Bind a Report to an Object Data Source

Oct 07, 2022
8 minutes to read

Design Time

Create an Application and Data Object

Follow the steps before you create a new data-bound report in Visual Studio:

Create a new application or open an existing application.

Add a class that defines a data object (for instance, the Employees.cs file in this tutorial).

object-data-source-class-solution-explorer

Employees.cs
Employees.vb

using DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
// ...
    public class Employee
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
        public string Position { get; set; }
    }

    [DisplayName("Employees")]
    [HighlightedClass]
    public class EmployeeDataSource
    {
        private string department;
        private List<Employee> management = new List<Employee>() {
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Ana Trujillo",
            Position = "CEO"
        },
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Andrew Fuller",
            Position = "Vice President, Sales"
        }
    };
        private List<Employee> financial = new List<Employee>() {
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Nancy Davolio",
            Position = "Accountant"
        },
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Maria Anders",
            Position = "Accountant"
        }
    };
        private List<Employee> sales = new List<Employee>() {
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Antonio Moreno",
            Position = "Sales Representative"
        },
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Thomas Hardy",
            Position = "Sales Representative"
        },
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Christina Berglund",
            Position = "Order Administrator"
        },
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Frédérique Citeaux",
            Position = "Marketing Manager"
        },
        new Employee() {
            Name = "Hanna Moos",
            Position = "Sales Representative"
        }
    };
        public EmployeeDataSource()
        {
            this.department = "Management";
        }

        [HighlightedMember]
        public EmployeeDataSource(string department)
        {
            this.department = department;
        }

        [HighlightedMember]
        public IEnumerable<Employee> GetEmployeeList(int recordCount)
        {
            List<Employee> employees = new List<Employee>();
            if (this.department == "Management")
                employees = this.management;
            if (this.department == "Financial")
                employees = this.financial;
            if (this.department == "Sales")
                employees = this.sales;
            foreach (var employee in employees)
                if (recordCount-- > 0)
                    yield return employee;
        }
    }
}

Imports DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding
Imports System.Collections.Generic
Imports System.ComponentModel
' ...
    Public Class Employee
        Public Property Name() As String
        Public Property Position() As String
    End Class

    <DisplayName("Employees"), HighlightedClass>
    Public Class EmployeeDataSource
        Private department As String
        Private management As New List(Of Employee)() From {
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Ana Trujillo", .Position = "CEO"},
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Andrew Fuller", .Position = "Vice President, Sales"}
        }
        Private financial As New List(Of Employee)() From {
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Nancy Davolio", .Position = "Accountant"},
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Maria Anders", .Position = "Accountant"}
        }
        Private sales As New List(Of Employee)() From {
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Antonio Moreno", .Position = "Sales Representative"},
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Thomas Hardy", .Position = "Sales Representative"},
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Christina Berglund", .Position = "Order Administrator"},
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Frédérique Citeaux", .Position = "Marketing Manager"},
            New Employee() With {.Name = "Hanna Moos", .Position = "Sales Representative"}
        }
        Public Sub New()
            Me.department = "Management"
        End Sub

        <HighlightedMember>
        Public Sub New(ByVal department As String)
            Me.department = department
        End Sub

        <HighlightedMember>
        Public Iterator Function GetEmployeeList(ByVal recordCount As Integer) As IEnumerable(Of Employee)
            Dim employees As New List(Of Employee)()
            If Me.department = "Management" Then
                employees = Me.management
            End If
            If Me.department = "Financial" Then
                employees = Me.financial
            End If
            If Me.department = "Sales" Then
                employees = Me.sales
            End If
            For Each employee In employees
                Dim tempVar As Boolean = recordCount > 0
                recordCount -= 1
                If tempVar Then
                    Yield employee
                End If
            Next employee
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace

Rebuild the solution.

Run the Wizard and Access the Data Source

Do the following to run the Report Wizard and bind a report to an object data source:

Select Add New Item in the PROJECT menu or press CTRL+SHIFT+A to invoke the Add New Item dialog. Select DevExpress v21.1 Report and click Add.
In the invoked Report Wizard, select Table Report and click Next.
Choose Object and click Next.
Specify an assembly that contains the data source’s class definition. Enable the Show only highlighted assemblies checkbox to filter assemblies. See the Highlight Objects, Constructors, and Members topic for information on how to highlight assemblies, classes, and members.
Select a data source type. Enable the Show only highlighted types checkbox to filter classes.
Select a data source member. Enable the Show only highlighted members checkbox to filter members.
Specify method parameters.
Choose whether to obtain the data source schema or retrieve the actual data from the data source. You can use the schema to edit the report layout without the need to fetch data.

