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Rpv Report Viewer and Print Server.
Contents
Rpv Viewer 5
How to use Rpv Viewer 5Toolbar 5
How to start Rpv Viewer 7
Rpv print server 8
How to start rpv print server 8Rpv print server interface 9
How to configure the server 10
Configuration of different types of files 12Communication between your program and rpv server 13
Different file types. Specifications 14
How to hold and release reports 15
Rpv and Rpd files. Programming reports. 16
Configuration, header, data sections 16Sample of an rpv report 17
Rpv Commands. 19
Settings 19
Report_title 19Orientation 20
Papersize 20
Spacing 20Print_alowed, save_allowed, export_allowed 21
Barwidth 21Pagelength, Pagewidth 22Common 22
MaxY 22
LM (left margin) and TM (top margin) 22
Declaring columns 22Rpv report commands 23
List of rpv commands 23
Sample of report 24
Rpd reports 25
Sample of Rpd reports 25
Editing a report 26
How to make an exportable report 27
Working with Rpv server on a remote FTP queue. 28
How to use Rpv Queue Connection (RpvConnect). 29
Quick reference for programming reports. 30
Configuration section 30
Header and data sections 32
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Overview.
Rpv is a printing system which includes a really easy report programming language.
Rpv was developed at first to solve a well known problem: the old DOS programs didnt printproperly when our customer began to change the printers. We couldnt condense fonts anymore, cutpages, and print with the quality that we wanted. Just imagine we didnt want to migrate to Windows
because Epson printers were not so popular now.
On the other hand, we had had some problems with other applications to develop reports. To us
was not acceptable to have a 500 pages book just to learn how to develop a report. Rpv is an interpreter
of rpv commands so you generate the report using the language that YOU want. Besides, we needed
some special things such as barcodes in the report and other tools couldnt give us those features.
With Rpv is possible to develop reports using any programming language (running on
Windows, DOS and even UNIX OSs) because what the developer is doing is only generating an ascii
text file that will be read by the program and formatted according the commands and specified settings.
Rpv lets the developer to insert all the needed images into a report and change colors of the fontfor an specific field if a condition is true of false, printing barcodes, draw boxes and lines, and of course
opening, saving and exporting reports. Rpv also allows to specify the size of paper, letting you use
envelopes or special forms. It is possible to generate templates to create forms and insert them into the
reports. In fact, this version also has the ability to handle two different kind of templates.
Besides, the viewer and the print server are able to handle ascii plain files what is specially
useful for non-Windows operating systems using the FTP queue connection feature.
Rpv also provides a friendly graphical users interface to view the reports before they are
printed.
Since RPV reads ascii files (RPV, TXT, etc), those files can be created with DOS or Unix
applications for example, and since RPV is a Windows application, reports created on these environmentscan be printed using Windows features with Windows quality.
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What Rpv is good for.
First case in which Rpv will be useful for you is if you develop Windows applications and you need tohave control over your reports or you want something specific.
Other very normal case is when the developer has non Windows (DOS for example) application already
developed and running but needs to have better printing quality. Rpv will let you with really minorchanges format your DOS reports to be printed by Windows with Windows quality.
In this case is important to observe that the final user will not be affected by screen changes for example
to jump from a DOS screen to a Windows screen unless the printer opens a window when begins to print.
Rpv will let you print from DOS with Windows style without the user realizes that is working with a
Windows application too.
Another important thing that you will be able to do with Rpv is to print Windows style reports even from
Unix applications.
This means that you could be working directly to the Unix server via telnet and print a report in your
printer or in a central printer.
Rpv has two ways to work: viewer and server.
Rpv report viewer
The report viewer is an standard interface that shows the report and lets the user to print, save and export
reports, such as navigate throught its pages, zoom in, zoom out, etc.
Rpv print server
The print server allows the developer to print reports automatically with/without the preview. This is
specially useful for printing reports that come from DOS programs when the developer does not want to
jump from a DOS screen to a Windows screen. Using print server will be transparent to the user. In fact,
it is possible to print high quality reports (using bitmaps, barcodes, fonts, colors, etc.) from a DOS reportusing any printer, even if the printer is attached to a network.
The print server can also be used in the same way to print reports that come from a Unix server with thesame quality using the FTP queue connection.
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RPV Report Viewer.
User interface.
How to use RPV viewer.
The use of this interface is really simple and it is oriented to all those final users that do not have muchexperience..
Toolbar.
As you can observe, the toolbar is a really standard one and it does not need much explanation. Anyway,
using it, the final user will be able to navigate the report and perform operations such as printing, openingand saving, exporting, etc.
Lets see one by one, the buttons.
First page button. Goes to the first page of the report.
Previous page button. Goes to previous page of the report.
Goto button. Goes to an specific page. When user hits this button is prompted to specify the
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number of the page to go.
Next page button. Advances one page.
Last page button. Goes to the end of the report.
Zoom in. Enlarges the report.
Zoom out. Squeezes the report.
Print button. Sends the report to the default printer.
Print setup button. Opens a dialog box to customize the printing of the current report.
