known Apple company, the largest producer of smartphones, computers, tablets, and software, has always been at the top of the rating of the most profitable companies in the world. According to pro forma data, the company’s revenue from January to March 2022 is almost $100 billion. We decided to show the company’s revenue from 2015 to 2021 in a dashboard. In this case, we used the Progress element. Using it, we displayed the statistics and calculated the relative share of the revenue for each year, having taken as the basic minimum and maximum indicators for the entire period.

The Internet has drastically changed our lives. We’re always in touch with our relatives and friends, message each other every day, communicate using video calls, download books, movies, and music, and find the information we need in a split second – all this is due to the development of the World Wide Web. However, not all people on our planet use this wonderful invention: somewhere there are more Internet users, somewhere less, and somewhere they don’t exist at all. Using a dashboard, we showed the statistics on using the Internet worldwide. When creating it, we used the Progress element and showed the total percentage of Internet users worldwide. It’s worth noting that the data is quite old, and if you refer to it, only 35 % of all people in the world use the Internet. At the end of 2021, this figure was 65%.

As you know, oil is one of the most critical and expensive minerals. In the dashboard above, we displayed oil production statistics according to OPEC data for 2018-2019. It shows leading countries by production, the average and total global oil production rates, and the growth of black gold production for 2018-2019 that we displayed using the Progress element. As a result, we also calculated a relative share, having taken as basic data of oil production volume.