This sample shows you how to pass a SQL string into a report at run time. It consists of a CategoryProducts report and a CategorySelectForm.
CategorySelectForm
The ActiveReports Viewer control fills most of the form, and a combo box at the top allows the user to select which data to send to the viewer.
Right-click the form and select View Code to see how this is done.
- The getCategories code populates the combo box.
- The runCategoryReport code runs the report with a SQL string with the CategoryName passed in by the combo box selection.
- The SelectIndexChanged event calls runCategoryReport and passes it the CategoryName.
CategoryProducts Report
This report lists products in the selected category, and summarizes the number of products. Here are the features used in each section:
ReportHeader
This section cannot be deleted, because the related ReportFooter section is used. When this is the case, the best practice is to set the unused section's Height property to 0.
PageHeader
- This section uses a Label control with a large Font size and its BackColor property set to LightSteelBlue for the report title.
- The TextBox control, txtCategory, has its DataField property set to CategoryName.
- Two Line controls and two more Label controls create the column headers for the report.
Detail
This section contains two bound TextBox controls to display each product in the selected category along with its price.
Although the form passes data to the report at run time, the report's data source is set for design time use. It is easier at design time to drag bound fields onto the report from the Report Explorer than it is to create them and set their properties. The data source also allows you to preview the report while you are designing it.
Click the DataSource Icon on the Detail band to view the data source.
PageFooter
This section uses the ReportInfo control to display Page N of M. In the Properties window, you can select a way to display the page number and run date in the FormatString property.
ReportFooter
This section contains a Label control and a bound TextBox. The TextBox uses the SummaryType of GrandTotal to display the total number of products in the selected category.