File open button. Opens an already saved report. It accepts to open RPV, RPD, TXT, LST and
PRN reports.
Save report button. Saves current report asking for a filename.
Export report button. Exports the current report to a delimited text file.
Exit button. Closes the viewer.
About button. Shows information about the application.
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How to start RPV viewer.
To start Rpv for viewing reports, you only have to type Rpv [report.Rpv] or select the option menu.
Rpv.exe file can also be executed using Windows Explorer.
Executing only Rpv without arguments, the report viewer will be opened letting the user to open
already saved reports.
If the user wants to start the viewer opening a report, the file name must be specified at the prompt. It is
important to remember to specify the extension of the file so the viewer must open it in the appropiateway.
If it is needed to open the application viewing a file using for example Visual Basic, the operation is verysimple:
Var = Shell(c:\program files\rpv\rpv.exe file_to_open, VbMaximized)
In this case we use the shell function of VB that executes a program, specifying that the viewer will beopened in a maximized window.
This application can open some different type of files such as RPV, RPD and plain text files. In case that
the file to be opened is not an RPV file, then the extension must be specified.
Example.
Var = Shell(c:\program files\rpv\rpv.exe text_file.TXT, VbMaximized)
In this case, the viewer is opening a TXT file so it must be specified. We are going to do the same to
open all files that do not have RPV extension.
Important: in the examples that we saw, have the full path to open the application. It is recommendableto declare the directory in which RPV is installed in the PATH string in AUTOEXEC.BAT to have
access from any directory and any drive.
In that case, the first example could be:
Var = Shell(rpv file_to_open, VbMaximized)
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Rpv print server
Like we said before, the print server will manage reports in background allowing a program to send
reports directly to printer.
Rpv print server can be started in two different ways.
Server Visible
Server Invisible
The capabilities of the program will be the same, but the final user will or will not see the serverinterface.
In almost all cases the server should not be visible. Anyway the user will be able to hide/show it asdesired.
How to start RPV print server.
Rpv s [-e] [-v] [-i] [-pqueue_dir] [-ffilename.cnx]
As you can see there are not many options to start it. Here the explanation of each one.
-s Tells RPV.EXE program to open in server mode. Remember that it can be opened in viewermode too.
-e Enables the ability of editing reports. This feature lets the programmer to see the source code ofthe report using the viewer by pressing ctrl-e keys.
-v Shows the rpv server console, if this flag is set, the server will start with the queue closed, if this
flag is ommited the console will be invisible and queue will be opened automatically.
-i Hides the little icon shown in the taskbar when the server is running. This is specially useful not
to allow the user to configure the server. In fact the final user wont know that a server isrunning.
-p Specifies the queue directory. Rpv works printing all those reports that you/your programs placein the queue directory. If you ommit this, the default queue directory will be c:\temp. If it does
not exist the application will show an error when starting.
-f Specifies the connection file to use a remote FTP queue. Rpv can have a remote queue
directory on an FTP server. To perform this you must have the CNX file that tells the Rpv
server the host, username, password and queue directory of the remote FTP server. See remoteFTP queue utility to create these CNX files.
Example:
RPV s i pf:\myreports fc:\ftp_queue
This example tells the program to open in server mode, hiding the little icon, having the reports in
f:\myreports and connecting to an remote FTP queue using the connection file c:\ftp_queue.cnx
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Rpv print server interface.
Using the print server interface it will be possible to open/close, configure, and view reports.
As you can see, the server console is an small window with few options.
One of the things to explain at this point is the reason of the held and released reports.
It happens that the rpv server doesnt know when a report is done or when it is being generated. If the
server finds a report that is being created, an error can occur. Just imagine that the server is trying to print
a file that is not 100 % created.
To prevent this, we recommend to create reports in held status. The reports that are held are not printed,
even if queue is opened (when the square is green instead of red). After the report is created, it must be
released to be printed. See How to hold/release reports.
One by one all the buttons we can see on this screen.
Empty There are two buttons with the same text. Pressing these we empty the selected queue
(held or released).
Config Opens the configuration screen and shows more options.
Open Queue Opens/closes the queue printing or not depending of the state of the queue. When the
queue is opened the color of the square will be green and when it is closed, it will be
red. Text in button will change: Open Queue orClose Queue depending of the state ofthe queue.
About Opens the about dialog box.
Minimize Pressing this button, the server console will be hidden and all you will be able to see is
the little icon on the taskbar. To restore the window, just double click on the icon. If
the server was started with -i flag, user will not have the ability to
restore/minimize since the icon is not on the taskbar.
Shutdown Terminates the execution of the application. It does not empty queues.
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How to configure the server.
The configuration of the server is very simple and it can be saved for future sessions. Just hit the the
config button on the server console.
Using this interface you will be able to set the queue directory, specify which files will be printed, andconfigure the remote FTP queue.
These three options will determine if those types of files will be printed or not by the server. You may
want to print only RPV files but not TXT so you unselect text files for example. In most of cases three
options should be selected.
The queue directory can be changed here telling the server a new directory. It is important to advise that
only one queue directory can be declared at a time.
