I am creating a simple reporting program using java and iReport (from jasper), which is supposed to create a report in pdf showing PCs with their IP address, their location,
Interesting. I think you'd better use the List, and then define getName() on the Project class. Then in the subreport define a variable "name". It will work this way, and it will allow you to add easily additional information, like project duration, team-lead, etc.
As Bozho says, in case proyects
was an array of complex object you should reference it as a field of type java.util.Collection
an then pass it to the inner subreport the same way medopal indicates. And don´t put the _THIS field.
Use a subreport or a subdataset.
Pass the subreport a collection datasource
JRBeanCollectionDataSource($F{Projects})
Then in the new subreport create a new field called "_THIS" exactly, this means the bean in the collection passed is the same as the value i want
For more info, check the source code of the class here: JRAbstractBeanDataSource
Note: this is available in JasperReport 3.0.0 im not sure if it exists in previous builds. Hope this helps
Update: just checked the SVN, seems like this feature is implemented in JasperReports 2.0.0
To elaborate on this without using _THIS: let's say a java bean has a list of subBeans and this subBean has a complex format and we want to print each subBean in a custom way. I quote an example where the subDataset element is on the report level and the componentElement is in the detail band:
<subDataset name="ListOfSubBeans" uuid="66c86e41-c565-4f18-bccf-1a1b2a567585">
<field name="subBeanField_1" class="java.lang.String">
<fieldDescription><![CDATA[subBeanField_1]]></fieldDescription>
</field>
</subDataset>
...
<componentElement>
<reportElement x="780" y="0" width="100" height="30" uuid="f73864b9-46dd-4adb-8dad-a6bd8dfae64e">
<property name="net.sf.jasperreports.export.headertoolbar.table.name" value=""/>
</reportElement>
<jr:list xmlns:jr="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports/components" xsi:schemaLocation="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports/components http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/xsd/components.xsd" printOrder="Vertical">
<datasetRun subDataset="ListOfSubBeans" uuid="a8dd1c2b-3ac0-4ffa-b9d0-08e4890e199a">
<dataSourceExpression><![CDATA[new net.sf.jasperreports.engine.data.JRBeanCollectionDataSource($F{listOfSubBeans})]]></dataSourceExpression>
</datasetRun>
<jr:listContents height="30" width="100">
<textField>
<reportElement x="0" y="0" width="100" height="30" uuid="61700c18-6bb9-45da-a235-b76b9f76a2ea"/>
<textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$F{subBeanField_1}]]></textFieldExpression>
</textField>
</jr:listContents>
</jr:list>
</componentElement>
...
So, the master dataset has declared that the master bean has a member variable that is a list: listOfSubBeans
. This java.util.List is used to feed the datasource of the jr:list
, while the fields of the jr:list
are declared using a subDataset called ListOfSubBeans
(pay attention to case sensitivity).