README

VittixReport

A modern reporting framework and standalone visual designer for Delphi VCL applications.

VittixReport is a comprehensive reporting suite built entirely from the ground up for Delphi. It provides developers with a robust runtime engine, a band-oriented report model, and a full-featured visual designer.

Unlike legacy reporting tools, the VittixReport runtime relies on the standard Delphi RTL and VCL plus one vendored, MIT-licensed QR-code library (source/ThirdParty/QRCodeGenLib). Reports are serialized into a clean, source-control-friendly JSON format (.vrt).

The standalone visual designer - structure tree, dataset fields, design canvas and property inspector, with a sample report open.

Features

• 🎨 Standalone Visual Designer: A powerful desktop application featuring drag-and-drop object placement, a property inspector, band management, and a live print preview.
• ⚡ Self-Contained Core: The core runtime is the standard Delphi 12.2 RTL and VCL plus the vendored, MIT-licensed QR-code generator library (source/ThirdParty/QRCodeGenLib) - no external component packs to install. (Note: the standalone visual designer application additionally requires madExcept and uses the FireDAC/ADO data-access components that ship with RAD Studio; its SVG-sourced icons are compiled to PNG resources, so no external SVG component library is needed.)
• 🔄 Unlimited Undo/Redo: The designer implements a deep undo/redo stack for every action, including complex multi-object alignments, property changes, and band management.
• 📄 JSON Report Format (.vrt): Say goodbye to binary blobs. Reports are stored in a human-readable, easily diffable JSON format.
• 🧩 Rich Object Library: Out-of-the-box support for text labels, data fields, rich text (HTML memos), images, shapes, lines, barcodes (Code 39, Code 128, EAN-13 and QR), tables, charts, crosstabs, and nested sub-reports.
• 🚀 Runtime Event Scripting: Hook into the engine's rendering pipeline with OnBeforePrint / OnAfterPrint events at both the band and object level, driven by your host application's Delphi code.
• 📊 Band-Oriented Layout: Supports standard structural bands including Report Title, Page Header/Footer, Group Header/Footer, Master Data (with runtime TDataSet binding), Detail bands, and Report Summary.
• 🖨️ Print & Export: Built-in Vector PDF export (the default - no printer driver required), a printer-based PDF compatibility path, HTML, XLSX and text export, and native system printing capabilities. The Designer and component preview provide Save PDF... with a user-selected destination and atomic replace; direct Simple MAPI email export has been retired.

Project Structure

• source/ - The core framework (engine, object model, serializer, components, and designer UI controls).
• vittixdesigner/ - The standalone Windows report designer application.
• packages/ - Delphi runtime and design-time package files (.dpk).
• docs/ - Additional technical documentation (e.g., Event Scripting Rules).

Requirements

• Delphi 12.2 or later
• VCL application target
• Windows 10 or later
• Win32 or Win64 target platform (packages and CI gate build Win32; the standalone designer also builds Win64 via build.bat)

The default Vector PDF export needs no printer driver. The printer-based compatibility path requires the Windows printing system, such as Microsoft Print to PDF.

Getting Started

Building and testing from the command line

• build.bat - builds the packages and the designer
• tools\ci_gate.ps1 (PowerShell) - the full quality gate. On the uncommitted v1.0.1 candidate working tree based on c33b7e97b0346de83fca6bbf785c75f468d1e95a, ci_gate.ps1 -IncludePackages exited 0: DUnitX 899/899 passed (including 12/12 Firebird tests), with 0 failed, 0 errored, and 0 leaked; the strict runner matched 41/41 reports with one intentional policy skip; USER delta 0 and GDI delta +8; runtime/design packages, Designer, and Demo built successfully. These results apply to the candidate working tree, not the base commit alone. See docs/release-notes-v1.0.1.md for evidence paths and details.
• TESTING.md - the gate contract and the manual test checklists
• reports/ - 45 .vrt regression fixtures with pinned page-count baselines
• See DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md for the current work programme

Building the Standalone Designer

1. Open the project: vittixdesigner/VittixDesigner.dproj
2. Build the project in Delphi.
3. Run the designer.

Use the designer to:

• Create reports
• Add bands
• Place report objects
• Bind fields
• Edit properties
• Preview reports
• Save .vrt files

Using the Runtime Components

To use VittixReport in your own Delphi VCL application:

1. Add the source/ folder to your Delphi library/search path.
2. Install the runtime/design-time packages from packages/, if required.
3. Load a .vrt report file using TReportSerializer.
4. Attach your dataset.
5. Prepare and preview, print, or export the report.

Example: Export a Report to PDF

The default PDF export is the native Vector PDF writer (no printer driver required, silent/server capable). The printer-based exporter is retained as a compatibility path.

uses
  Vittix.Report.Model,
  Vittix.Report.Engine,
  Vittix.Report.Serializer,
  Vittix.Report.Export.Commands,
  Vittix.Report.Export.VectorPDF;

procedure GenerateInvoicePDF;
var
  Report: TReportModel;
  Engine: TReportEngine;
  ExportDoc: TReportExportDocument;
begin
  Report := TReportSerializer.LoadFromFile('C:\Reports\Invoice.vrt');
  ExportDoc := TReportExportDocument.Create;
  try
    Engine := TReportEngine.Create(Report, qryInvoiceData);
    try
      Engine.ExportDocument := ExportDoc;
      Engine.Prepare;

      TReportVectorPDFExporter.ExportDocument(
        ExportDoc,
        'C:\Output\Invoice_001.pdf'
      );
    finally
      Engine.Free;
    end;
  finally
    ExportDoc.Free;
    Report.Free;
  end;
end;

On the TVittixReport component the same is ExportToPDF(...); the printer-based compatibility path is ExportToPrinterPDF(...).

File Format

• Reports are saved as JSON (.vrt). See Vittix.Report.Serializer for details.

License

See LICENSE.

Documentation

Development plan (source of truth)

• VittixReport_FullCodeAnalysis.md - the full code-analysis report and the single source of truth for development planning: §5 (Issues by Severity) is the working bug queue, §12 (Refactoring Plan) is the backlog of parked work.
• DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md - the execution schedule derived from the report: work items (DP-xx) in waves, each with fix approach, test plan and completion status.
• Superseded planning documents are archived under docs/archive/ (historical record only).

Manuals and guides

• See USER_MANUAL.md for end-user instructions
• See DEVELOPER_MANUAL.md for developer integration and extension
• See TESTING.md for the test gates and manual checklists
• The full documentation site lives in docs/ (MkDocs; docs/index.md is the map)