Oracle Reports Q&A

Q: Name the report triggers. A: 1. Before Parameter 2. After Parameter 3. Before Report 4. Between Pages 5. After Report

Q: What are bind parameter and lexical parameter used for? A: A bind reference replaces a single value or expression. To create a bind reference in a query, prefix the parameter name with a colon (:). A lexical reference is a text string and can replace any part of a SELECT statement, such as column names, the FROM clause, the WHERE clause, or the ORDER BY clause. To create a lexical reference in a query, prefix the parameter name with an ampersand (&).

Q: What are the different sections in the Layout? A: Header, Main, Trailer

Q: What is SRW package and some procedures in SRW? A: It is the standard reports package and it has many procedures like USER_EXITS, DO_SQL, RUN_REPORT, MESSAGE,TRACE, BREAK, SET_ATTR.

Q: What are user exits in reports and name a few? A: User exits provided a way to pass control from Reports Builder to a program you have written, which performs some function, and then returns control to Reports Builder. Ex: SRW.DO_SQL, SRW.USER_EXIT

Q: How do you display only one record on each page in a report? A: Give Page Break in the Format trigger of the repeating frame.

Q: How do you write the report output to Excel file or text file? A: 1.Use TEXT_IO package 2.Use SPOOL in After Report trigger 3.Use UTL Package

Q: Give an example of the implementation of "between pages trigger" in reports. A: The total printed at the bottom of first page has to be carried to the top of the next page.

Q: What is Anchor in reports? A: Anchors fasten an edge of one object to an edge of another object, ensuring that they maintain their positions relative to its parent.

Q: The total printed at the bottom of first page has to be carried to the top of the next page. How do u do this technically? A: Between Page trigger.

Q: What is the difference between Conditional Formatting and format trigger? A: Both provide the same functionality, used to format the output based on particular conditions. Format triggers provide a wide variety of options when compared to conditional formatting(GUI). In format Triggers we have the option to write PL/SQL code where as conditional formatting is GUI based which provide limited options.

Q: How do you call a concurrent program or another report from a report? A: Use FND_SUBMIT.REQUEST() to call a concurrent program or a report. Use SRW.RUN_REPORT() to run a report directly without registering it as a concurrent program.

Q: How do you mail the output of a report? A: 1. Use UTL_SMTP (refer to Scripts tab for more details) 2. Use MAILX called in a shell script registered as a concurrent program with parameters File name and path.

Q: How can you grey out/ highlight/hide some records based on conditions in a report? A: Use Conditional formatting

Q: What is Report Busting? A: Reports bursting offers you to deliver a single report to multiple destinations simultaneously. It offers you to create multiple reports out of one single report model. For example, you can create just one employee report for all your departments and send an email with a PDF-attachment containing the report to each manager. Each report would contain only the relevant department information for that particular manager. Using the reports bursting functionality will reduce the overhead since you will only have a single data fetch and report format.

Q: Is it possible to change the margins for oracle report? A: Yes.

Q: What is the difference between "AFTER PARAMETER FORM" trigger and "BEFORE REPORT" trigger? A: AFTER PARAMETER FORM trigger is fired immediately after the report parameter form is submitted. BEFORE REPORT trigger is fired after the report queries are parsed and data is fetched.

Q: What are the mandatory parameters given in Reports A: P_CONC_REQ_ID, P_ORG_ID