Question

I have just completed setting up an online system for a client, within the system I have a section for reports. My client now wants the ability for a print all feature to be setup where they basically click a button and it will print 4 of the separate reports at once without having to go into them all.

They are setup such as:

/reports/snapshot

/reports/enquiries

/reports/prospects

/reports/sales

and so on….

Variables are also passed into these reports such as start date and end date but they all accept the same variables, just display different charts and graphs.

Is there anyway I can write a print all function that calls the controller and view of each of these without creating a separate all inclusive page.

Thanks

Answer 1

You could create a allReports() method:

public function all_reports() {

    $this->snapshot();
    $this->enquiries();
    $this->prospects();
    $this->sales();
    // and so on

}

and it’s associated view:

all_reports.ctp

echo $this->Element('../Reports/snapshot.ctp');
echo $this->Element('../Reports/enquiries.ctp');
echo $this->Element('../Reports/prospects.ctp');
echo $this->Element('../Reports/sales.ctp');
// and so on

Basically, all_reports() runs all of the report methods and they in tern will populate the view vars, then your view includes each of the reports one after the other.

For this to work, you will need to ensure the variables you set in your various reports don’t overwrite one another.