Oracle Reports Builder Questions & Answers

What are the different types of reports?

●    Tabular

●    Master Detail Reports

●    Form Reports

●    Form Letter Reports

●    Mailing Labels Reports

●    Matrix Reports

What are Anchors in reports builder?

An anchor defines the actual position of an object. Anchors are used to determine the vertical and horizontal positioning of a child object relative to its parent.

What are the different types of anchors in Reports?

A There are two types of anchors in Oracle Reports:

●    Implicit (Creates when a report will run)

●    Explicit (Anchors you create)

What are different types of report triggers also define their order of firing ?

There are five reports trigger with order:

1-Before Parameter Form

2-After Parameter Form

3-Before Report

4-Between Pages

5-After Report

Before Form Trigger:

It will Fires before the Run time Parameter Form that will displayed on screen. By using this trigger you can change the value of the parameters.

After Form Trigger:

Fires after the Run time Parameter Form is displayed. From this trigger, you can access parameters and check their values. This trigger can also be used to change parameter values or, if an error occurs, return to the Runtime Parameter Form.

Before Report Trigger:

It will Fires before the report is executed but after queries are parsed and data is fetched.

Between Pages Trigger:

Fires before each page of the report is formatted, except the very first page. This trigger can be used for customized page formatting. (Note : In the Previewer, this trigger only fires the first time that you go to a page. If you subsequently return to the page, the trigger does not fire again.)

After Report Trigger:

Fires after you exit the Previewer, or after report output is sent to a specified destination, such as a file, a printer, or an Oracle*Mail userid. This trigger can be used to clean up any initial processing that was done, such as deleting tables. Note, however, that this trigger always fires, whether or not your report completed successfully.

Format Triggers :

Format Triggers are PL/SQL functions executed before the object is formatted. The trigger can be used to dynamically change the formatting attributes of the object.

What are Placeholder Columns ?

A placeholder is a logical column for which you can conditionally set the datatype and value via PL/SQL or a user exit. Placeholder columns are useful when you want to selectively populate a column with a value.

What are the different page layout sections in Oracle Reports ?

A report has three main sections:

1-Report header pages

2-Report body/margin pages

3-Report trailer pages

What are different types of parameters?

There are two types of parameters:

1-System Parameters

2-User defined (bind and lexical) parameters

What is the difference between Bind and Lexical parameter?

1-Bind parameters are used to replace a single value in SQL or PL/SQL, such as a character string, number, or date.

2-Lexical parameters are placeholders for text that you embed in a SELECT statement. Use Lexical reference when you want the parameter to substitute multiple values at runtime. You can use lexical references to replace the clauses appearing after SELECT, FROM, WHERE, GROUP BY, ORDER BY, HAVING, CONNECT BY, and START WITH.

Define different types of Matrix report ?

1-Single query

2-Multi query

3-Nested Query

4-Matrix Break

What is ‘page protect’ property in report builder?

Page protect property for an object indicates whether to try to keep the entire object and its contents on the same logical page. Checking Page Protect means that if the contents of the object cannot fit on the current logical page, the object and all of its contents will be moved to the next logical page.

What is the ‘Print Condition Type’ property?

‘Print Condition Type’ property specifies the frequency with which you want the object to appear in the report. The Print Condition Type options indicate the logical page(s) on which the object should be triggered to print with regard to the Print Condition Object.

What are the various values of the ‘Print Condition Type’ property in Reports ?

The various values are :

1-All:

All means the object and all of its contents will be printed on all logical pages of the Print Condition Object. The object will be repeated on any overflow pages of the Print Condition Object and will be truncated at the logical page boundary, if necessary.

2-All but First:

All but First means the object and all of its contents will be printed on all logical pages of the Print Condition Object except the first logical page. The object will be formatted only on overflow pages of the Print Condition Object and will be truncated at the logical page boundary, if necessary.

3-All but Last:

All but Last means the object and all of its contents will be printed on all logical pages of the Print Condition Object except the last logical page. The object will be repeated on any overflow pages of the Print Condition Object except the last one and will be truncated at the logical page boundary, if necessary.

4-Default:

Default means that Oracle Reports will use object positioning to set the Print Condition Type to either *First or *Last for you.

5-First:

First means that the object and all of its contents will only be printed on the first logical page of the Print Condition Object. The object will be formatted and will overflow to subsequent pages, if necessary.

6-Last:

Last means that the object and all of its contents will only be printed on the last logical page of the Print Condition Object. The object will be formatted after the Print Condition Object and will overflow to subsequent pages, if necessary.

What is the difference when Flex mode is mode “ON” & when it is “OFF”?

When we set flex mode is ON then reports automatically resizes the parent when the child is resized.

What is the difference when confine mode is “ON” and when it is “OFF”?

When we set confine mode is “ON” thenobject cannot be moved outside its parent in the report layout.

What is the minimum number of groups that is required in matrix report?

Four groups are required for a matrix reports.

What is the lock option in reports layout in oracle reports builder?

when we set lock option we cannot move the fields in the layout editor outside the frame. This is very useful for maintaining the fields.

What are different types of column in reports?

There are 3 types of columns in the reports builder:

1-Placeholder Column

2-Formula Column

3-Summary Column