How to pass an XML Datasource to a Table Component

Issue Description

It is possible pass an XML Datasource to a jrxml's Table Component.

Resolution

The JasperReport Samples can be combined to provide information and examples of passing an XmlDatasource to a Table Component.   So we'll reference these:

Subreport example:

http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/sample.reference/subreport/index.html#subreports

XmlDatasource example:

http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/sample.reference/xmldatasource/index.html

The files can be used within Studio via File -> New -> Project , browsing to the JasperReports Samples project, then running the report against the "Sample DB" datasource where possible.

Table Components, like charts and crosstabs get their data from "datasets".   A dataset is similar to a subreport in many ways, so a table and subreport are very similar.   The XmlDataSource sample's CustomersReport calls a subreport, so we can use it as the basis for our table.

1. In typical subReport element you define either <connectionExpression> or <dataSourceExpression> to specify the source used to populate the sub.   (see Subreport example )

2. In typical table component you specify the dataset via a datasetRun element, like:

   <datasetRun subDataset="TableDataset" 
   

   (for more info on datasets and datasetruns see the JR Ultimate Guide Datasets chapter)

3. But as you've seen in XmlDatasource sample, instead of <connectionExpression> , the Xpath query executor (queryString language="xPath") can expect <subreportParameterExpression>$P{XML_DATA_DOCUMENT} .  You can do the same thing with table compoments, skip the datasetRun, and just set subreportParameterExpression>$P{XML_DATA_DOCUMENT}

In the attached CustomersXmlMain.jrxml, I edited the XmlDataSource samples main report to remove the subreport and replace it with a table component.  To do this I:

1. Ran the table wizard to get basic field layout.    

2. Then I grabbed the query from the Xmldatasource example's subreport, OrdersReport.jrxml:

   <queryString language="xPath">
       <![CDATA[/Northwind/Orders[CustomerID='$P{CustomerID}']]]>
   

3. Created a parameter for the table's dataset

4. Edited the jrxml source, modifying the datasetRun to have three parameters, one for the parameterized query, the others for the Xpath executor:

   <datasetParameter name="CustomerID">
       <datasetParameterExpression>
           <![CDATA[$F{CustomerID}]]>
       </datasetParameterExpression>
   </datasetParameter>
   <datasetParameter name="XML_DATA_DOCUMENT">
       <datasetParameterExpression>
           <![CDATA[$P{XML_DATA_DOCUMENT}]]>
       </datasetParameterExpression>
   </datasetParameter>
   <datasetParameter name="XML_DATE_PATTERN">
       <datasetParameterExpression>
           <![CDATA["yyyy-MM-dd-HH"]]>
       </datasetParameterExpression>
   </datasetParameter>
   

References:

http://community.jaspersoft.com/documentation/jasperreports-library-ultimate-guide

Ref. Case 01438960

customersxmlmain_0.jrxml