Understanding the Report Designer Properties

Accessible Description

Specifies text that the screen reader reads. This is used when you export a report to PDF format.

Allow Markup Text

Indicates if you can use HTML style markup tags to format a report control’s text.

Anchor Horizontally

Defines how to resize a report control to maintain the distance to the left and right edges of its container.

Anchor Vertically

Attaches the top and/or bottom edges of the report control to the edges of its container on a rendered document page.

Angle

Specifies an elements rotation angle.

FormsPro Tip: Use this to turn labels in a table to read vertically.

Auto Width

Specifies whether column widths are automatically changed so that that the total column’s width matches the grid’s width.

Background Color

Specifies the background color for the selected element.

Bookmark

Sets the report element as a bookmark.

Bookmark Duplicate Suppress

Specifies whether to suppress duplicated bookmarks in the final document.

Border Color

Specifies the border color for the selected element.

Border Dash Style

Specifies the border dash style for the selected element.

Border Width

Specifies the border width for the selected element.

Borders

Sets the border of a cell, such as top, bottom, left or right.

Can Grow

Indicates that the element’s height can be automatically increased to display the entire content. Any other report elements below the control are moved down to prevent overlapping.

Can Publish

Indicates whether a report control is displayed in a printed or exported document.

Can Shrink

Indicates that the element’s height can be automatically decreased if the contents do not completely fill the control.

Cross Band Controls

Provides access to a collection of cross-band controls in the report.

Data Member

Specifies the list in the report’s data source.

Data Source

An object that provides an API for processing data.

Display Name

Sets the report’s display name.

Draw Grid

Sets a value indicating whether to draw the snap grid over the report surface.

Draw the Watermark

Sets a value indicating whether to draw a watermark at design time.

Edit Options

Specifies whether and how a control’s content can be edited in Print Preview:

·       Enabled: Indicates whether editing a control’s content in Print Preview is enabled.

·       ID: Indicates the unique identifier of edit options.

·       Read Only: Indicates whether an editor for customizing a control’s content in Print Preview is enabled.

·       Editor Name: Internal to OmniByte use.

Export Options

Specifies exporting parameters when exporting a report.

Extensions

Used to serialize custom objects.

Filter String

Specifies the criteria used to filter data in a report.

Font

Specifies the font name, size, and unit for the selected element. You can also make the font bold, italic, underline, or strikethrough.

Foreground Color

Specifies the foreground color for the selected element.

FormsPro Tip: Use this to change the color of text.

Horizontal Content Splitting

Indicates whether the content is split across pages or moved to a new page.

Image Resources

Provides access to a collection of the report’s named images.

Interactive Sorting

Enables sorting a report in Print Preview.

·       Target Band: Specifies the band for which sorting in Print Preview is enabled.

·       Field Name: Specifies the name of a field that is used to sort data in Print Preview.

Keep Together

Indicates whether a report control can be horizontally split across pages.

FormsPro Tip: Select a row in a static table on your report, then select this box to prevent the information in the row from splitting across page breaks. For best results, apply to one row at a time. Depending on the fluidity of the data above the table and in the table, you may need to experiment with a few submissions to ensure this is applied in the right places.

Use a page break to keep a whole table on a page.

You can also use this to prevent a long text field from splitting across pages.

Landscape

Indicates whether the page orientation is landscape.

Language

Specifies the language used in the report.

Location

Internal to OmniByte use.

Margin

Sets the report’s page margins.

Measure Units

Specifies a unit of measurement for various distance values of a spreadsheet.

Multi-Column Options

Specifies that each page of the report is laid out in a specified number of columns.

Multiline

Indicates whether more than one row of tab headers is displayed.

Name

Displays the name of the control.

Navigation Target

Sets the frame that manages navigation invoked by the current element.

Navigation URL

Specifies the URL to navigate to when a control is clicked.

Null Value Text

Internal to OmniByte use.

Padding

Specifies the amount of internal space between the body of rectangular UI element and its borders. You can apply it to All, Left, Right, Top, or Bottom.

FormsPro Tip: Add padding to the top of fields when you have the text aligned to Top, it adds just a little spacing to separate it from the lines if you’re boxing in the text. Default padding is set to 2 for right and left, and 0 for top and bottom.

Page Break drop-down list

Specifies where to make a page break in the band:

·       None: No page breaks are inserted before or after the current band.

·       Before Band: Inserts a page break before the band.

·       Before Band Except First Entry: Inserts a page break before the band except for the first entry.

·       After Band: Inserts a page break after the band.

·       After Band Except Last Entry: Inserts a page break after the band except for the last entry.

