---
title: Report Engine Overview
description: "**Audience:** bookkeeper, admin · **Last updated:** 2026-06-07 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/04-modules-in-depth/02-phreeform/01-report-engine-overview.md) # Report Engine Overview PhreeForm is Bizuno's **only** reporting and document engine, and it's two tools sharing one foundation: - a **report engine** — tabular output with grouping, totals,…"
url: "https://www.bizuno.com/docs/report-engine-overview/"
updated: "2026-06-18"
category: PhreeForm
---

# Report Engine Overview

**Audience:** bookkeeper, admin · **Last updated:** 2026-06-07 · [Edit on GitHub](https://github.com/phreesoft/bizuno/edit/main/docs/04-modules-in-depth/02-phreeform/01-report-engine-overview.md)

# Report Engine Overview

PhreeForm is Bizuno's **only** reporting and document engine, and it's two tools
 sharing one foundation:

- a **report engine** — tabular output with grouping, totals, and filters, rendered
   to PDF, HTML, or CSV; and
- a **form engine** — pixel-positioned documents (invoices, packing slips,
   statements, checks, labels) rendered to PDF.

Both are built on the same data-binding, processing, and formatting system, so once
 you understand one you understand the other. Learn PhreeForm and you can produce
 almost any document or report your business needs; ignore it and you're stuck with
 the built-ins.

---

## How a report runs

```
 definition (JSON)
      │  load
      ▼
   build SQL  ──►  run query  ──►  per-cell: process → format  ──►  render  ──►  deliver
 (tables, fields,    (result        (viewProcess then          (PDF │ HTML │   (inline │
  filters, dates,     rows)          viewFormat)                CSV │ form-PDF)  download │
  groups, sorts)                                                                 email)
```

1. **Load the definition.** The report/form is a JSON structure (see
    [where definitions live](#where-definitions-live)).
2. **Build the SQL.** PhreeForm assembles `SELECT`/`FROM`/`JOIN`/`WHERE`/`GROUP BY`/`ORDER BY` from the definition's table list, visible fields, user-chosen
    filters, the date range, and any grouping/sorting (`BuildSQL`).
3. **Run and merge.** It executes the query and walks the result set, applying each
    field's **processing** then **formatting** to every cell, and building group
    subtotals and report totals (`BuildDataArray`). See
    [Processors and formatters](/docs/processors-and-formatters/).
4. **Render** to the chosen output.
5. **Deliver** — display inline, download, or email.

---

## Output formats

| Output | Reports | Forms | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| PDF | ✓ | ✓ | The default; forms are **PDF only** |
| HTML | ✓ | — | Tabular reports rendered as an HTML table |
| CSV | ✓ | — | Comma-delimited export (the "xls" toolbar icon) |

You pick the format from the toolbar when you open a report; forms always render to
 PDF.

### Delivery channels

The delivery selector offers:

- **Inline** (`I`) — open in the browser (then print with the browser's print).
- **Download** (`D`) — save the file.
- **Email** (`S`) — send it as an attachment via Bizuno's mailer, with optional
   logging to the contact's activity log.

There is no separate "print" pipeline — printing is "inline, then print from the
 browser/PDF viewer."

---

## Where definitions live

> **Not a `phreeform` table.** Despite the name, report and form definitions are
>  stored in the shared **`common_meta`** table under the `phreeform` key, as JSON.
>  A companion `phreeform_cache` meta entry holds a lightweight index (titles,
>  groups, IDs) so the report tree loads fast without parsing every definition.

A definition's JSON carries everything the engine needs: the `title`, a `type`
 (`rpt` report, `frm` form, `lst` list, `dir` folder), the `group_id` (which folder/
 context it belongs to — see [Custom forms](/docs/custom-forms/#form-groups)), the
 source `tables` with their joins, the `fieldlist`, plus `grouplist`, `sortlist`,
 `filterlist`, page setup, fonts, and an email template.

### Built-in vs. your own

- **Built-in** reports and forms ship as JSON files under `locale/<lang>/reports/`
   and are imported at install.
- **Your own** are created in the designer (or by copying a built-in) and saved
   into `common_meta`. They can be [exported and imported](/docs/custom-forms/#export--import)
   as JSON to move between installs.

---

## Reports are offered by context

A report or form belongs to a **group**, and groups map to journals/modules — so
 the right documents show up in the right place. When you print from a sales invoice
 (`jID 12`), Bizuno offers the forms in the `cust:j12` group; a check run offers
 `bnk:j20`. The mapping is `getDefaultFormID()`; the full group list is in
 [Custom forms](/docs/custom-forms/#form-groups).

---

## The 7.3.9 PDF migration

As of 7.3.9, PDF generation uses **[tFPDF](https://www.fpdf.org/)** exclusively —
 TCPDF was removed. For end users this is **mostly invisible**, but three details
 matter if you maintain custom forms:

- **Barcodes** are generated by `picqer/php-barcode-generator` (the `bizBarcode()`
   helper). Supported symbologies include C128 (and A/B/C), C39, EAN-13/8, UPC-A/E,
   Interleaved 2-of-5, and POSTNET.
- **HTML inside cells** is handled by an in-tree shim (`bizHTMLCell()`) supporting a
   small tag set — `<b>/<strong>`, `<i>/<em>`, `<u>`, `<font color>`, and
   `<p>`/`<div>`/`<br>` as line breaks. Unsupported tags are stripped, not dropped
   with their text.
- **PDF page import** (e.g. appending attachments) uses the FPDI tFPDF adapter.

If a custom form renders oddly after upgrading, these are the usual suspects — see
 [Custom forms → troubleshooting](/docs/custom-forms/#troubleshooting-after-739).

---

## Related

- [Form designer](/docs/form-designer/)
- [Data binding and fields](/docs/data-binding-and-fields/)
- [Processors and formatters](/docs/processors-and-formatters/)
- [Custom forms](/docs/custom-forms/)