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The Textbox is the most commonly used report control that displays data. By default, the TextBox appears in each cell of a Table or Matrix data region. Also, the TextBox is what is created when you drag a field from the Data Explorer onto the report.

In the Value property of the TextBox, you can enter static text or an expression. An expression can display fields from a database, calculate a value, or visually display data.

Tip: You can enter text directly into the TextBox on the design surface of the report by double-clicking inside it.

In the Properties Window are a number of properties that you can use to control the appearance and behavior of the TextBox. For example, you can set the Action property to have the viewer jump to a bookmark within the report, another report, or a URL when a user clicks the TextBox at run time. The DataElement properties allow you to control how and whether the TextBox displays in XML exports.

By default, in CPL reports, the TextBox can grow vertically to accommodate the data it displays, and it cannot shrink smaller than it appears at design time. To change this behavior, set the CanShrink and CanGrow properties in the Properties grid. (These properties are not available in FPL reports.)

Data Fields

When you drag a field from a dataset in the Data Explorer and drop it onto the report surface, a TextBox report control with an expression is automatically created. The type of expression that is created depends upon the context where you drop the field. The following table describes the various contexts and expressions created if you drag a field named SalesAmount onto the report.

Expressions created for fields in different contexts

Textbox Dialog

Properties for the Textbox are available in the Textbox dialog. To open it, with the Textbox control selected on the report, under the Properties Window, click the Property dialog link.

The Textbox dialog lets you set properties on the report control with the following pages.

Note: You can select <Expression...> within many of these properties to open the Expression Editor.

General

Visibility

Navigation

Appearance

Font

Format

Alignment

Interactive Sort

Data Output

See Also
Support Forum