My First Fusion Chart

Thanks to the articles provided by PaulM I was able to create a simple FusionChart. But a disadvantage that I discovered with the integration using embedded object method as mentioned on the FusionCharts website is the non-support of rendering charts with pure JavaScript option using this method.

Since we have some users who would like to use iPad/iPhone for viewing Cognos reports in the future this would not be an optimal solution for us. I wanted to highlight some such limitations provided in the FusionCharts website so people can make informed decisions regarding such integrations.

"When embedding using OBJECT/EMBED method, only Flash charts will show up. Additionally, features such as JSON data support, managed printing in Mozilla based browsers and enhanced browser-specific error handling would not function as well, as they are dependent on the FusionCharts JavaScript class."

Also when using pure JavaScript rendering of charts not all features available with the flash charts are supported. Like the scroll bars available for flash based charts that I was really impressed with are not available in the JS version of the charts. Hoping that this would be addressed in future releases.

I am still working on the CMS and JS rendering approach due to the limitation discussed above. Hope support for JS rendering of charts using object embedding method is brought out in future releases.

Using Layout Component References

This is in continuation with my previous article about the advantages of using Layout Component References. Creating and using Layout Component References is very easy. You create a report, let us call this the source report, that has all the components like Header items, Footer items that you would be frequently using across various reports. Name all the components in the reports.



In the target report, drag and drop the Layout Component Reference object. Choose the source report and the components you wish to use.



If you wish to override some of the objects pulled in then select the object and click on the "Overrides" property and choose the named sub-component that you wish to over-ride. For example, for some reports you would like a different Logo to be displayed. You can override the report title but continue to use the styles, fonts set for that table cell.



A sample of the overridden layout component where the logo and the report title objects have been overridden:

Templates vs Layout Component References

Often I have been asked if it is a best practice to create report templates and have developers use them for basing their reports. But instead I would suggest going with layout component references and using them in reports. Layout Component References offer a lot of advantages over the traditional Template approach. The references can be used as a base and can be over-ridden for particular report requirements. And any time there is a change to the layout component the reports will all reflect the changes unless the object has been over-ridden. This saves developers a lot of time making the changes across reports.

In my next article, I will touch base on creating and using Layout Component Objects.