When you add an ActiveReports 12 Section Report (xml-based) report to your Visual Studio project, the layout is saved as a stand-alone Report XML (RPX) file. Since these files are not compiled into your application, they are a good option for solutions in which you need to update or add reports frequently.

The RPX format cannot contain Visual Basic.NET or C# code. Instead, you can add VB.NET or C# script in the Script view of the report.

For more information on using script with a layout file, see Scripting in Section Reports.

XML-based section reports are the same as Code-Based Section Report with regard to data, events, structure, and exports, but everything is contained in a single, portable RPX file.

End User Report Designer

If you want to allow end users to edit and create section reports in a Windows Forms application you create with the Designer control, these are XML-based, as there is nowhere to put Visual Studio code and no way to handle multiple files for a code-based section report. For more information, see Creating a Basic End User Report Designer (Pro Edition).