[libreoffice-users] Legacy Base reports won't open in LibreOffice 3.5

The original problem (I reported elsewhere in Feb 2012) was that my numerous
(painstakingly designed) reports originally done in OO 3.3 using the
built-in report wizard/designer (used because I could not get the result I
wanted with the Report Builder extension) would NOT open/run in LO 3.5
(despite running perfectly in OO).

In LO 3.5 when I click on a particular legacy report to run it, the expected
window saying "Connecting to data source.... Importing data...." opens for a
brief instant, then disappears, leaving just the window with the report
template layout showing...but no report is ever generated. Note: All the
queries my reports are based on run perfectly (in LO 3.5) so it doesn't seem
to be a database connection problem.

UPDATE & SOLUTION….

After much trial-and-error sleuthing, I may have hit upon a solution to this
apparent problem. It involves adding a 'missing' hidden form control (see
steps below). I'll be interested to know if this actually helps anyone with
problems running legacy database reports under LO.

1. Open your legacy report for EDITING in the usual way (right-click and
choose 'Edit').

2. Now open the FORM NAVIGATOR (button).

3. Under the 'Report source' item you should see these controls -
CommandType, QueryName, Command, GroupFieldNames, FieldNames,
RecordFieldNames. If there is NOT an item named 'Sorting', you must add it.
I found it 'missing' in my legacy reports (created in OO), and when I added
it, the reports run properly! (Perhaps this 'Sorting' hidden control has
been added at some stage of LO development?)

4. To add the 'Sorting' item, just do these steps:
  - Right-Click on the enclosing item 'ReportSource'
  - Under the NEW item pop-up menu select 'HiddenControl', and a new control
will be created in the end of the list of existing controls (probably under
the item 'RecordFieldNames').
  - Now, change the name of this new control to 'Sorting'.
  - To do this, right-click on the new item, and choose PROPERTIES from the
pop-up menu.
  - In the resulting window/pane, change the (Hidden Control) name to
'Sorting' (type exactly - no quotes, and with a capital 'S') and close the
window.
  - You should now see an item called 'Sorting' at the end of your list of
hidden control for your report source item.
  - Close the Form Navigator window and SAVE the report.

5. Your legacy report should now run/open as it used to under OpenOffice.

I wonder if anyone else has experienced this problem and might like to try
out the solution above, and let us know if it worked? (note: I'm using LO on
Mac OS 10.6). 

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