How to prevent exponential notation in DynamicText for large numbers in BIRT

[raviprsd18]

Hello BIRTians,

I’m currently working on a BIRT report that involves a dynamic table, where the number of columns varies based on user configurations. While I’m aware that a CrossTab could handle this scenario, I’m unable to use that approach due to certain constraints (which I’d prefer not to elaborate on here).

To work around this, I’ve implemented a solution using JavaScript in the beforeFactory event, and I’ve managed to get most of it functioning as expected. I’m using the DynamicText control to render numeric values. However, I’ve encountered an issue where numbers with more than 7 digits are automatically displayed in exponential notation.

For example:

• 1234567.99 → displays correctly as 1234567.99
• 12345678.99 → gets converted to 1.234567899E7

I understand that using a formatter like this can resolve the display issue: (new Packages.java.text.DecimalFormat("#,##0.00")).format("1234567891235.99") or set the dynamic text control content to html
However, this introduces a new problem when exporting the report to .XLSX format—the numbers are treated as strings in Excel cells, which affects downstream processing and formatting. ( check the screenshot )

Is there a way to prevent exponential notation while still preserving the numeric type in Excel exports ?

Any suggestions, workarounds, or best practices would be greatly appreciated. I’ve attached the .rptdesign file for reference. Please let me know if any additional information is needed.

Tagging @speckyspooky and @hvbtup for your insights, your input would be incredibly helpful!

Thank you in advance!

DynamicTablePOC.zip

Rendering as exponent issue

Number treated like string in excel issue

[speckyspooky]

A first result from my side with BIRT 4.21, the excel export shows the firgures like numbers correctly - see below.
(It seems that you use a much older BIRT version.)

The configuration at the IDE is to set the element to "plain" text otherwise it will be parsed like HTML-string and exported like a string.

[raviprsd18]

Hi @speckyspooky,

Thanks for your response! Yes, you're absolutely right—I’m currently using BIRT Version 4.8.0. Unfortunately, the project I’m working on isn’t ready for an upgrade at this time, so I’m looking for a workaround that would work within this version.

I noticed from your screenshot that while the Excel export seems to handle the numbers correctly, the BIRT Viewer still displays them in exponential notation. Does this mean that even in Version 4.21.0, the viewer still has this issue?

Also, I’d really appreciate your help with one more thing. Would you be able to share a JavaScript snippet that dynamically generates a DataElement instead of using DynamicText? I’ve tried implementing this myself, but ran into several issues. If possible, could you use the .rptdesign file I attached earlier and show how to convert the DynamicText to DataElement controls?

This would be incredibly helpful in resolving the formatting issue while keeping the data type intact for Excel exports.

Thanks again for your time and support!

[hvbtup]

Instead of dynamically generating content to the report, what I do in cases like this (table with dynamic number of columns) is to create the maximum number of columns in the designer (if needed, with a list around this, if there are more columns than fit on one page), then just hide the unneeded columns using visibility expressions.
This is much easier, in my experience.

[speckyspooky]

I agree @hvbtup, with a standard structure it would be easier.
The topic of the exponetial notation is caused through the value handling which is internal a float.

I have converted your grid into a stadnard table with your values and set the column to type "decimal" and the values show correctly - see below. This topic is a datatype topic and no bug.

[raviprsd18]

@speckyspooky can you share the rptDesign of your change

[speckyspooky]

Here is the test report: DynamicTablePOC.zip

[raviprsd18]

@speckyspooky thanks for the file. Just need your acknowledgement for the following.

DynamicText control will display large numbers in exponent (scientific) notation when its content type is set to plain. Unfortunately, there is no way to override this behavior. If we use a format specifier or change the content type to html or auto, the numbers will display correctly. However, the limitation is that the numbers are internally treated as strings, and when exported to an Excel file, they will be saved as strings rather than numeric values.