Use the browsebutton to select the directory that you want to be the queue directory.
The application wont permit to select a root directory as a queue directory because root has
important files not to be deleted. It is really important that you define an special directory
(better if you have created it specially for the rpv server) and be carefull not to place files that
you dont want to be deleted on it . Rpv prints and deletes the files permanently.
Other important thing is to be sure that you/your program has full access to the queue
directory (read/delete) because the server needs to delete files. If the files cant be deleted, the
server will print them each time the files are found.
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The CNX file is the file that has all the information about the remote FTP connection. If this field is
blank the rpv server wont connect to any remote FTP server. See FTP queue connection utility to
learn how to create CNX files.
Specify here a range between 5 and 60 seconds to check the remote FTP queue (if CNX file is
specified).
A good value for this field is 20.
These three buttons will let the user to perform a complete FTP queue configuration. Clicking the button
Launch FTP Queue Connection Utility you will be able to create and edit the CNX files.
The other two buttons work together to connect the rpv server to the FTP server.
To connect to the remote FTP queue (or if you want to change your connection), you must test the
connection first. This means that the button Connect to FTP queue now will be disabled while you
dont hit Test connection. Once you tested the connection (and the connection is succesful) the button
to connect to FTP queue will be enabled.
Once it is enabled, just hit it and the changes will take effect.
Click on Save configuration to save the changes to disk. After this, when you start the server it will
take these option by default.
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Configuration of different file types.
Rpv has the ability to print different type of files. All of them can be configured by pressing Files
configurationbutton.
After you click this button, next window will appear on the screen.
When this window is shown, the only field that is going to be enabled is File type and you will have toselect the extension you want to see/modify.
Once you have selected the desired extension the rest of the fields will be enabled.
After you finish to modify the settings ofEACH extension, click on applybutton to changes takeeffect.
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If you want to save these settings permanently click on Save configurationbutton in previous screen.
It is important to say that TXT, LST and PRN files are basically the same kind of file: ascii
plain files. What we pretend by separating them is to have three different configurations for
the same kind of file. For example if your DOS application has to print some reports using a
font size and some others using another one, you can just define ones as TXT and others asLST for example. After that you must configure the print server as desired.
Communication between your program and the Rpv server
The rpv server can perform, even when the interface is not visible, some actions that could be very
important for your applications.
For example suppose that your program is about to generate hundreds of reports (such as invoices) to bestored first to be printed all together some time later.
In that case you might want to close the queue not to let them to be printed. You may also want to emptyqueues before begining.
Rpv server accepts commands that are stored into CMD files that means command. A CMD file isany name with CMD extension and has to be placed into the queue directory to be executed.
When the server finds a CMD file, it executes it as soon as possible. If the server is printing a report, itexecutes the CMD file after the printing of the current report.
Here is a list with the commands accepted to control the print server.
OPEN_QUEUE Opens the queue (sends reports to printer).
CLOSE_QUEUE Closes the queue (stops printing).
HOLD_ALL Sends reports from released queue to held queue.
RELEASE_ALL Sends reports from held queue to released queue.
EMPTY_HELD_QUEUE Deletes all the files in held queue.
EMPTY_RELEASED_QUEUE Deletes all the files in released queue.
RESTORE_ME Shows the print server interface.
HIDE_ME Hides the print server interface.
SHUTDOWN Terminates the execution of the print server. It does notprompt for any confirmation.
Basically, the commands described above are the same you have in visible mode.
These commands have no arguments and to be executed, they have to be in the specified directory for the
queue and with the CMD extension.
The server will delete each CMD file once it has been entirely executed with the exception of the
SHUTDOWN command, which wont delete the file.
Anyway, each time the server is started it deletes all the CMD files with the exception of the
AUTOEXEC.CMD which will be executed when the server starts and after the execution it will bedeleted. This CMD file will be useful to start the server in an specific way; for example, emptying the
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queues.
It is important to observe that the server wont warn anything if you make a mistake executing a
command, in fact, it will be skipped. The CMD commands will work if the server is visible or invisible
so you will be able to test the behavior of the application.
About the frequencies the server uses to search.
The print server searches the directory every five seconds.
If the server finds reports in the released reports queue, they will begin to be printed by name. This means
that the server wont print the reports exactly the order they came. So if you want to print reports in an
specific order, you will have to name them according the order you want them to be printed.
If the server finds reports, those five seconds will disappear and the application will print all the reports
in one step without stopping until it finishes, when it will begin searching every five seconds again.
Anyway, if the server is printing jobs and you insert a CMD file in the mean time, the commands that
are into the file will be executed after the printing of the current report so it wont be necessary to waituntil the queue is empty to close it.
Different files types. Specifications.
Rpv (server and viewer) can accept different file types. They are:
Extension Description
Rpv standard Rpv file.Rpd Rpv data file.
Txt plain ascii file.
Lst plain ascii file.
Prn plain ascii file.
Extensions are not case sensitive. They can be in upper or lower case.
First two extensions are native Rpv extensions, which will be explained later.
