ActiveReports allows you to use scripting to permit reports saved to an XML file (RPX) to contain code. By including scripting when the reports are saved into XML, the reports later can be loaded, run, and displayed directly in the viewer control without the use of the designer.

This walkthrough illustrates how to include scripting in a report.

This walkthrough is split into the following activities:

Adding an ActiveReport to a Visual Studio project
Adding controls to contain the data
Adding scripting to supply data for the controls
Viewing the report
Saving the report to an XML file (RPX)

To complete the walkthrough, you must have access to the Northwind database.
A copy is located at C:\Program Files\Data Dynamics\ActiveReports for .NET 3.0\Data\NWIND.MDB.

When you have completed this walkthrough, you will have a report that looks similar to the following.

Adding an ActiveReport to a Visual Studio project

To add an ActiveReport to your project

Open a new project in Visual Studio.
From the Project menu, select Add New Item.
Select ActiveReports 3.0 File and rename the file rptScript.
Click Open (Add in Visual Studio 2005).

Adding controls to the report to contain data

To add controls to the report

Add a GroupHeader/Footer section to your report by right-clicking on the design surface of the report and selecting Insert > Group Header/Footer.
Make the following changes to the group header:
- Change the Name property to ghCategories
- Change the BackColor property to LightBlue
- Change the CanShrink property to True
- Change the DataField property to CategoryID
- Set the GroupKeepTogether property to All
- Set the KeepTogether property to True

Add the following controls to the GroupHeader section and set the properties as indicated.

Control	DataField	Name	Text	Location	Size	Miscellaneous
TextBox	CategoryName	txtCategoryName	Category Name	0, 0	6.5, 0.2	BackColor = CadetBlue; Font Style = Bold; Font Size = 12
TextBox	Description	txtDescription	Description	0, 0.2	6.5, 0.2	BackColor = CadetBlue
Label		lblProductName	Product Name	0, 0.4	1, 0.2	Font Style = Bold
Label		lblUnitsInStock	Units in Stock	5.5, 0.4	1, 0.2	Font Style = Bold; Alignment = Right

Add text box controls with the following properties to the detail section.

DataField Name Text Location Size Alignment

ProductName txtProductName Product Name 0, 0 5.5, 0.19

UnitsInStock txtUnitsInStock Units in Stock 5.5, 0 1, 0.19 Right
Set the CanShrink property of the detail section to True.
Select both of the text boxes in the detail section, right-click and choose Format Border.
- Select dark cyan in the color combo box
- Select the dotted line in the Line Styles pane
- Click the bottom edge in the Preview pane
- Click the OK button to add a dotted line to the bottom edge of the text boxes.
Make the following changes to the group footer:
- Change the Name property to gfCategories
- Change the BackColor property to PaleGreen
- Change the CanShrink property to True

DataField	Name	Text	Location	Size	Alignment
ProductName	txtProductName	Product Name	0, 0	5.5, 0.19
UnitsInStock	txtUnitsInStock	Units in Stock	5.5, 0	1, 0.19	Right

Add the following controls to the GroupFooter section:

Control	DataField	Name	Text	Miscellaneous	Location
Label		lblTotalLabel	Total:	Size = 3, 0.19; Font Style = Bold	2.5, 0
TextBox	ProductName	txtTotalItems	Total Items	SummaryType = Subtotal; SummaryFunc = Count; SummaryRunning = Group; SummaryGroup = ghCategories; Alignment = Right	5.5, 0
Label		lblWhiteSpace		BackColor = White; Size = 6.5, 0.2	0, 0.25

Adding scripting to supply data for the controls

To add scripting to the report

Change the ScriptLanguage property for the report to the appropriate scripting language. The default setting is C#.
Click the Script tab located below the report designer to access the scripting editor.

Add the scripting code.

The following example shows what the scripting code looks like.