Page Color

Sets the fill color of the report pages.

Page Height

Sets the height of the report’s pages.

Page Size

Sets the size of the report’s pages.

Page Width

Sets the width of the report’s pages.

Paper Kind

Select the kind of paper for printing.

FormsPro Tip: When creating a report formatted as CSV choose Custom as the Paper Kind, then increase the page width to accommodate the columns of data on your report. This helps mostly in Preview mode to be sure your data layout is appropriate.

Parent Bookmark

Sets the report element whose bookmark is used as the parent for the current element’s bookmark.

Printer Name

Specifies the name of the printer to use for printing the report.

Process Duplicates Mode

Internal to OmniByte use.

Process Duplicates Target

Internal to OmniByte use.

Process Null Values

Internal to OmniByte use.

Report Unit

Specifies the system of measurement used throughout a report for expressing the values of certain properties.

Request Parameters

Indicates if you want the document to be created after values for all visible parameters are set.

Right to Left

Specifies the content orientation of the controls.

Right to Left Layout

Specifies the position of controls within report bands.

Roll Paper

Specifies whether the document is to be printed on roll paper (single uninterrupted page).

Show Margin Lines in Preview

Indicates to show page margin lines in the report preview window.

Size

Internal to OmniByte use.

Snap Grid Size

Specifies the dimensions of the report designer snap grid.

Sort Fields

Specifies the data fields which the data in the report’s data source will be sorted by when creating the report’s document and the order of sorting.

Click the Add button to create an item sort. From the Sort By drop down list, select the item to sort. Then click the Add button again to continue selecting items to sort.

Mark Keep Together with Detail Reports option to print the sorted items on one page.

Mark Fill Empty Space to populate the empty region below the detail band with copies of the band. The band retains its layout, but the report controls are printed without data.

Style Sheet

Provides access to a collection of styles in a report.

Styles

Retrieves a set of styles for the control, including Even Style, Odd Style, and Style.

Summary

Running: Sets a value for a report area for which an arithmetic function is calculated.

·       None: The function is not calculated.

·       Group: The function is calculated for every group.

·       Report: The function is calculated for the entire report.

·       Page: The function is calculated for every page.

Ignore Null Values: Specifies whether null values should be ignored when a summary is calculated.

Treat Strings As Numerics: Specifies whether a summary function should treat strings as numeric values.

Tag

Stores data that is closely associated with the report control.

Text

Specifies the control’s text.

Text Alignment

Specify how the text associated with the control should be aligned.

Text Fit Mode

Specify how to change a control’s text size to fit its boundaries:

·       None: The text size remains unchanged.

·       Grow Only: The text size is automatically increased to occupy the control’s entire area.

·       Shrink Only: The text size is automatically decreased to be completely displayed in the control.

·       Shrink and Grow: The text size is automatically decreased or increased to fit the control’s boundaries.

Text Format String

Applies formatting to report elements to display incoming data. For example, you could format a numeric value as currency.

FormsPro Tip: For the most part, the formatting you apply to fields on the form apply on the report as well. You can use this setting to change it on the report, so that it’s different than the form – for example, if you prefer a date formatted one way for all customer reports.

Text Trimming

Specifies how the characters in a string that do not completely fit in a layout shape are trimmed:

·       None: Specify no trimming.

·       Character: Specify that the text is trimmed to the nearest character.

·       Word: Specify that the text is trimmed to the nearest word.

·       Ellipsis Character: Specify that the text is trimmed to the nearest character, and an ellipsis is inserted at the end of a trimmed line.

·       Ellipsis Word: Specify that the text is trimmed to the nearest word, and an ellipsis is inserted at the end of a trimmed line.

·       Ellipsis Path: The center is removed from the trimmed lines and replaced by an ellipsis.

Vertical Content Splitting

Indicates whether report controls outside the right page margin should be split across pages or moved in their entirety to the next page.

Watermark

Provides access to a report’s watermark settings. Settings include Foreground Color, Text Transparency, Text, Text Direction, Image Source, Image Transparency, Image Tiling, Image Alignment, Image View, Page Range and Show Behind.

Word Wrap

Indicates whether a control automatically wraps words to the beginning of the next line when necessary.

FormsPro Tip: Use Word Wrap and Can Grow together to ensure your field expands to show data that falls to another line. In tables where you know your data is only going to consistently extend a couple lines, you can set the height of a row to accommodate the wrapping instead of using Can Grow.

Xlsx Format String

Specifies the native Excel format to be imported to the control’s content after the report is exported to an Excel file.