The rest of the extensions are plain ascii files that can be printed/viewed by rpv according with the
specified settings in RPV.INI file. Remember that RPV.INI file is created/modified by the rpv printserver when you configure its options.
It is important to say that TXT, LST and PRN files are basically the SAME KIND OF FILE:
ascii plain files. What we pretend by separating them is to have three different configurations
for the same kind of file. For example if your DOS application has to print some reports using
a font size and one specific paper orientation and some others using other settings, you can
just define ones as TXT and other as LST for example. After that you must configure the print
server as desired.
How to hold and release reports.
As we said before, we have five extensions recognized by the print server.
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To hold a report we must change the extension of the file according to the following table.
Released Held
RPV RPRPD RD
TXT TX
LST LS
PRN PR
According to this table to hold a RPV report you must rename it with RP extension. If you want to
release the same report, you must rename it as RPV extension again.
Please observe that with the exception of RPD files, the rest of the files have the same extension
without the last letter. RPD files are RD not to have conflict with RPV files.
IMPORTANT
If you have an application that prints reports automatically, generate it as a held file until the report is
done and closed. Once you have the report done, rename it with the released extension. This means dontcreate released reports in the queue directory while the server is running or the queue is opened.
Other interesting thing is to create the released report in other directory (not the queue directory) andwhen it is done, to move it to queue directory to be printed.
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RPV and RPD files. Programming reports.
Rpv and Rpd files are the native files of Rpv application.
We will begin with Rpv files, and when were done, the Rpd files will be explained because is needed tolearn Rpv to understand Rpd (Basically Rpd files have data to be inserted into Rpv files).
An Rpv file is a normal ascii text file with extension Rpv and must be structured in an specific way.
With Rpv, you are not sending the report directly to the printer, so you are only generating a text file. If
you are modifying and your program sends data to the printer, you will have modify the program to printa file.
Before beginning, you must know that you will only have to take care of the Xs and not of the Ys. This
doesnt mean that you only have control of the columns of you report but probably most of cases will bethis way.
Since all the files that the application can print/view are ascii plain files, Rpv files can be generated using
any language running on any operating system. In fact you could use the awkin any x OS to generateone rpv report.
In an Rpv file, we can recognize three sections.
Configuration
Header
Data
The configuration section is the section in which the report has values such as papersize, default printer,
report title, etc.
You can recognize it because it is at the top of the report before the header section.
The header section is the text that will be printed in all the pages of the report. In header section you can
define footer too as desired. It is recognized by the identifier[header].
The data section is the data of the report and it must be placed after header section. It will be recognizedby the identifier [data]. The data will change page by page.
If youre familiar with DOS programming, you will remember that you can place 80 chars per line, orsometimes 132 if you are compressing the font with a standard letter paper.
Rpv needs you to define columns too, but for that youll have to say it in twips and not in columns.
Each centimeter has about 567 twips and each inch has about 1440.
This means for example that if you want to place a text two centimeters from the left margin, you will
specify {1134}. (567 * 2).
This example specifies 2 centimeters, its more used to specify round values. Ex: {1100}.
The following is an easy example of an Rpv report. To test it just open a notepad or even a DOS editor,paste this code, and save it with rpv extension. The difference of colors is only to show the different
sections of the report.
Report_title=Sample of an Rpv report.
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Orientation=2[header]{f=arial;s=12;b=y;\n}{400} Sample Rpv report
{s=10;\n;\n}{400} Name {3000} Address {b=n;\n;\n}[data]
{400} Agustina Lovatto {3000} Callao 355 {\n}{400} Brian Mercer {3000} Asamblea 733 {\n}{400} Jony Bekenstein {3000} Pedro Lozano 5433 {\n}{400} Kevin Mercer {3000} Asamblea 733 {\n}{400} Melody Lovatto {3000} Callao 355 {\n}{400} Ornella P. Merlo {3000} San Nicolas 122 {\n}{400} Stefi A. Piccoli {3000} Mercedes 2074 {\n}
How you see it with the Rpv viewer.
As you can see, what Rpv viewer (or server) is interpreting is a plain file, and you give commands to itwith the strings that are between brackets ({ and }).
The case that we see here is a report that doesnt have much data. If it has more data, the viewer/serverwill take care of the pages.
Rpv Commands.
To format text using Rpv, you must learn the commands that are accepted by the Rpv. Commands arebetween brackets and you can join them by separating with a semicolon char.
In the source code that we saw before, observe how the report is built. You can see for example thestrings {\n} are all in the same column. This format is not required, in fact Rpv doesnt need that you
leave any space between the text that you want to print and the commands.
By the way, it is important to know that the interpreter will cut the strings and will ignore the spaces
(the strings will be trimmed). If you want to avoid this, just place another char instead of space; for
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example could be a chr(160)
Here is the same example without the spaces.