'VB.NET
Private Shared m_reader As System.Data.OleDb.OleDbDataReader
Private Shared m_cnn As System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection

Public Sub ActiveReport_ReportStart()
  Dim connString As String = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\Program Files\Data Dynamics\ActiveReports for .NET 3.0\Data\NWIND.mdb"
  Dim sqlString As String = "SELECT * FROM categories INNER JOIN products ON categories.categoryid = products.categoryid ORDER BY products.categoryid, products.productid"
     
  m_cnn = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection(connString)
  Dim m_Cmd As System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand(sqlString, m_cnn)
   
  If m_cnn.State = System.Data.ConnectionState.Closed Then
     m_cnn.Open
  End If
  m_reader = m_Cmd.ExecuteReader
End Sub

Public Sub ActiveReport_DataInitialize()
  rpt.Fields.Add("CategoryID")
  rpt.Fields.Add("CategoryName")
  rpt.Fields.Add("ProductName")
  rpt.Fields.Add("UnitsInStock")
  rpt.Fields.Add("Description")
  rpt.Fields.Add("TotalLabel")
End Sub

Public Function ActiveReport_FetchData(ByVal eof As Boolean) As Boolean
  Try
    m_reader.Read
    rpt.Fields("CategoryID").Value = m_reader("categories.CategoryID")
    rpt.Fields("CategoryName").Value = m_reader("CategoryName")
    rpt.Fields("ProductName").Value = m_reader("ProductName")
    rpt.Fields("UnitsInStock").Value = m_reader("UnitsInStock")
    rpt.Fields("Description").Value = m_reader("Description")
    rpt.Fields("TotalLabel").Value = "Total Number of " + m_reader("CategoryName")+ " Units:"
    eof = False
  Catch
    eof = True
  End Try
 Return eof
End Function

Public Sub ActiveReport_ReportEnd()
  m_reader.Close
  m_cnn.Close
End Sub

//C#
private static System.Data.OleDb.OleDbDataReader m_reader;
private static System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection m_cnn;

public void ActiveReport_ReportStart()
{
   string m_cnnString = @"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\Program Files\Data Dynamics\ActiveReports for .NET 3.0\Data\NWIND.mdb";
   string sqlString = "SELECT * FROM categories INNER JOIN products ON categories.categoryid = products.categoryid ORDER BY products.categoryid, products.productid";
   m_cnn = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbConnection(m_cnnString);
   System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand m_Cmd = new System.Data.OleDb.OleDbCommand(sqlString,m_cnn);
  
   if(m_cnn.State == System.Data.ConnectionState.Closed)
   {
      m_cnn.Open();
   }
   m_reader = m_Cmd.ExecuteReader();
}

public void ActiveReport_DataInitialize()
{
   rpt.Fields.Add("CategoryID");
   rpt.Fields.Add("CategoryName");
   rpt.Fields.Add("ProductName");
   rpt.Fields.Add("UnitsInStock");
   rpt.Fields.Add("Description");
   rpt.Fields.Add("TotalLabel");
}

public bool ActiveReport_FetchData(bool eof)
{
   try
   {
     m_reader.Read();
     rpt.Fields["CategoryID"].Value = m_reader["categories.CategoryID"].ToString();
     rpt.Fields["CategoryName"].Value = m_reader["CategoryName"].ToString();
     rpt.Fields["ProductName"].Value = m_reader["ProductName"].ToString();
     rpt.Fields["UnitsInStock"].Value = m_reader["UnitsInStock"].ToString();
     rpt.Fields["Description"].Value = m_reader["Description"].ToString();
     rpt.Fields["TotalLabel"].Value = "Total Number of " + m_reader
        ["CategoryName"].ToString() + " Units:";
     eof = false;
   }
   catch
   {
     eof = true;
   }
   return eof;
}

public void ActiveReport_ReportEnd()
{
   m_reader.Close();
   m_cnn.Close();
}

Viewing the report

To view the report

Add the ActiveReports viewer control to a Windows Form.
Add the code needed to set the viewer document equal to the report document. See Using the ActiveReports Windows Form Viewer for help.

You can quickly view your report at design time by clicking the Preview tab at the bottom of the designer.

Saving the report to an XML file (RPX)

To save the report

From the Report menu, select Save Layout.
In the Save dialog, name the file appropriately, select the location in which you wish to save it, and press Save.

ActiveReports for .NET 3 Online Help	Request technical support
Walkthrough: Scripting and Simple Reports
See Also

Adding an ActiveReport to a Visual Studio project

Adding controls to the report to contain data

Adding scripting to supply data for the controls

Viewing the report

Saving the report to an XML file (RPX)

See Also