ActiveReports provides executable files for the Designer and the Viewer controls (Windows and WPF) in the startup menu. These executable files function as stand-alone applications to help create, edit, and view a report quickly. The stand-alone designer supports opening and saving reports directly from the ActiveReports Server. For more information, see Save and Open Reports from Server.

Use the stand-alone designer application to create a report layout, save it in .rpx or .rdlx format and then load it in the stand-alone viewer application to view the report.

To access the stand-alone designer or viewer application

From the Start Menu, go to All Programs > GrapeCity > ActiveReports and select ActiveReports Designer or ActiveReports Viewer.

OR

Select the following applications located under ...\Common Files\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 10.

• GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Designer.exe
• GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.exe
• GrapeCity.ActiveReports.WpfViewer.exe

Stand-alone designer

Stand-alone designer refers to the GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Designer.exe application installed with ActiveReports installer. This application provides a user interface that includes a Designer along with a toolbox, toolbar, menu, Report Explorer and Properties Window to mimic the Visual Studio look and feel.

The stand-alone designer supports all page, RDL and section reports. By default, the designer appears with a section layout loaded. To open a page report or RDL report, do one of the following:

• From the File menu > New menu option, open the Create New Report dialog and select Page Report or RDL report.
• On the toolbar, select the New menu option to open the Create New Report dialog and select Page Report or RDL report.

Use the File menu > Save As option to save the report in .rpx or .rdlx format depending on the type of layout you are using. The Report menu that appears in the menu bar is similar to the one in Visual Studio. See Report Menu for more information.

Stand-alone viewer

Stand-alone viewer refers to the GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Viewer.exe application installed with ActiveReports. This is a Windows Forms application with an ActiveReports Viewer control and a menu bar.

You can open a .rdlx or .rpx report in the stand-alone viewer application, by going to the File menu > Open menu option and selecting a report to load in the viewer.

This application is compiled with the basic code to load reports. Please note that any additional features activated through code like the annotation toolbar, are not available in the stand-alone viewer application. See Windows Forms Viewer for more information on how to implement these features in the Viewer control.

Stand-alone WPF viewer

Stand-alone WPF viewer refers to the GrapeCity.ActiveReports.WpfViewer.exe application installed with ActiveReports. This is a WPF application with an ActiveReports WPF Viewer control and a menu bar.

You can open an .rdlx or .rpx report in the stand-alone WPF Viewer application, by going to the File menu > Open menu option and selecting a report to load in the viewer.
 
This application is compiled with the basic code to load reports. Please note that features like customizing the toolbar through code, are not implemented in the stand-alone WPF Viewer application. See Using the WPF Viewer for more information on how to implement these features in the Viewer control.