Report_title=Sample of an Rpv report.Orientation=2
[header]{f=arial;s=12;b=y;\n}{400;c=2}Sample report{c=0;s=10;\n;\n}{400}Name{3000}Address{b=n;\n;\n}[data]{400}Agustina Lovatto{3000}Callao 355{\n}{400}Brian Mercer{3000}Asamblea 733{\n}{400}Jony Bekenstein{3000}Pedro Lozano 5433{\n}{400}Kevin Mercer{3000} Asamblea 733{\n}{400}Melody Lovatto{3000} Callao 355{\n}{400}Ornella P. Merlo{3000}San Nicolas 122{\n}{400}Stefi A. Piccoli{3000}Mercedes 2074{\n}
Rpv executes both reports in the same way.
IMPORTANT.
If you want to represent brackets ({ or } or both) into your report, you can solve that situation
by using thee OPEN and CLOSE settings at the configuration section. After that you can use
the brackets and you must use the declared chars to open/close settings.
Example:
Report_title=How to use OPEN & CLOSEOpen=/Close=%
[header]/f=arial;s=10%/1000% The chars { and } are going to be displayed now /\n%
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Rpv commands.
We must separate this section in two: settings and commands.
Settings.
We will use settings to define some parameters in the first lines of the report (configuration section).
Most of the settings have a default value and it will be necessary to use some of them only when we need
something special. We will try not to specify settings unnecessaryly.
The settings will be expressed in the same way that we express settings in DOS or even in UNIX.
Example:
SETTING=VALUE.
The following is an example of a configuration section of an standard Rpv file.
Report_title=Detail transactions report.Papersize=A4Orientation=2Spacing=250$column_01=1000$column_02=2000$column_03=3000$column_04=4000
Observe that the last four settings are columns and they define the position (in twips) of the columns.
Their use is optional and Rpv lets you specify the column or a literal in the header or data sections.
Example: {$column_01}equals{1000}
The following are the settings that will be accepted by Rpv.
REPORT_TITLE:
This setting specifies the title that the report will have when is opened with the report viewer and it is not
needed for those reports that will be sent to the printer automatically with the Rpv server.
If report_title setting is ommited, the title in the window will be the temporal file that the viewer will
generate to see the report. That file will be a number with the extension $$1.
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ORIENTATION:
This setting specifies the paper orientation (portrait or landscape) for a report. Only one orientation perreport is accepted by the program. This means that all the pages in the report must have the same paper
orientation.
The default value for this setting is 1 that means porttrait.To set the orientation to landscape use the value 2.
Example:
ORIENTATION=2
The report will be printed with landscape orientation.
Remember that to print a report using portrait orientation it wont be needed to set this variable.
PAPERSIZE.
This setting specifies the type of paper that you will use.
There are some types already loaded into the program but you can change the size of the pages using the
settings PAGELENGHT and PAGEWIDTH.
The types of paper accepted by Rpv are: A4, letter, executive, legal, B5, envelope10 and envelopedl.
The default value for this setting is A4 and any value that is not listed above will generate a warning
telling you that the papersize is not recognized and A4 will be set automatically unless you have set
pagelenght and pagewidth settings.
SPACING.
This setting will determine the space between lines. Like the rest of the values it must be expressed in
twips.
The default value for spacing is 200.
If you are going to work with big sizes of fonts it will be necessary to change it.
Try changing this value and reload the report to see the effects.
See also spacing command.
Note: Remember that each centimeter has about 567 twips and each Inch has 1440 twips.
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PRINT_ALLOWED, SAVE_ALLOWED and EXPORT_ALLOWED.
These three settings will determine if the reports will be allowed to print, save or/and export.
The default values are Y for them and they will only work with the Rpv viewer. Rpv server wont pay
attention to these settings.
SAVE_ALLOWED=NPRINT_ALLOWED=NEXPORT_ALLOWED=N
The example above will show a report to a user but the report wont be allowed to print, save or export.
This will be useful for example if the viewer is showing an invoice that should not be reprinted.
Even when the Rpv server wont attempt to save and export reports, it will print the reports even if
PRINT_ALLOWED is set to N.
BARWIDTH
This setting defines the size (lines and spaces separations) of the barcodes that the report will use.
Three values are possible and each one has its own application.
1 (default) Will print the barcodes using the minimum size. It will be recommended for laser printers.
2 This setting will print the barcodes using a medium size and its recommended for inkjet printers.
3 This setting will use the maximum size and will be recommended for dot matrix printers.
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PAGELENGHT, PAGEWIDTH
Use these values to define an special type of paper. They must be expressed in twips.
PAGELENGHT and PAGEWIDTH are not compatible with PAPERSIZE. In fact, what PAPERSIZEdoes is to set these two settings avoiding you have to do it.
The setting ORIENTATION will work normally with these settings.
COMMON
This setting will determine the commands that the program will use as default.
Everytime the header of the report is shown or printed, the string COMMON will be sent before the
[DATA] of the report.
This setting wont be necessary if the programmer pays attention to open/close some values like bold,
size, font, etc.
Example of common setting.
COMMON={A=L;F=TIMES NEW ROMAN;S=8;B=N;U=N;I=N}
The string that you see above means:
A=L Alignment left.
F=TIMES NEW ROMAN Font name.
