PyDynamicReporting Cheat Sheet

This is a quick-reference guide for PyDynamicReporting. You can jump to a section of your choosing by using these links:

ADR Service

To launch and stop a local ADR Service on a new database:

import ansys.dynamicreporting.core as adr

db_dir = r'C:\tmp\my_local_db_directory'
ansys_ins = r'C:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\v241'

adr_service = adr.Service(ansys_installation=ansys_ins, db_directory=db_dir)
session_guid = adr_service.start(create_db=True)

# To stop the service
adr_service.stop()

To connect to an already running ADR service on port 8000:

import ansys.dynamicreporting.core as adr

ansys_ins = r'C:\Program Files\Ansys Inc\v241'
adr_service = adr.Service(ansys_installation=ansys_ins)
adr_service.connect(url='http://localhost:8000')

Create new items

To create new items in the database of different types:

# Create text item
my_text = adr_service.create_item(obj_name='Text')
my_text.item_text = "<h1>Simple Title</h1>Abc..."

# Create table item
import numpy as np

my_table = adr_service.create_item(obj_name='Table')
my_table.table_dict["rowlbls"] = ["Row 1", "Row 2"]
my_table.item_table = np.array([["1", "2", "3", "4", "5"],["1", "4", "9", "16", "25"]], dtype="|S20")

# Create image item
img = adr_service.create_item(obj_name='Image')
img.item_image = r'C:\tmp\test_image.png'

# Create 3D item
scene = adr_service.create_item(obj_name='3D Scene')
scene.item_scene = r'C:\tmp\test_scene.avz'

# Create a tree item via a dictionary
leaves = []
for i in range(5):
    leaves.append({"key": "leaves", "name": f"Leaf {i}", "value": i})

children = []
children.append({"key": "child", "name": "Boolean example", "value": True})
children.append({"key": "child_parent", "name": "A child parent", "value": "Parents can have values", "children": leaves, "state": "collapsed"})   

tree = []
tree.append({"key": "root", "name": "Top Level", "value": None, "children": children, "state": "expanded"})
my_tree = adr_service.create_item(obj_name="Tree")
my_tree.item_tree = tree

Set plot properties

On the item you can set properties that will modify how they are rendered. This is particularly important to control the visualization of a plot, which comes from a table item. Some typical settings are presented here:

# Set visualization to be plot instead of table
my_table.plot = 'line'

# Set X axis and axis formatting
my_table.xaxis = 'Row 1'
my_table.format = 'floatdot1'

Tag items

Set tags for the items:

my_text.set_tags("tag1=one tag2=two tag3=three")

Add or remove tags on an item

my_text.add_tag(tag='tag4', value='four')
my_text.rem_tag("tag1")

Create report templates

The creation of template reports follows the low level API of ADR. The first step is to define the server object:

server = adr_service.serverobj

Then use the low level API to create a new report template:

template_0 = server.create_template(name="My Report", parent=None, report_type="Layout:basic")

server.put_objects(template_0)
template_1 = server.create_template(name="Intro", parent=template_0, report_type="Layout:panel")
template_1.set_filter("A|i_type|cont|html,string;")

server.put_objects(template_1)
server.put_objects(template_0)
template_2 = server.create_template(name="Plot", parent=template_0, report_type="Layout:panel")
template_2.set_filter("A|i_type|cont|table;")

server.put_objects(template_2)
server.put_objects(template_0)

Visualize items and reports

Query the database for the items:

all_items = adr_service.query()
only_text_items = adr_service.query(filter="A|i_type|cont|html,string")

Visualize the item:

only_text_items[0].visualize()

Visualize the default report, which corresponds to all the items in the report listed one after the other:

adr_service.visualize_report()

Get all reports in the database by name:

all_reports = adr_service.get_list_reports()

Find and visualize a report with a specific name:

report_by_name = adr_service.get_report(
report_name = 'My Report')
report_by_name.visualize()

Get url for items and reports

Get the url corresponding to an item. It is an object property:

only_text_items[0].url

Get the url corresponding to a report. It is a class method:

report_by_name.get_url()