03 Create a table and its columns

First you have to create an instance of a TableFrame object and add that to a container frame (in the example the main body is the container). Then you can set special attributes of the TableFrame.

// Add the table to the report body
$table = new ReportLib\TableFrame();
$body->addFrame($table);

// Adjust the table
$table->setColumnLines(true);
$table->setInterRowSpace(1.0);
$table->getBorder()->getTopPen()->setExtent(1.0);
$table->getBorder()->getBottomPen()->setExtent(1.0);
$table->getBorder()->getBottomPen()->setColor("#0000FF");

In this example the TableFrame gets a border line on the top and on the bottom. The lines have an extent of 1mm, and the top line will be black, and the bottom line will be blue. The library prints vertical lines between columns and there will be white space of 1mm between the rows.

Here is a list of attributes that you can use for table frames.

  • columnLines – flag which defines if the library prints vertical lines (default false)
  • maxHeaderRowHeight – maximum height of the header (default 100mm)
  • maxDetailRowHeight – maximum height of a detail row (default 100mm)
  • marginBottomSubtotal – a margin that will be added on rows of type Total or Subtotal
  • interRowSpace – additional whitespace between rows of data
  • headerTextStyle – text style for header rows
  • detailRowTextStyle – text style for detail rows
  • alternatingRowTextStyle – text style for detail rows – if this text style is not null then the detail rows will print alternately with the text style for detail rows and this text style.
  • subTotalRowTextStyle – text style for subtotal rows
  • totalRowTextStyle – text style for total rows
  • minDataRowsFit – minimal number of data rows that must fit on a page before the library adds a page before the table.
  • border – a border object to draw a border around the table
  • repeatHeaderRow – flag if the library prints the header row on every new page
  • suppressHeaderRow – flag if the library prints a header row at all
  • innerPenHeaderBottom – a pen for the line below the header
  • innerPenTotalTop – a pen for the line above the total row
  • innerPenRow – a pen for the lines between detail rows.

After you have defined the table, you can add columns as shown in the following example. The function addColumn needs only a unique column name, a title text, a maximum width, and a horizontal alignment. If the alignment is left, you can omit the last parameter.

// Add the table to the report body
$table = new ReportLib\TableFrame();
$body->addFrame($table);

// Add four columns to the table
$table->addColumn("frametype", "Frame type", 40.0);
$table->addColumn("container", "Container type", 30.0, ‘C’);
$table->addColumn("description", "Description", 60.0);
$table->addColumn("number", "Number", 20.0, ‘R’);

This simple example shows a table with four columns. The library prints the content of the column with the name container centered and the content of the column number right aligned. The widths of the columns are in millimeters. The table needs at least 150mm width.

This table would look like the following figure.

Because there were no data rows added only the header of the table appears in the output. But the alignments of the columns are obviously correct.