How to Use Impact and Category Functions in Report Templates

 

Overview

Predict! Risk Reporter includes built-in functions for extracting impact assessment data and category values without requiring sub reports.

These functions are entered directly into the Expression Editor in Jaspersoft Studio and work alongside the Score and Categories datasource keywords.

 

Impact Functions

Impact functions follow this format:

RD.ImpactFtns.[functionName]([impactDataSourceField]).methodName()

The impactDataSourceField must be one of the following:

• initial_Impacts
• current_Impacts
• target_Impacts.

 

Function	Description	Example
getCostImpact()	Returns cost impact data. Sums all cost impacts if multiple exist.	RD.ImpactFtns.getCostImpact($F{current_Impacts}).getMean()
getImpact()	Returns data for a named impact type. Returns null if not assessed.	RD.ImpactFtns.getImpact($F{current_Impacts}, "Reputation").getRating()
highestImpact()	Returns data for the highest-rated impact, which drives the overall risk score.	RD.ImpactFtns.highestImpact($F{current_Impacts}).getRating()
isImpactAvailable()	Returns true or false. Use before calling getImpact() to avoid null errors.	RD.ImpactFtns.isImpactAvailable($F{current_Impacts}, "Reputation")

 

Impact Methods

Method	Returns
.getMean()	Calculated mean impact value
.getFactoredMean()	Mean multiplied by probability
.getRating()	Qualitative rating label (e.g. Low, High)
.getMinimum() / .getLikely() / .getMaximum()	Minimum, likely, or maximum assessed values
.getUnitPrefix() / .getUnitSuffix()	Unit prefix or suffix (e.g. £, K)
.getUnitWeighting()	Unit weighting — multiply by this to convert to the base unit
.getXRating()	Integer index of the impact level on the scoring grid (zero-based)
.getImpactType()	Name of the impact type (e.g. Cost, Reputation)
.isQualitative()	Returns true if assessed qualitatively, false otherwise

 

Add an Impact Function to a Report Field

• Confirm the Score keyword is included in the Dataset and Query editor.
• Drag a Text Field element from the Basic Elements panel onto the report canvas.
• Double-click the Text Field to open the Expression Editor.
• Enter the function expression (see common examples below).
• Click Finish, save, and click Preview to verify the output.

 

Common Expression Examples

• Mean current cost: RD.ImpactFtns.getCostImpact($F{current_Impacts}).getMean()
• Current mean of the Financial impact: RD.ImpactFtns.getImpact($F{current_Impacts}, "Financial").getMean()
• Target rating for the Performance impact: RD.ImpactFtns.getImpact($F{target_Impacts}, "Performance").getRating()
• Current Reputation rating (null-safe): use isImpactAvailable() to guard the call before retrieving the rating value.

 

Category and Formatting Functions

Function	Description	Example
RD.CatFtns.getCategory()	Returns the first matching category for a named label. Requires the Categories keyword.	RD.CatFtns.getCategory($F{categories}, "Functional Area")
RD.FormatFtns.optionalDecimal()	Formats a number for the locale, retaining significant figures and stripping trailing zeros.	RD.FormatFtns.optionalDecimal($F{current_MeanCost})
RD.FormatFtns.optionalDecimal(n, d)	As above but rounds to the specified number of decimal places.	RD.FormatFtns.optionalDecimal($F{current_MeanCost}, 2)
RD.FormatFtns.nullZero()	Returns 0 when the value is null; otherwise returns the original number.	RD.FormatFtns.nullZero($F{current_MeanCost})

Note: getCategory() returns only the first matching category. For risks with multiple categories under the same label, use a sub report with the categoriesDS field instead.

 

Troubleshooting

• Impact function returns null:
  • The risk has not been assessed for that impact type.
  • Wrap the call in isImpactAvailable() to handle the null case.
• Function not recognized in the Expression Editor:
  • Confirm rdqldatasource-full.jar is on the Java Build Path and the RDQL workspace property is correctly configured.
• Numeric result shows too many decimal places:
  • Apply the optionalDecimal() function, or use the Pattern property on the Text Field element.