Tools to control BIRT reports

The following options for BIRT can be activated in three ways:

• Parameter at the template
• Environment variable
• Session value buffer

The evaluation takes place in the order mentioned. Later calls overload earlier ones.

From JustRelate CRM 8.0, you will receive a tool to correct behavior that has changed since BIRT 4.8. The behavior that changed is that for DOCX output, content in table cells is truncated if BIRT determines that it does not fit in there. The previous behavior was that the text or number in the cell wraps.

To restore the previous behavior, the preprocessor modifies the layout (rptDesign) by adding the overflow property to label, text and data tags in table cells and setting the value to visible.

This happens in two situations:

1. When you click on Edit or View and copy to the client. The manipulated layout is written back to the database on the subsequent check-in.
   Note: For your own templates, we recommend checking in the change as a new version.
2. When a report is called, and the layout is copied to the BIRT workspace on the application server.

Please use the following names when using this as:

Parameter: OVW_VIS
Variable: PSA_BIRT_RPT_OVW_VIS
Session: PSA_BIRT_RPT_OVW_VIS

Possible values:
y - perform changes
n - no change

The need for a postprocessor becomes apparent when creating emails. For HTML output, BIRT puts the entire result into a table with invisible frames. This results in an undesirable behavior for the email recipient. If they make the email window narrow, the text is cut off. If the email window is made wider, the window width is not fully used because the table has a static width.

From JustRelate CRM 7.3: To restore the target behavior (continuous text), the table added by BIRT must be removed. The postprocessor assumes that this is the outermost table in the first div element. From the first td cell of the table, all children are added to the div element. Unfortunately, the postprocessor cannot detect whether an outer table with exactly these properties has been added by BIRT or was intended to be like this by the template designer.

It must therefore be possible to switch off the postprocessor at template level.

Parameter: INL_HTM_TAB
Variable: PSA_BIRT_RPT_INL_HTM_TAB
Session: PSA_BIRT_RPT_INL_HTM_TAB

Possible values: y / n as above

From JustRelate CRM 7.6: The next postprocessor measure is certainly useful for all email generation. Some users have reported that emails could not be delivered because BIRT generates a script element that does not contain any code but is recognized as potentially malicious by some mail servers. 

The postprocessor's task is to remove all script elements for security reasons.

Parameter: REM_SCR
Variable: PSA_BIRT_RPT_REM_SCR
Session: PSA_BIRT_RPT_REM_SCR

Possible values: y / n as above

From JustRelate CRM 8.0: The next postprocessor measure is also elementary for sending emails with images. BIRT allows to freely choose the unit for width and height (pixels, points, inches, centimeters, millimeters, etc.) for all objects where the size is definable (i.e., also images) and also stores the corresponding values and units in the generated HTML markup (cm | mm | in | pt | px).

All browsers and email clients can handle this, except Microsoft Outlook. For Microsoft Outlook, the only permissible unit is pixels (px). Other units are ignored. Images are displayed too large in most cases.

The task of the postprocessor is to convert the units selected in BIRT to px for image elements.

Parameter: CNV_IMG_DIM
Variable: PSA_BIRT_RPT_CNV_IMG_DIM
Session: PSA_BIRT_RPT_CNV_IMG_DIM

Possible values:
sty - Changes only the value and unit inside the style attribute.
att - Removes the dimension from the style and adds it as a separate attribute to the img tag.

From JustRelate CRM 8.0: The next postprocessor measure ensures that fonts are displayed properly in the CRM web client. The first div tag has the id __BIRT_ROOT and a style with a font. Without a postprocessor, the CLOB editor of the web client will display an incorrect font in the subsequent elements due to the above-mentioned style. 

To prevent this, the postprocessor modifies the style of the first div tag whose id is __BIRT_ROOT.

Parameter: REM_ROO_STY
Variable: PSA_BIRT_RPT_REM_ROO_STY
Session: PSA_BIRT_RPT_REM_ROO_STY

Possible values:
fnt - Removes font-family from the style attribute.
all - Removes the entire style attribute.