Inheritance

ActiveReports can be used to create a base class as a template from which other reports can inherit. A very simple example of how this functionality may be used is the creation of a company letterhead template. To do this, create a LetterHead class with code like the following.

[C#]
using DataDynamics.ActiveReports;
using DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Document;
namespace InheritanceCS
{
        /// <summary>
        /// Summary description for LetterHead.
        /// The LetterHead class is to be used with reports having only a Detail section.
        /// </summary>
        public class LetterHead : ActiveReport //Tell the letterhead class to inherit from AR
        {
                public LetterHead()
                {
                        //
                        // TODO: Add constructor logic here
                        //
                }
                protected void InitializeLetterhead()
                {
                        //create sections and controls for the letterhead
                        PageHeader ph = new PageHeader();
                        PageFooter pf = new PageFooter();
                        Picture p = new Picture();
                        Label l = new Label();
                        Label l2 = new Label();
                        //set properties on sections and controls
                        ph.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Gainsboro;
                        ph.Height = 1F;
                        pf.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Gainsboro;
                        pf.Height = 1F;
                        p.Name = "Logo";
                        p.Image = System.Drawing.Image.FromFile(@"c:\logo.gif");
                        p.Left = 0F;
                        p.Width = 2.5F;
                        l.Name = "CompanyName";
                        l.Text = "Data Dynamics Ltd.";
                        l.Left = 2.5F;
                        l.Width = 4F;
                        l.Height = 1F;
                        l.Font = new System.Drawing.Font("Times New Roman", 20);
                        l2.Name = "WebsiteAddress";
                        l2.Text = "http://www.datadynamics.com";
                        l2.Left = 0F;
                        l2.Width = 6.5F;
                        l2.Alignment = TextAlignment.Center;
                        //add the sections created above to the report
                        this.Sections.Insert(0,ph);
                        this.Sections.Insert(2,pf);
                        //add the controls created above to the sections
                        ph.Controls.Add(p);
                        ph.Controls.Add(l);
                        pf.Controls.Add(l2);
                }
                protected void rptLetter_ReportStart(object sender, System.EventArgs eArgs)
                {
                        //add the code in InitializeLetterhead to the ReportStart event 
                        //of the report
                        InitializeLetterhead();
                }
        }
}

[Visual Basic]
Imports System
Imports DataDynamics.ActiveReports
Imports DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Document
Namespace InheritanceVB
    Public Class Letterhead
        Inherits ActiveReport 'Tell the letterhead class to inherit from AR
        Protected Sub InitializeLetterhead()
            'The Letterhead class is for use with reports containing only a Detail section.
            'create sections and controls for the letterhead
            Dim ph As PageHeader = New PageHeader
            Dim pf As PageFooter = New PageFooter
            Dim p As Picture = New Picture
            Dim l As Label = New Label
            Dim l2 As Label = New Label
            'set properties on sections and controls
            With ph
                .BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Gainsboro
                .Height = 1.0F
            End With
            With pf
                .BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Gainsboro
                .Height = 1.0F
            End With
            With p
                .Name = "Logo"
                .Image = System.Drawing.Image.FromFile("c:\logo.gif")
                .Left = 0.0F
                .Width = 2.5F
            End With
            With l
                .Name = "CompanyName"
                .Text = "Data Dynamics Ltd."
                .Left = 2.5F
                .Width = 4.0F
                .Height = 1.0F
                .Font = New System.Drawing.Font("Times New Roman", 20)
            End With
            With l2
                .Name = "WebsiteAddress"
                .Text = "http://www.datadynamics.com"
                .Left = 0.0F
                .Width = 6.5F
                .Alignment = TextAlignment.Center
            End With
            'add the sections created above to the report
            Me.Sections.Insert(0, ph)
            Me.Sections.Insert(2, pf)
            'add the controls created above to the sections
            ph.Controls.Add(p)
            ph.Controls.Add(l)
            pf.Controls.Add(l2)
        End Sub
        Protected Sub rptLetter_ReportStart(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal eArgs As System _
        	.EventArgs)
            'add the code in InitializeLetterhead to the ReportStart event of the report
            InitializeLetterhead()
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

Then in the code behind any report that is to inherit from this class, change the inheritance in the automatically generated code from "ActiveReport" to your class name, in this case "LetterHead." To use the code in the ReportStart event you created in the class above, create an event handler just after InitializeReport() with code like the following.

[C#]
this.ReportStart += new EventHandler(base.rptLetter_ReportStart);

[Visual Basic]
AddHandler Me.ReportStart, AddressOf rptLetter_ReportStart