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Hide AllUsing parameters in SubReport, you can connect a SubReport to the parent report. By setting the parameter on the field that binds the parent report to SubReport, the parent report passes the data to display in SubReport through a parameter. This walkthrough illustrates the method to link the main report with a SubReport using parameters.
This walkthrough is split up into the following activities:
- Adding a parent report and a SubReport to a Visual Studio project
- Connecting the parent report to a data source
- Connecting the SubReport to a data source using parameter
- Adding controls to create layout of the parent report (rptParent)
- Adding controls to create a layout of the child report (rptChild)
- Adding code to embed the SubReport to the SubReport control in parent report
- Adding code to set the ShowParametersUI property of SubReport to False.
- Viewing the report
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Note: This walkthrough uses tables from the NorthWind database. By default, in ActiveReports, the NWind.mdb file is located in the [User Documents folder]\GrapeCity Samples\ActiveReports 9\Data folder. |
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Caution: SubReports do not render PageHeader and PageFooter sections. |
When you complete this walkthrough you get a layout that looks similar to the following:
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To add an ActiveReport to the Visual Studio project
- Create a new Visual Studio project.
- From the Project menu, select Add New Item.
- In the Add New Item dialog that appears, select ActiveReports 9 Section Report (code-based) and in the Name field, rename the file as rptParent.
- Click the Add button to open a new section report in the designer.
- From the Project menu, select Add New Item.
- In the Add New Item dialog that appears, select ActiveReports 9 Section Report (code-based) and in the Name field, rename the file as rptChild.
- Click the Add button to open a second new section report in the designer.
See Adding an ActiveReport to a Project for information on adding different report layouts.
To connect the Parent Report (rptParent) to a data source
- On the detail section band, click the Data Source Icon.
- In the Report Data Source dialog that appears, from the OLE DB tab, create a data source connection. See Bind Reports to a Data Source for further details.
- Once the connection string field is populated, in the Query field, enter the following SQL query.
SQL Query Copy CodeSelect * from suppliers order by country
- Click OK to save the data source and return to the report design surface.
To connect the child report (rptChild) to a data source using parameter
- On the detail section band, click the Data Source Icon.
- In the Report Data Source dialog that appears, from the OLE DB tab, create a data source connection. See Bind Reports to a Data Source for further details.
- Once the connection string field is populated, in the Query field, enter the following parameterized SQL query.
SQL Query Copy CodeSELECT * FROM products INNER JOIN categories ON products.categoryid = categories.categoryid WHERE Products.SupplierID = <%SupplierID%>
- Click OK to save the data source and return to the report design surface.
To create a layout for the parent report (rptParent)
- On the design surface, right click the PageHeader or PageFooter section and select Delete to remove the PageHeader/Footer pair.
- Right click on the design surface of the parent report and insert GroupHeader/Footer section pair.
- Click the GroupHeader section to select it and go to the Properties window to set the following properties.
Property Name Property Value Name ghSuppliers DataField Country - From the toolbox, drag a TextBox control onto the groupHeader section and in the Properties window, set the properties as follows:
Property Name Property Value DataField Country Name txtCountry Text Country Location 0, 0 Font Arial, 13pt, style=Bold - Click the Detail section to select it and go to the Properties window to set the CanShrink property to True.
- From the Visual Studio toolbox, drag and drop the following controls onto the detail section of the report and in the Properties window, set their properties as given below:
TextBox1
Property Name Property Value DataField CompanyName Name txtCompanyName Text Company Name Location 0.0625, 0.0625 Size 2.25, 0.2 in Style background-color: Silver; font-weight: bold TextBox2
Property Name Property Value DataField ContactName Name txtContactName Text Contact Name Location 2.312, 0.0625 Size 1.708, 0.2 in Style background-color: Silver; font-weight: bold TextBox3
Property Name Property Value DataField Phone Name txtPhone Text Phone Location 4.562, 0.0625 Size 1.542, 0.2 in Style background-color: Silver; font-weight: bold SubReport
Property Name Property Value Name Subreport1 ReportName ProductName Location 0.0625, 0.312
To create a layout for the child report (rptChild)
- On the design surface, right click the PageHeader or PageFooter section and select Delete to remove the PageHeader/Footer pair.
- Right click on the design surface of the child report and insert GroupHeader/Footer section pair.
- Click the GroupHeader section to select it and go to the Properties window to set the following properties.
Property Name Property Value Name ghProducts DataField CategoryName - From the toolbox, drag and drop a TextBox control onto the groupHeader section and in the Properties window, set the following properties.
Property Name Property Value DataField CategoryName Name txtCategoryName Text Category Name Location 0.0625, 0.0625 Size 2.042, 0.2 in Style color: Maroon; font-weight: bold - Click the Detail section to select it and go to the Properties window to set the CanShrink property to True.
- From the toolbox, drag and drop a TextBox control onto the detail section and in the Properties window, set the following properties.
Property Name Property Value DataField ProductName Name txtProductName Text Product Name Location 0.0625, 0.0625 Size 1.99, 0.2 in Style color: Red
To connect the child report (rptChild) to the SubReport control in parent report (rptParent)
- Double-click the gray area around the parent report (rptParent) to create an event-handling method for the ReportStart event.
- Add code like the following to the handler to create a new instance of the child report (rptChild).
To write the code in Visual Basic
Visual Basic.NET code. Paste JUST ABOVE the ReportStart event. Copy CodeDim rpt As rptChild
Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the ReportStart event. Copy Coderpt = New rptChild()
To write the code in C#
C# code. Paste JUST ABOVE the ReportStart event. Copy Codeprivate rptChild rpt;
C# code. Paste INSIDE the ReportStart event. Copy Coderpt = new rptChild(); - Double-click the detail section of the parent report (rptParent) to create a detail_Format event.
- Add code like the following to the handler to display a report in the SubReport control.
To write the code in Visual Basic
Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the Format event. Copy CodeMe.SubReport1.Report = rpt
To write the code in C#
C# code. Paste INSIDE the Format event. Copy Codethis.subReport1.Report = rpt;
To set the ShowParametersUI property of SubReport to False
- Click the gray area around the child report (rptChild) and go to the Properties window to set the ShowParameterUI property to False.
To view the report
- Click the preview tab to view the report at design time.
OR
- Open the report in the Viewer. See Using the Viewer for further information.
See Also