Optional installations

Chart support with ChartDirector - recommended

The myDBR Premium version of myDBR includes a license for the commercial ChartDirector charting module from Advanced Software Engineering.

To make the best use of the myDBR, download a copy of ChartDirector for PHP package from Advanced Software Engineering's website and follow the instructions. Once you have installed ChartDirector in your system. The installation instructions are included in the download, and you will find them also online.

PDF export support with wkhtmltopdf - recommended

myDBR supports wkhtmltopdf when installed on the server. wkhtmltopdf uses the Webkit rendering engine to convert content to PDF. Using wkhtmltopdf enables pixel-perfect PDF reports generated on the server.

To install wkhtmltopdf, follow the instructions on the wkhtmltopdf website. wkhtmltopdf will be installed as a command-line tool and should be found in the PHP path. If it cannot be added to a PATH variable, a direct link to the command can be given in mydbr/user/defaults.php by setting the $mydbr_defaults['export']['wkhtmltopdf']['command'] variable to a full path to the command.

Example if wkhtmltopdf is not found in PHP's PATH:

$mydbr_defaults['export']['wkhtmltopdf']['command'] = '"C:\Program Files (x86)\wkhtmltopdf\wkhtmltopdf.exe"';

Once you have installed wkhtmltopdf to the server, go to 'Environment settings' and check the 'Installed modules' if PHP can see the program. If not, you may need to define the full path to the command in $mydbr_defaults.

myDBR will check for the existence of wkhtmltopdf once when the user logs in. If you want to disable the check, you can tell myDBR that wkhtmltopdf is installed by setting the following into user/defaults.php:

$mydbr_defaults['export']['wkhtmltopdf']['skip_version_check'] = array(
'wkhtmltopdf_exists' => true,
'wkhtmltopdf_version' => '0.12.5'
);

You can also skip the version check if wkhtmltopdf is not installed. Use definition:

$mydbr_defaults['export']['wkhtmltopdf']['skip_version_check'] = array(
'wkhtmltopdf_exists' => false,
'wkhtmltopdf_version' => ''
);

myDBR converts the PHP file by storing the generated HTML file to the server and then passing it to wkhtmltopaf program. The file is by default stored in system tmp directory. You can override this by setting the directory with $mydbr_defaults['export']['wkhtmltopdf']['tmp_directory'] setting in $mydbr_defaults.

If you have trouble getting the PDF export to work after installing the wkhtmltopdf, try the following steps:

  • Check that myDBR sees the wkhtmltopdf installed. Access https://[yourserver.com]/mydbr/tools/troubleshoot/wkhtmltopdf.php. If not, check the PATH/$mydbr_defaults['export']['wkhtmltopdf']['command'].
  • Add a debug command to the beginning of the report, run the export as PDF, and follow the instructions. The command to be added:
          select 'dbr.export.options', 'debug', 1;
        
  • Make sure the server knows it's own hostname name. Failing to do so, may result additional resources (CSS/JavaScript files) not being loaded.

Graphviz support

Graphviz adds support for the hierarchical and network charts. To take advantage of Graphviz charts, the Graphviz software needs to be installed on the server.

  1. Graphviz Download and install the latest Graphviz support from https://www.graphviz.org/download/ for your environment.
  2. Command path If myDBR tells you that the Graphviz commands (dot/neato) cannot be found, you can define the path to them in user/defaults.php
          $mydbr_defaults['graphviz']['command_path'] = '/opt/local/bin/';
        
    for your environment.