To request a field from a parent table, prefix the field name with the name of the relation(s) that must be traversed to navigate to the appropriate parent table. Separate field names and relations with periods.

For example, consider a main table named OrderDetails which has a parent table named Orders. A relation named Orders_OrderDetails defines the relationship between the two tables. Use a field with the syntax below to access the OrderDate from the parent table:

Use this same technique to traverse multiple levels of table relations. For example, consider that the Orders table used in the prior example has a parent table named Customers and a relation binding the two called Customers_Orders. If the CommandText specifies the main table as OrderDetails, use the following syntax to get the CustomerName field from the parent table:

Note: Ambiguity can occur if a field and a relation have the same name. This is not supported.

You can use the API to set a dataset on a report at run time.

The Dataset provider returns a data table. All fields in the data table are available. To use the Dataset provider as a report's data source, set up a report definition and runtime, and attach the page document to a LocateDataSourceEventHandler.

These steps assume that you have already added a Page Report template and placed a Viewer control on a Windows Form in your Visual Studio project. See Adding an ActiveReport to a Project and Using the Viewer for further information.

1. In the Report Explorer, go to the DataSources node and right-click to select Add Data Source.
2. In the Report Data Source dialog that appears, set Type to DataSetProvider and close the dialog. A data source node appears in the ReportExplorer.
3. Right-click the data source node and to select Add Data Set.
4. In the DataSet dialog that appears select the Fields page.
5. On the Fields page, add a fields like =Fields!ProductID.Value and =Fields!InStock.Value.
6. Click OK to close the dialog. Nodes with the field names appear under the dataset name.
7. From the Visual Studio toolbox ActiveReports 8 Page Report tab, drag a Table data region onto the design surface of the report.
8. From the ReportExplorer, add the newly added fields onto cells in the detail row of the Table and save the report.
9. In the Visual Studio Solution Explorer, right-click YourProjectName and select Add > Class.
10. In the Add New Item window that appears, rename the class to DataLayer.cs or .vb and click Add.
11. In the Solution Explorer, double-click the DataLayer.cs or .vb to open the code view of the class and paste the following code inside it.

    To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

    Visual Basic.NET code. Paste inside the DataLayer class.

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    Imports GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Expressions.ExpressionObjectModel Imports System.Globalization Imports System.Data.OleDb Friend NotInheritable Class DataLayer Private _datasetData As System.Data.DataSet Public Sub New() LoadDataToDataSet() End Sub Public ReadOnly Property DataSetData() As System.Data.DataSet Get Return _datasetData End Get End Property Private Sub LoadDataToDataSet() Dim connStr As String = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Persist Security Info=False; Data Source=[User Documents folder]\\ComponentOne\\ActiveReports 8\\Samples\\Data\\Reels.mdb" Dim productSql As String = "SELECT top 100 * FROM Product" _datasetData = New DataSet() Dim conn As New OleDbConnection(connStr) Dim cmd As OleDbCommand = Nothing Dim adapter As New OleDbDataAdapter cmd = New OleDbCommand(productSql, conn) adapter.SelectCommand = cmd adapter.Fill(_datasetData, "Products") End Sub End Class

    To write the code in C#

    C# code. Paste inside the DataLayer class.

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    using System; using System.Data; using System.Data.OleDb; internal sealed class DataLayer { private DataSet dataSetData; public DataLayer() { LoadDataToDataSet(); } public DataSet DataSetData { get { return dataSetData; } } private void LoadDataToDataSet() { string connStr = @"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Persist Security Info=False; Data Source=[User Documents folder]\\ComponentOne\\ActiveReports 8\\Samples\\Data\\Reels.mdb"; string productSql = "SELECT * From Product"; dataSetData = new DataSet(); OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection(connStr); OleDbCommand cmd = new OleDbCommand(productSql, conn); OleDbDataAdapter adapter = new OleDbDataAdapter(); adapter.SelectCommand = cmd; adapter.Fill(dataSetData, "Products"); } }

    Note: The DataSetDataSource sample provides context on how to create the DataLayer class, used in the code below. The DataSetDataSource sample is included in the ActiveReports installation and is located in the [UserDocumentFolder]\ComponentOne Samples\ActiveReports 8\Page Reports\CPL\API folder.

12. Double-click the title bar of the Windows Form to create an event-handling method for the Form_Load event and add the following code to the handler.

    To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

    Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
    LoadReport()

    Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the class declaration of the form.

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    Dim WithEvents runtime As GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Document.PageDocument Private Sub LoadReport() Dim rptPath As New System.IO.FileInfo("..\..\YourReportName.rdlx") 'Create a report definition that loads an existing report. Dim definition As New GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport(rptPath) 'Load the report definition into a new page document. runtime = New GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Document.PageDocument(definition) 'Attach the runtime to an event. This line of code creates the event shell below. Viewer1.LoadDocument(runtime) End Sub 'ActiveReports raises this event when it cannot locate a report's data source in the usual ways. Private Sub runtime_LocateDataSource(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal args As GrapeCity.ActiveReports.LocateDataSourceEventArgs) Handles Runtime.LocateDataSource Dim dl = New DataLayer args.Data = dl.DataSetData.Tables("Products") End Sub

    To write the code in C#

    C# code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
    LoadReport();

    C# code. Paste INSIDE the class declaration of the form.