Proceed to the Adjust the Report Layout section (the first option) or continue to the next section‘s steps (the second option).

Retrieve the Actual Data

Follow the steps below to retrieve the actual data from an object data source. The wizard skips these steps when you choose to obtain the data source schema only.

Select a data source constructor and click Next. Enable the Show only highlighted constructors checkbox to filter constructors.
Specify the constructor parameters.

Enable the Expression checkbox to specify an expression. You can include report parameters in an expression or create a new report parameter in the in-place editor.

Adjust the Report Layout

Follow the steps below to construct a report layout:

Select the data fields that the report should display and click Next.
Group report data against one or more fields. You can click Next to skip this step.
Specify the report title and click Finish.

The Field List reflects the data source structure after the wizard steps are completed.

data-access-object-binding-result-field-list

View the Result

The Design Surface displays a report layout:

object-data-source-wizard-result

The following image shows the report document in Preview.

object-data-source-wizard-result-print-preview

Customize Data Source Settings

Select the data source in the Report Explorer and switch to the Properties panel to modify the data source settings.

data-access-object-binding-properties-constructor-modify

For instance, click the ObjectDataSource.Constructor property’s ellipsis button to invoke the following wizard page:

data-access-configure-constructor-settings

Runtime

Follow the steps below to create a report and bind it to an object data source in code:

Repeat the steps listed in the Create an Application and Data Object section above.

Create a report.

C#
VB.NET

using DevExpress.XtraReports.Parameters;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
using System.Drawing;
// ...
var departments = new StaticListLookUpSettings();
departments.LookUpValues.AddRange(new []{
    new LookUpValue("Management", "Management"),
    new LookUpValue("Financial", "Financial"),
    new LookUpValue("Sales", "Sales")});

XtraReport report = new XtraReport()
{
    Parameters =
    {
        new DevExpress.XtraReports.Parameters.Parameter()
        {
            Name = "pDepartment",
            Type = typeof(System.String),
            ValueSourceSettings = departments,
            Description = "Department",
            Value = "Management"
        },
        new DevExpress.XtraReports.Parameters.Parameter()
        {
            Name = "NumberOfRecords",
            Type = typeof(System.Int32),
            Value = 2
        }
    },
    Bands =
    {
        new DetailBand()
        {
            HeightF = 25,
            Controls =
            {
                new XRLabel()
                {
                    Name = "EmployeeName",
                    BoundsF = new RectangleF(0, 0, 200, 25),
                    ExpressionBindings =
                    {
                        new ExpressionBinding("Text", "[Name]")
                    }
                },
                new XRLabel()
                {
                    Name = "EmployeePosition",
                    BoundsF = new RectangleF(200, 0, 150, 25),
                    ExpressionBindings =
                    {
                        new ExpressionBinding("Text", "[Position]")
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
};

Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.Parameters
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
Imports System.Drawing
' ...
Private report As New XtraReport() From {
    Dim departments = New StaticListLookUpSettings()
    departments.LookUpValues.AddRange({
        New LookUpValue("Management", "Management"),
        New LookUpValue("Financial", "Financial"),
        New LookUpValue("Sales", "Sales")
    })
    Dim report = New XtraReport()
    Dim band = New DetailBand() With {.HeightF = 25}
    Dim label1 = New XRLabel() With {
        .Name = "EmployeeName",
        .BoundsF = New RectangleF(0, 0, 200, 25)}
    Dim label2 = New XRLabel() With {
        .Name = "EmployeePosition",
        .BoundsF = New RectangleF(200, 0, 150, 25)}
    label1.ExpressionBindings.Add(New ExpressionBinding("Text", "[Name]"))
    label1.ExpressionBindings.Add(New ExpressionBinding("Text", "[Position]"))
    band.Controls.AddRange(New XRControl() {label1, label2})
    report.Bands.Add(band)
    Dim param1 = New DevExpress.XtraReports.Parameters.Parameter() With {
        .Name = "pDepartment",
        .Type = GetType(System.String),
        .ValueSourceSettings = departments,
        .Description = "Department",
        .Value = "Management"}
    Dim param2 = New DevExpress.XtraReports.Parameters.Parameter() With {
        .Name = "NumberOfRecords",
        .Type = GetType(System.Int32),
        .Value = 2}
    report.Parameters.AddRange(New DevExpress.XtraReports.Parameters.Parameter() {param1, param2})

Set the report’s DataSource property to an ObjectDataSource class instance.

