How to Work with Sub reports

 

Overview

A sub report is a report embedded within a parent report. Sub reports are used when each risk may have multiple related records:

• multiple actions
• impact assessments
• categories

The parent report passes a sub-datasource field to the sub report for each risk it processes.

Note:

Sub reports require one of the following datasource keywords in the parent report: Actions, Categories, History, or Score.

These keywords expose sub-datasource fields identified by DS in the field name (e.g. actionsDS).

 

Background: Sub-datasource Fields

Keyword	Sub-datasource Field	Contents
Actions	actionsDS	All actions for each risk
Score	current_ImpactsDS	Current impact assessments for each risk
Score	initial_ImpactsDS	Initial impact assessments for each risk
Score	target_ImpactsDS	Target impact assessments for each risk
Categories	categoriesDS	All categories assigned to each risk
History	historyDS	Audit trail entries for each risk

 

Step 1 — Create the sub report file

1. Right-click the parent report's project subfolder and select New > Jasper Report.
2. Name the file to indicate its purpose (e.g. ActionsSubReport.jrxml).
3. In the Dataset and Query dialog, set the datasource keyword to match the data being passed (e.g. Actions).
4. Read Fields and add the required fields to the Detail 1 band.
5. Remove unnecessary bands (Page Header, Page Footer, etc.) to keep the sub report compact.

 

Step 2 — Attach the sub report to the parent report

1. Open the parent report.
2. Add the relevant datasource keyword to the Dataset and Query editor (e.g. Actions to expose actionsDS).
3. Leave space in the Detail 1 band for the sub report.
4. From the Basic Elements panel, drag a Sub report element into that space.
5. In the Sub report wizard, select an existing report, then click Select a report file.
6. Choose Workspace resource, click Browse, select the sub report .jrxml file, click OK, then click Next.
7. Select Use a JRDatasource expression. Delete any existing text in the box, then click Expression Editor.
8. In the left panel, select Fields. In the middle panel, double-click the sub-datasource field (e.g. actionsDS).
9. Click Finish twice to close the dialogs.
10. Resize and reposition the sub report element as needed.

 

Step 3 — Prepare for export

1. Click the sub report element in the parent report canvas.
2. In the Properties panel, remove any folder path from the Expression field, leaving only the .jasper filename (e.g. ActionsSubReport.jasper).
3. Right-click each .jrxml file in Project Explorer and select Compile Report.

Note: Both steps above must be completed before exporting. If a folder path remains in the Expression field, or any .jasper file is missing from the export package, the report will fail in Risk Controller.

 

Best Practices

• Keep sub report files in the same project subfolder as the parent report.
• Name sub report files clearly to indicate the parent relationship (e.g. RiskDetail_ActionsSubReport.jrxml).
• Remove all unnecessary bands from sub reports to avoid blank space in the parent report output.
• Compile both parent and subreport .jrxml files before exporting.

 

Troubleshooting

• Sub report data does not appear in preview:
  • Confirm the sub-datasource keyword is included in the parent report's Dataset and Query dialog
  • Confirm that the JRDatasource expression matches the field name exactly (case-sensitive).
• Sub report not found error in Risk Controller:
  • The Expression field still contains a full file path.
    • Remove the path, leaving only the .jasper filename.
• Sub report content overflows into adjacent bands:
  • Reduce the sub report canvas size using Edit Page Format or enable Stretch with Overflow on the sub report element.