How to Create Multi-Page Reports

Creating Multi-Page Reports with JSPlotPage and Pages

Overview

JSPlots.jl makes it easy to create multi-page HTML reports. You create individual pages using JSPlotPage, then combine them into a multi-page report using Pages.

We have two examples that demonstrate the use of pages. See here and see here with this script generating both of them.

Creating Individual Pages with JSPlotPage

A JSPlotPage represents a single HTML page with charts, tables, and text content:

page = JSPlotPage(
    Dict(:data_name => dataframe),  # Data dictionary
    [chart1, chart2, text_block],   # Content items
    tab_title = "My Page",          # Browser tab title
    page_header = "Analysis Report", # Page header
    dataformat = :parquet           # Data storage format
)

Combining Pages with the Pages Constructor

The Pages constructor creates a multi-page report with automatic navigation:

# Easy constructor - automatically creates LinkList!
report = Pages(
    [coverpage_content],  # Items for the coverpage
    [page1, page2, page3], # Your JSPlotPage objects
    tab_title = "Report Home",
    page_header = "Business Report",
    dataformat = :parquet
)

Automatic LinkList Generation

Key Feature: The Pages constructor automatically generates a LinkList from your pages and adds it to the coverpage!

• Each page in the [page1, page2, page3] array becomes a link
• Link titles come from each page's tab_title
• Link descriptions come from each page's notes field
• The LinkList is automatically appended to your coverpage content

Manual LinkList (Advanced)

You can also create LinkLists manually for custom navigation:

links = LinkList([
    ("Title 1", "page_1.html", "Description of page 1"),
    ("Title 2", "page_2.html", "Description of page 2")
])

Complete Example

# Create individual pages
analysis_page = JSPlotPage(
    Dict(:sales => sales_df),
    [scatter_chart, line_chart],
    tab_title = "Sales Analysis",
    notes = "Detailed sales trends and patterns"
)

metrics_page = JSPlotPage(
    Dict(:kpis => kpi_df),
    [kde_chart, dist_chart],
    tab_title = "Key Metrics",
    notes = "Performance indicators and distributions"
)

# Create multi-page report with automatic LinkList
report = Pages(
    [TextBlock("<h1>Q4 Report</h1>")],
    [analysis_page, metrics_page],
    tab_title = "Q4 2024 Report"
)

# Generate HTML
create_html(report, "my_report")
# Creates: my_report.html (coverpage with links)
#          page_1.html (Sales Analysis)
#          page_2.html (Key Metrics)

Benefits

• Automatic Navigation: No need to manually create links between pages
• Consistent Structure: All pages follow the same format
• Easy Maintenance: Add/remove pages without updating navigation
• Professional Output: Clean, navigable HTML reports

Opening Multi-Page Reports

When you use external data formats (:parquet, :csv_external, :json_external), JSPlots.jl automatically generates launcher scripts in the project directory:

• open.sh (Linux/Mac) - Starts a local web server and opens in browser
• open.bat (Windows) - Opens with appropriate browser permissions
• README.md - Detailed instructions

Why? Browsers block loading external files from file:// URLs for security. The launcher scripts solve this by either running a local web server or launching the browser with flags to allow local file access.