S=8 Size of the font.
B=N Font bold = No
U=N Font underlined = No
I=N Font italic = No
MAXY
This setting determines the maximum Y value for text before beginning a new page. By default,
MAXY will be the page lenght. Modify the Maxy value to cut the page the way you need.
LM, TM
LM (left margin) and TM (top margin) are used to determine the margins for your report.
Changing these values will be specially useful when it is necessary to fit an entire report into a page. Top
margin and left margin will affect the entire report.
Its important to observe that the top or left margins could be possitive or negative numbers.
Double click on the status bar of the viewer and you will see the margins.
Declaring columns.
Rpv accepts to declare some values in the configuration section to use them as columns.
This is useful for changing all the values modifying only one value in configuration section.
To declare a column, will be required that the column has a name that begins with $ char. After that,you can type the name you want for the column containing even spaces.
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Example:
$COL_0=400
The value will be expressed in twips and after this declaration {400} will be the equal {$col_0} (lower or
upper case doesn't matter).
If you have declared columns, double click on the status bar to see them and their values.
It is desirable (but not required) not to declare columns with long names because it can affect
the performance of the viewer and server; specially the viewer (lets remember that even when
the system is slow, it will be faster than most of printers).
Rpv report commands
The following commands can be included into the [header] or[data] section of your report. They dontwork in configuration section
There are no many Rpv commands and all of them are easy to remember and easy to use.
Here a list with commands accepted by Rpv.
\NP New page. Terminates current page and starts a new one.\N Next line.
\P Previous line.
C= Font foreground colorA= Text Alignment (Left/Right/Center)
BAR Begin of barcode printing.
NOBAR End of barcode printingU= Font underlined yes/noB= Font bold yes/no
I= Font Italic yes/no
E Determines if the line will be exported in an export operation.T Inserts a ; when the report is exported as a delimiter.
S= Sets Font size
F= Sets Font namePIC= Inserts an image file into your report.
LINE= Draws an horizontal line into your report.
COPY= Inserts a file (with Rpv format) into your report in an specific place.BOX= Draws a box into your report.
W= Determines the width of the line drawn.
SPACING= Determines the space between lines for the next \n or \p operation.TOPOFPAGE Returns to the top of current page.
XYLINE= Draws any line into your report.
All the commands must be between brackets ({ and }) to be read by the program, so for example ifyou want to change the color for a text when the previous one was black (zero) and after that to go to
next line you must type
{C=2} this text will be printed green {C=0} {\N}
When you have to specify more than one command you can separate them using ;.
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Here is the same example:
{C=2} this text will be printed green {C=0;\N}
Here there is another easy example of a report.
REPORT_TITLE=Test of Rpv reportORIENTATION=1PAPERSIZE=LETTERSPACING=250MAXY=5000SAVE_ALLOWED=NPRINT_ALLOWED=NEXPORT_ALLOWED=Y$column_00=400$column_01=1500[HEADER]
{f=arial;s=10;a=l}{4000} Page {pag;\n}
{$column_00;b=y} ID# {$column_01} Name {\n;\n;b=n;s=7}[DATA]{$column_00} 359 {$column_01} MARCELA RIQUELME {\n}{$column_00} 360 {$column_01} MARIA DE LA LUZ BOETSCH {\n}{$column_00} 361 {$column_01} CANILO RIMA {\n}
You can repeat the structure in data section until you dont have more records to show and Rpv will takecare about where the pages begin and end.
See Quick reference at the end of the document to check syntax for the commands.
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Rpd reports.
Rpd type is Rpv data files. They contain the data that will be inserted into a report.
At first this feature was specially designed to solve the problem of storing thousands of invoices in a littledisk space but it can help you to work easilly with forms.
The Rpd file gives the data to other file (with Rpv format, not required Rpv extension) and has to be
linked to it.
template=c:\templates\template_carnet.rpv@photo=c:\program files\rpv\stefi.bmp@id_numb=41222333@name=Stefana Piccoli@address=Mercedes 2074 Capital@phone=0115411-4554-1234@birth_date=27/02/1999
The structure is really basic: in the first line of the report, the template must be declared. In this case, this
Rpd file will work with the template c:\templates\template_carnet.rpv.
After the first line, the structure is very simple;
@Variable_1 = Literal #1@Variable_2 = Literal #2@Variable_3 = Literal #3
On the other hand, to make this work we must have the template where the Rpd file says it is placed.
