Lesson 6: Specify the starting report

The website generation template that you build gets information from the System Architect repository using reports from System Architect's reporting system. The first report that is run is called the 'starting' report. In this lesson you specify a starting report.

As the starting report runs, it kicks off sub-reports that traverse the System Architect repository like an octopus. The starting report and its sub-reports form a hierarchy of reports. You can optionally specify that a starting report direct its output to the website’s home page. You can also specify more than one starting report. If you do, your website output will simply reflect more than one top level. However, only one starting report can be specified as the output for the home page.

The starting report:

You can have more than one starting report, but only one can generate its output to the home page or the website output.

1 In the System Architect Publisher on the Specify Reports tab, specify the folder from which reports are chosen in the Specify System Architect Reports Folder property. The default is:

Note The reports in this folder are reports that have been made special for use with SA Publisher. They might have been created with the reporting system’s graphical user interface, but then also have been modified with special commands in the reporting system’s text editor.

You can inspect the code of the report file, and edit it in Text mode, by right‑clicking on the report file name (or any report in the report file), and clicking Edit.

•Drag a report from the Available Reports to the Start the Web site With These Reports list, under the Starting Pages choice.

Note You can specify more than one starting report by dragging more than one report under the Starting Pages choice.

3 Right-click the starting report and choose Report Start Criteria. The Report Start Criteria dialog opens.

4 If Include all items of class and type is selected, all such items in the encyclopedia are generated to the resulting website report (in the example below, you get all packages).

5 To specify a particular diagram, definition, or symbol type, clear Include All Items of Class and Type and then click Show items. All items in the encyclopedia of the type selected appear in the list below Show items.

Note The report that you select as a starting report has to have been modified for use with SA Publisher to include the code WHERE "Identity" = "SWGDDID" for you to be able to publish it for a particular definition. If the code is not in the report, then the Show items choice and all related selections will be greyed out. You won't be able to specify a particular item.

1 You can optionally specify one of the items to be the output home page. To do so, select the choice in the Home column. You can only pick one instance of one start report to be a home page. You do not have to have a home page specified at all for the web generation template.

Note that the starting reports are invisible to the eventual viewer of the website published with this template. Starting reports are used to kick off the report hierarchy. However, the home page is visible to the eventual viewer of the website.

In the figure below, the output of the report for the Reservations package has been selected to be included in the published output, and be on the home page.

When you select a home page, a *Home* indicator is added to the respective report in the Start the Web site with These Reports list.

To assign a style sheet to the starting report, right-click on any of the reports in the Start the Web site with These Reports list, then select Stylesheet to assign an XML stylesheet to the report. You can select one of the default stylesheets provided by SA Publisher in its Stylesheets subdirectory or create your own.

To remove a report from the Start the Web site With These Reports list, drag it into the Available Reports list, or right-click it, and then click Remove.