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Printouts - FastReport (FRX)

SRS integrates with the FastReport (FRX) engine to generate pixel‑perfect documents (PDF/HTML) based on structured data returned by SRS commands.

Overview

Templates (.frx files) define the layout, formatting, expressions, and data bindings. At runtime SRS merges template + data and returns a finished artifact (HTML, PDF, or the populated template).

Template Location

Store all FRX templates in the application templates/ directory. Filenames should follow the convention:

Example: invoice.frx or report-summary.frx.

Quick Start

  1. Download the FastReport Community Designer:
  2. Create or edit a template locally and place it in templates/.
  3. In Report => options untick Compress report (report will be saved as xml)
  4. (Optional) Generate a starter template with embedded data:
    GET /api/srs/{id}/_new.frx srs_administrator
  5. Preview your output using the endpoints below.

Preview Endpoints

Endpoint Description
/api/srs/{id}/templatename.frx.html Renders the FRX template as HTML.
/api/srs/{id}/templatename.frx.pdf Renders the FRX template as PDF.
/api/srs/{id}/templatename.frx Returns the FRX template merged with data (raw FRX).

Notes:

  • The templatename must match the .frx file (case sensitive on some filesystems).
  • A corresponding template must exist in templates/ or a 404 / validation error is returned.

Generating a New Template with Data

Use the special endpoint to scaffold a blank template pre‑wired with your SRS data structure:

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GET /api/srs/{id}/_new.frx

Permissions: Role srs_administrator required.

Data Binding Model

SRS serializes data for FastReport into a JSON structure accessible inside expressions.

Data Shape Access Pattern
Array (multiple rows) [JSON.item.{srsCommand}.item.{propertyName}]
Single object [JSON.item.{srsCommand}.{propertyName}]

Replace {srsCommand} with the SRS command (item) name and {propertyName} with the column/field.

Examples

Scenario Example
First row field [JSON.item.sales.item.Amount]
Single object field [JSON.item.summary.Total]

Rendering Basic HTML in Text Objects

FastReport supports a limited subset of HTML tags in TextObject components.

Enable HTML rendering:
TextObject > Properties > Behavior > TextRenderType = HtmlTags

Supported (commonly used) tags: <b>, <i>, <u>, <br/>, <font color="#888888" size="8"> ... </font>

Conditional / Null Checks

Example expression to check if a nested value is not null (and not DBNull):

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!([JSON.item.srsCommand.item.propertyName] == null || [JSON.item.srsCommand.item.propertyName] is DBNull)

You can wrap this in an IIf for inline conditional formatting:

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IIf(!([JSON.item.srsCommand.item.Amount] == null), [JSON.item.srsCommand.item.Amount], "-")

Auto-Growing (Sizable) Content

To allow a text block to expand vertically, enable:

CanGrow = True

Example layout concept:

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DATABAND
  TextObject (CanGrow=True)

DATABAND
  Container
    TextObject (CanGrow=True)