Configuring for IDM Output Reports

You can generate XML data using in any method desired.

ObjectXML

You can use ObjectXML() to generate an initial XML string representation of an object, but standard XML will need to be modified in most cases.

String builder

You can use string builder to generate XML data, but do not use simple string concatenation unless the XML is very small (for performance reasons).

Because the MS Word template has very little ability to modify or format data, the XML data should be exported ready-to-use, which will require modifying XML generated by ObjectXML. Many options exist and can be used depending on your knowledge and comfort level. Some examples of modifications that are typical:

  • Copying Parameter table to multiple tables renamed by Filter to show specific groups of parameters together
  • Parsing long text into a table separated by line returns
  • Formatting numeric data to specific decimal precision
  • Concatenating data together (e.g code + label)
  • Suppressing blank rows
  • Conditionally showing different parameter value results (plain vs. formatted number vs. enum label)

XSL transform

You can use XSL transform to modify XML data. Although when working in a Multi-Tenant cloud, there will be limitations on where the .xsl file can be stored. Working solely in-memory may also be possible

VB.Net XML functions

Many functions are available in VB.Net for parsing and modifying XML data.

Generating and Launching the Report

Functions have been built to generate and attach the report to the IDM Doc Type / PLM Process Function Code. To launch the report for viewing, a script library is available in Implementation Accelerator and Base databases (standard to all MT deployments).

VB.Net DataSet and StringReader

Converting the XML to a StringReader and then DataSet is another option to modify XML including creating of new datatables, columns, etc.