Here we show the contents of c:\templates\template_carnet.rpv
report_title=Carnetspacing=200barwidth=2$c0=1700$c1=3500$c2=3700[header]{f=arial}[data]{w=1;box=800,1000,5000,3000}{box=850,1050,1800,1800;spacing=1200;\N}{pic=@photo,900,1100,1700,1700}{c=1;f=Times new roman;s=11;b=y;a=c}{4300} REPUBLICA ARGENTINA {SPACING=250;\N}
{S=8;4300} GOBIERNO DE LA CIUDAD {\N;4300} DE BUENOS AIRES {\N;\N}{f=arial;c=0}{b=n;a=r;$c1} ID: {b=y;a=l;$c2} @id_numb {\n}{b=n;a=r;$c1} Name: {b=y;a=l;$c2} @name {\n}{b=n;a=r;$c1} Adress: {b=y;a=l;$c2} @address {\n}{b=n;a=r;$c1} Phone: {b=y;a=l;$c2} @phone {\n}{b=n;a=c;$c0} @id_numb {a=r}{$c1} Birth date: {b=y;a=l;$c2} @birth_date {\n;\n}{s=18;1200;bar} @id_numb {nobar;\n}
If you open this code as an Rpv report, you will see all the variables, but if you open the Rpd file, you
will see the final result.
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Editing a report.
From the Rpv viewer screen, you will have the possibility to edit the report that you are viewing. To do
so, all you have to do is pressing ctrl-e in any point of the viewer. Notepad will appear with the sourcecode of the report. Then the user will have the possibility to see and modify the report and reload it when
the notepad is closed. To do this, dont forget to start with -e option.
After the edition, the viewer will ask you if you want to reload the report that you have edited.
It is important to know that the report that youre editing is not the original source report. It is only a
temporal file. In fact, if you have any copy into your original report, you will be able to see that copy
inserted into this temporal file. So if you want to save it you will have to select save icon in the toolbarafter reloading it.
This will be specially useful when the developer needs to know the changes that have to be done in theprogram before doing them.
Something else that is possible to do from the viewer is to see the margins and the declared columns, justdouble click on the status bar and two lines will be shown telling you the top and left margins. Those
lines will be X and Y = 0. The columns will appear with their names and values.
By pressing ctrl key while moving the mouse on the report, you will see the values of X and Y in the
status bar.
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How to make an exportable report.
Rpv lets you export reports, but you must know a couple of things before doing it.
To be exportable, the line must begin with {e} . This setting tells the rpv when exporting to export that
line. This is to avoid exporting garbage or data that is not useful. For example you might not want to
export all the titles of your report.
Besides that, you must determine when to insert a delimiter using {t}.
Example:
The line
{e;a=l;$c1} George {$c2} Zacarias {\n}
Will be exported like:
George Zacarias
Or
{e;a=l;$c1} George {t;$c2} Zacarias {\n}
Will be exported like:
George;Zacarias
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Working with Rpv server on a remote FTP queue.
Rpv is able to work with queue that is in an FTP site which could be running any operating system such
as Unix or Linux.
If you are working with a Windows network you will only have to redirect your Rpv files to a shared
directory and tell Rpv server that that shared directory is the queue. If you are with Unix for example you
will need to define an FTP queue.
To define a queue on an FTP site first thing is to have an FTP server running on the remote computer and
it is needed to have a dedicated directory for Rpv and related files such as image files and templates.
After that, you have to create the CNX file by executing the FTP queue connection utility which will
create a file contaning the host, username, password and queue directory on the remote computer.
To do so, you can select the option that is shown in the menu or you can execute RpvConnect.exe file.
From the rpv server you can launch the program too.
The file this program will create is a CNX file that means connection but if you want to change that
extension you can do it. That file will be called by Rpv when the server starts. The file generated by
RpvConnect will be encrypted.
To place a report in a queue, dont generate it on the queue directory. It is recommended to create it inother directory and after the report is created, move it to the queue directory with its related files such as
bitmaps, includes, etc.
On an FTP server, Rpv application doesnt find held reports. If the application finds a report (Rpv,
Rpd, Txt, Lst and Prn) file into the directory, the program will download all the files that are into that
directory to the local queue directory to be printed after.
After the downloading Rpv will delete all the files that downloaded but if you dont want a file to be
deleted, make sure to change the attributes to the file not to be deleted by the program.
In case that the FTP server runs on an X os (Linux, Unix, etc) the report must be converted
using xtod command to be read properly by the Rpv. (XtoD means Unix to DOS and converts
the ascii file to DOS format; you may need another similar command depending of the OS that you
are using. nothing for Windows NT or 2000).
To work with Rpv using an FTP site, it is recommended to have all the bitmaps (logos for example)
and templates on the local hard drive and place only reports on the queue directory to avoid
downloading many files from the server.
VERY IMPORTANT NOTE.
It is extremelly important to have a DEDICATED directory only for queue. It is recommendable to
create a new one for this purpose. Ex: /tmp/rpvqueue . The reason is that the files are deleted
once they are printed. Never use $home or root directories.
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How to use Rpv Queue Connection (RpvConnect).
Open the program using its icon or execute RpvConnect.exe program and this screen will be shown.
As you can see, it is needed to give the program the necessary information to have a connection with anFTP site plus the directory in which the program will search for Rpv files.
After giving the program the information, should save the file to disk using the option save. This willgenerate the CNX file.
You can also edit an already saved file using open option.
The passwords are never shown.
It is strongly recommended that you use the option Test connection, available in the menu to confirm
that the connection that you created/edited works properly.
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Quick reference for programming reports.
Configuration section.
The configuration section is defined by the firsts lines of the Rpv file until [header] section appears.