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    private void LoadReport() { System.IO.FileInfo rptPath = new System.IO.FileInfo("..\\..\\YourReportName.rdlx"); //Create a report definition that loads an existing report. GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport definition = new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport(rptPath); //Load the report definition into a new page document. GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Document.PageDocument runtime = new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Document.PageDocument(definition); //Attach the runtime to an event. This line of code creates the event shell below. runtime.LocateDataSource += new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.LocateDataSourceEventHandler(runtime_LocateDataSource); viewer1.LoadDocument(runtime); } //ActiveReports raises this event when it cannot locate a report's data source in the usual ways. private void runtime_LocateDataSource(object sender, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.LocateDataSourceEventArgs args) { DataLayer dl = new DataLayer(); args.Data = dl.DataSetData.Tables["Products"]; }

These steps assume that you have already added a Page Report template and placed a Viewer control on a Windows Form in your Visual Studio project. See Adding an ActiveReport to a Project and Using the Viewer for further information.

1. In the Report Explorer, go to the DataSources node and right-click to select Add Data Source.
2. In the Report Data Source dialog that appears, set Type to ObjectProvider and close the dialog. A data source node appears in the ReportExplorer.
3. Right-click the data source node and in the DataSet dialog that appears select the Fields page.
4. In the Fields page, add a field like =Fields!name.Value and click ok to close the dialog. A node with the field name appears under the dataset name.
5. From the Visual Studio toolbox ActiveReports 8 Page Report tab, drag a Table data region onto the design surface of the report.
6. From the ReportExplorer, add the newly added field onto a cell in the detail row of the Table.
7. Save the report as DogReport.rdlx.
8. In the Solution Explorer, right-click the Form and select View Code to open the Code View.
9. In the Code View of the form, paste the following code inside the class declaration.

   To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

   Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the class declaration of the form.

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   ' Create a class from which to call a property. Public Class dog Private _name As String Public Property name() As String Get Return _name End Get Set(ByVal value As String) _name = Value End Set End Property End Class ' Create an array to contain the data. Dim dogArray As System.Collections.ArrayList ' Create a method to populate the data array. Private Sub LoadData() dogArray = New System.Collections.ArrayList() Dim dog1 As New dog() dog1.name = "border collie" dogArray.Add(dog1) dog1 = New dog() dog1.name = "cocker spaniel" dogArray.Add(dog1) dog1 = New dog() dog1.name = "golden retriever" dogArray.Add(dog1) dog1 = New dog() dog1.name = "shar pei" dogArray.Add(dog1) End Sub

   To write the code in C#

   C# code. Paste INSIDE the class declaration of the form.

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   // Create a class from which to call a property. public class dog { private string _name; public string name { get { return _name; } set { _name = value; } } } // Create an array to contain the data. System.Collections.ArrayList dogArray; // Create a method to populate the data array. private void LoadData() { dogArray = new System.Collections.ArrayList(); dog dog1 = new dog(); dog1.name = "border collie"; dogArray.Add(dog1); dog1 = new dog(); dog1.name = "cocker spaniel"; dogArray.Add(dog1); dog1 = new dog(); dog1.name = "golden retriever"; dogArray.Add(dog1); dog1 = new dog(); dog1.name = "shar pei"; dogArray.Add(dog1); }

10. Set up the report and add a handler for the LocateDataSource event.

    To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

    Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.

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    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load ' Create file info with a path to the report in your project. Dim fi As New System.IO.FileInfo("..\\..\\DogReport.rdlx") ' Create a report definition using the file info. Dim repDef As New GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport(fi) ' Create a page document using the report definition. Dim runt As New GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Document.PageDocument(repDef) ' Create a LocateDataSource event for the runtime. AddHandler runt.LocateDataSource, AddressOf runt_LocateDataSource ' Display the report in the viewer. The title can be any text. Viewer1.LoadDocument(runt) End Sub

    To write the code in C#

    C# code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.

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    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { // Create file info with a path to the report in your project. System.IO.FileInfo fi = new System.IO.FileInfo("..\\..\\DogReport.rdlx"); // Create a report definition using the file info. GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport repDef = new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.PageReport(fi); // Create a page document using the report definition. GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Document.PageDocument runt = new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.Document.PageDocument(repDef); // Create a LocateDataSource event for the runtime. runt.LocateDataSource += new GrapeCity.ActiveReports.LocateDataSourceEventHandler(runt_LocateDataSource); // Display the report in the viewer. The title can be any text. viewer1.LoadDocument(runt); }

11. Use the LocateDataSource event to load data from the object.

    To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

    Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the class declaration of the form.	Copy Code
    Private Sub runt_LocateDataSource(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal args As GrapeCity.ActiveReports.LocateDataSourceEventArgs) If dogArray Is Nothing Then LoadData() args.Data = dogArray End Sub

    To write the code in C#

    C# code. Paste INSIDE the class declaration of the form.	Copy Code
    void runt_LocateDataSource(object sender, GrapeCity.ActiveReports.LocateDataSourceEventArgs args) { if (dogArray == null) { LoadData(); } args.Data = dogArray; }

12. Press F5 to run the application.