In an RDL report, you can create a master report and apply it to any number of content reports to keep common styles in one easy-to-maintain location. You can save the master report locally on your system or on ActiveReports Server. See Master Reports for more information.

To design a master report

1. With focus on the report, from the Report Menu, select Convert to Master Report to create a master report.
2. Right-click the ruler area to the top or left of the report and choose Page Header. Repeat and choose Page Footer.
3. From the toolbox, drag and drop controls into the page header and footer sections. These controls appear on every page of a content report when you apply the master report. For example, a company logo image, or a textbox with the company Web site address.

4. A ContentPlaceHolder control appears in the toolbox when you convert an RDL report to a Master Report. This control defines regions where users can add content. Use the following instructions to add the ContentPlaceHolder control in the master report.

   • From the toolbox, drag and drop the ContentPlaceHolder control onto the report design surface.
   • Right-click the control and from the context menu that appears, select Properties to open the properties window.
   • Set the following properties for the ContentPlaceHolder control.
     
     

     Property	Description
     Location	To position the control with respect to the top left corner of the container.
     Size	To set the control size for determining the space available to design a content report.
     Text	To add instructive text for the user. E.g. "Design your content report here." This caption appears in the design view and not in the final output.

5. Save the master report locally on your system or on ActiveReports Server.

   To save a master report locally

   1. In Visual Studio, select the report, and from the Report menu, select Save Layout. In the stand-alone designer, the option is in the File menu. You can also save the master report from File menu of the stand-alone designer.
   2. In the Save As dialog that appears, navigate to the location where you want to save the report and click Save to save the report in rdlx-master file format.

   To save a master report to the server

   1. In Visual Studio, select the report, and from the Report menu, select Save Layout to Server. In the stand-alone designer, in the File menu, select Save to server.
   2. Connect your Visual Studio designer or stand-alone designer to ActiveReports Server if you are not already connected. See Connecting to ActiveReports Server for further information.
   3. In the Save to server dialog that appears, double-click to navigate through the categories hierarchy and then select a location where you want to save the report.
   4. Enter the Report name and add a brief description of the report in the Description section. In the Comment section, enter a revision comment to explain the type of changes made to the report. See Report Versions for further information.
   5. Click the Save button to save the master report under the selected category on ActiveReports Server. Once you save the master report on the server, ActiveReports automatically marks the report as a remote report.

To use a master report

1. With focus on the report to which you want to apply the master report, from the Report menu, select Set Master Report, then Open Local File.
2. In the Open dialog that appears, navigate to the location where you saved the master report and open it. The master report layout is applied to the content report with all areas locked except for the region with the ContentPlaceHolder, which is available for use.

To use a shared master report

1. With focus on the report to which you want to apply the master report, from the Report menu select Set Master Report, then Open From Server.
2. Connect your stand-alone designer to ActiveReports Server if you are not already connected. See Connecting to ActiveReports Server for further information.
   Note: Users require Read permission to access a shared master report.
3. In the Open report from server dialog that appears, navigate through the categories hierarchy to the location where you saved the master report and open it. The master report layout is applied to the content report with all areas locked except for the region with the ContentPlaceHolder, which is available for use.