In that section the programmer will define values for settings.
The possible settings are:
BARWIDTH Defines the width of lines and separations of the bars for
printing/showing barcodes. Possible values are 1 (default), 2 or 3.
COMMON Defines a string with Rpv commands that will be sent immediatly
after the header is printed or shown. This setting wont be necessaryif all the commands are opened/closed properly.
EXPORT_ALLOWED Defines if exporting the report will be permitted. Values Y or N
LM Defines the left margin (in twips).
MAXY Defines the maximum value for Y (in twips).
OPEN_VIEW Tells the server to open the viewer instead of send the report to theprinter. (This works for those reports that are printed throught the
server).
ORIENTATION Defines if the report will be printed/shown portrait or landscape
orientation. 1=Portrait, 2=Landscape.
PAGELENGHT Defines the lenght of the page (in twips).
PAGEWIDTH Defines the width of the page (in twips).
PAPERSIZE Defines the type of paper for the report.
PRINT_ALLOWED Defines if printing the report will be permitted. Values Y or N
PRINTER Defines which in which printer the report will be printed. The value
for this setting must be the name of the printer for Windows.
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REPORT_TITLE Defines the title of the report (window title).
SAVE_ALLOWED Defines if saving the report will be permitted. Values Y or N
SPACING Defines the space (in twips) between lines.
TM Defines the top margin (in twips).
Remember that the syntax for setting these values will be SETTING=VALUE.
Example.
REPORT_TITLE=Detail transactions report
The programmer does not have to use quotes in this section.
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Header and data sections.
The difference between header and data is that the header section will be repeated for every page that is
displayed or printed.
This means that the titles of a report will ussually go in header section but it is not required. What isrequired is that the header section exists even if it doesnt have information inside.
The data section will be the body of the report and Rpv will separate them by pages automatically
displaying a [header] on each new page.
The commands are the same for both.
The symbols { and } determine the begin and the end of the commands and the strings inside will be
interpreted. All the strings that are not between these two characters will be printed.
It is not necessary to open and close for each command. The commands can be separated using semicolon
char ;. This means you can open using { char and write commands inside separating them with ;.
After the last command, then you close them with } char.
Remember that to define the position (column) that the text will be printed or shown, there is no
command, it will be necessary only to specify the position value in twips or specify the column name forexample $COL_01 after it was defined in configuration section.
Text commands.
A Defines the alignment of text.
Expressed with L,RorC.
Ex: {A=L}
C Defines the color of the font.
Expressed in numbers from 0 to 16.Ex: {C=2} (color set to green).
F Defines the name of the font.Expressed in letters.
Ex: {F=Times new roman}
S Defines the size of the font.
Expressed in points.Ex: {S=18}
U Font underlined.
Expressed with Y orN.Ex: {U=Y}.
I Font italic.Expressed with Y orN.
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Ex: {I=N}.
B Font bold.
Expressed with Y orN.
Ex: .{B=Y}
Other commands.
E Tells Rpv to export the line in an exporting operation.
No arguments. Must be first part of the line.
\N Carriage return. Begins a new line.No arguments.
\P Goes one line up.No arguments.
\NP Begins a new page.
No arguments.
TOPOFPAGE Returns to the top of the page (Y=0).No arguments.
T Inserts a delimiter on its place when exporting.The delimiter is ;. No
arguments.
SPACING Defines the value of spacing setting for next \N or\P operation.
After a \n or \p operation, this value will be the original value.
Ex: {spacing=4000;\n}
BAR Defines that the text/numbers that are printed will be expressed in barcodes.
No arguments.
NOBAR Ends BAR.
{bar}Ex.
No arguments.11593468 {nobar}.
COPY Inserts an external file into the Rpv report.
The external file (with Rpv format, not necessary Rpv extension) will be
inserted in the place of the copy command
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Syntax:COPY=FILENAMEEx: {COPY=\TEMPLATES\INVOICE.TXT}
PIC Inserts an image file into the report.
Syntax:PIC=FILE.BMP,X, [Y], LENG HT, WIDTHThe values after the filename must be expressed in twips.In case Y is ommited, the image will be placed in the current Y position.
BOX Draws a box into the report. Expressed in twips.Syntax:Box=X1,Y1,X2,Y2
BOXF Draws a filled box into the report. Expressed in twips.
Syntax:Box=X1,Y1,X2,Y2
Boxf will fill the box with the color defined using C command.
LINE Draws an horizontal line into the report. Expressed in twips.
Syntax:LINE=X1,X2
The value of Y will be the current value.
XYLINE Draws any line into the report.
Syntax:XYLINE=X1,Y1,X2,Y2 .
W Defines the width of the lines that will be drawn.
These values are expressed in pixells.Ex: {W=1}
PAG Shows the number of the current page.
DATE Shows the current date.
TIME Shows the current time.
HOUR Shows the current hour.
MINUTE Shows the current minute.
SECOND Shows the current second.
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DAY Shows the current day (in numbers).
MONTH Shows the current month (in numbers).
YEAR Shows the current year (in numbers).
