ActiveReports 12
Snap Lines
ActiveReports 12 > ActiveReports User Guide > Concepts > ActiveReports Designer > Snap Lines

Snap lines assist in accurate positioning of elements on a report design surface while you drag report controls on it. These dynamic horizontal and vertical layout guidelines are similar to the ones found in Visual Studio. You can see snap lines on the ActiveReports Designer as well as the Stand-alone designer application.

Snap lines appear on the design surface by default. In order to disable them, click the Snap Lines button below the design surface, or in section reports, hold down the [Alt] key while dragging a control to temporarily hide the snap lines.

When you drag a control on the design surface, blue snap lines appear and the control slows down as it aligns with another control or a section edge. Unless you are also using the Snap to Grid setting, with Snap Lines, the control can move freely around the report and can be placed anywhere on the design surface.

Tip: If you plan to export a report to Excel format, use snap lines to ensure that your controls are aligned in columns and rows to avoid empty cells or overlapping of controls in the spreadsheet.

Snap Line Behavior

On dragging with a mouse

When you drag report controls across the design surface, they snap to other controls, report and section edges. Snap lines appear when the control you are dragging aligns with any edge of any of the following:

With keyboard actions

Note: Snap lines do not appear when you move a control with arrow keys.
See Also