Adding a Graphic Item

To enhance the visual appearance of a report, you can add one or more graphic images. For example, you can add a bar chart that shows the quarterly sales results of a company by different geographic regions to visually complement numeric sales data.

You can add graphics with a png, jpg, or bmp format.

On an unlocked report, select Add Item, and on the Data tab, select Graphic as the Item Type, and then enter the full local path, such as C:\DI_Solution_Graphics, or the URL of the graphic file in the Location text box. ProDiver users must have access to the appropriate network resources to import a graphic image. However, you cannot use DiveLine paths to reference and display graphics.

You can add a graphic using report text variables, such as $COMMENTS and $MODEL_FOOTER.

For example:

http://<servername>:<portnum>/graphics/$COMMENTS.jpg.

Using a text variable enables you to dynamically change the position of a graphic that appears at the top of a report by default. The initial placement of the graphic image is also the position for the report title, so you might need to move one or both of the items. You cannot resize an image in ProDiver, and the recommended size for a graphic is less than an eighth of the report page size. Both markers and report templates can store a link to a graphic file, but not the graphic itself. ProDiver does not display a graphic if you break the link after deleting or moving the graphic file after a Save action.

NOTE: If you edit an existing graphic at its source, such as resizing the image, ProDiver does not automatically update the report graphic. You must delete the graphic in the report, and then add the updated image.

The following example describes how to add a graphic as a report column:

  1. Select a server with a project that contains a sales model with Customer and Product Family dimensions.

    For example, locate and open demo.drl.mdl using ProDiver. Alternatively, open the marker file adding_a_graphic_item.mrk saved in the Adding Group Dimension Name and Value Items topic. Proceed to step 2.

    If you do not open the previously saved marker file, do the following:

    1. Create a dive in the demo.drl model file.
    2. Convert the display to a report.
    3. Unlock the report, delete a Summary Value item, and proceed to step 3.

  2. Unlock the report and delete the 2007/1 item.

  3. Click the Add Item icon to open the Add Item dialog box, .

  4. Select Graphic as the Item Type, and in the Location box, enter Closedthe pathname to the graphic.

  5. Perform the following actions to position the camera graphic in the Quarter column:
    • On the Breaklevel tab, set the Breaklevel dimension to Product Family and the Location to Body.
    • On the Position tab, set the Column to E and the Horizontal Offset to -45.
    • On the Style tab, set the Style Name to Summary.

  6. Click OK to Closeddisplay the report with the camera graphic item.

TIP: You can use a graphic item with a filename that is defined using a report variable (such as $DIMVAL) to display row-specific graphics. That is, the graphic will vary from row to row. For example, a product photo.