C#
VB.NET

using DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding;
// ...
ObjectDataSource objectDataSource = new ObjectDataSource();
objectDataSource.Name = "Employees";
objectDataSource.DataSource = typeof(EmployeeDataSource);
objectDataSource.BeginUpdate();
objectDataSource.DataMember = "GetEmployeeList";
var parameterNumberOfRecords = new DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter()
{
    Name = "recordCount",
    Type = typeof(DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression),
    Value = new DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression("?NumberOfRecords", typeof(int))
};
objectDataSource.Parameters.Add(parameterNumberOfRecords);
var parameterDepartment = new DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter()
{
    Name = "department",
    Type = typeof(DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression),
    Value = new DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression("?pDepartment", typeof(string))
};
objectDataSource.Constructor = new ObjectConstructorInfo(parameterDepartment);
objectDataSource.EndUpdate();
objectDataSource.Fill();
report.DataSource = objectDataSource;

Imports DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding
' ...
Dim objectDataSource As New ObjectDataSource()
objectDataSource.Name = "Employees"
objectDataSource.DataSource = GetType(EmployeeDataSource)
objectDataSource.BeginUpdate()
objectDataSource.DataMember = "GetEmployeeList"
Dim parameterNumberOfRecords = New DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter() With {
    .Name = "recordCount", 
    .Type = GetType(DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression), 
    .Value = New DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression("?NumberOfRecords", GetType(Integer))}
objectDataSource.Parameters.Add(parameterNumberOfRecords)
Dim parameterDepartment = New DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter() With {
    .Name = "department", 
    .Type = GetType(DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression), 
    .Value = New DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression("?pDepartment", GetType(String))}
objectDataSource.Constructor = New ObjectConstructorInfo(parameterDepartment)
objectDataSource.EndUpdate()
objectDataSource.Fill()
report.DataSource = objectDataSource

You can pass parameters to methods that fetch data. To do this, add items to the ObjectDataSource‘s Parameters property. Item names should match the member parameter names. Item values can be expressions that include report parameters.

C#
VB.NET

// Create a data source parameter with a static value.
objectDataSource1.Parameters.Add(
    new DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter("recordCount", typeof(System.Int32), 1)
);
// Create a data source parameter with an expression.
var parameterNumberOfRecords = new DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter()
{
    Name = "recordCount",
    Type = typeof(DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression),
    Value = new DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression("?NumberOfRecords", typeof(int))
};
objectDataSource1.Parameters.Add(parameterNumberOfRecords);

' Create a data source parameter with a static value.
objectDataSource1.Parameters.Add(New DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter("recordCount", GetType(System.Int32), 1))
' Create a data source parameter with an expression.
Dim parameterNumberOfRecords = New DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding.Parameter() With {.Name = "recordCount", .Type = GetType(DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression), .Value = New DevExpress.DataAccess.Expression("?NumberOfRecords", GetType(Integer))}
objectDataSource1.Parameters.Add(parameterNumberOfRecords)

Call the ObjectDataSource.Fill method to populate the data source.

C#
VB.NET

using DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding;
// ...
(report.DataSource as ObjectDataSource).Fill();

Imports DevExpress.DataAccess.ObjectBinding
' ...
TryCast(report.DataSource, ObjectDataSource).Fill()

The report is ready.

Web Application Specifics

Review the following help topics for more information on the object data source in a web application:

Create an Object Data Source	Data Source Wizard - Register Types
ASP.NET Web Forms	ASP.NET Web Forms
ASP.NET MVC	ASP.NET MVC
ASP.NET Core	ASP.NET Core

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Design Time

Create an Application and Data Object

Run the Wizard and Access the Data Source

Retrieve the Actual Data

Adjust the Report Layout

View the Result

Customize Data Source Settings

Runtime

Web Application Specifics