Walkthrough: Hyperlinks and Simulated Drill-Down Reporting

Hyperlinks can be used in Active Reports to simulate drill-down reporting.

This walkthrough illustrates how to set up hyperlinks in a report to simulate drill-down reporting.

This walkthrough is split up into the following activities:

Adding three ActiveReports to a Visual Studio project
Connecting each report to a data source
Adding controls to each report to display the data
Adding three Windows Forms with viewers to the project
Adding code to frmViewMain and frmViewDrillDown1
Adding the code needed to set hyperlink properties

To complete the walkthrough, you must have access to the NorthWind database (NWind.mdb).

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

Adding three ActiveReports to a Visual Studio project

To add three ActiveReports to a Visual Studio project

Open a new project in Visual Studio.
Click on Project > Add New Item.
Select ActiveReports file and rename the file rptMain.
Click Open.
Click on Project > Add New Item.
Select ActiveReports file and rename the file rptDrillDown1.
Click Open.
Click on Project > Add New Item.
Select ActiveReports file and rename the file rptDrillDown2.
Click Open.

Connecting rptMain to a data source

To connect the report to a data source

Click on the yellow report DataSource icon in the Detail section. This brings up the report DataSource dialog box.
Click on Build...
Select Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider and click Next >>
Click on the ellipsis to browse for the access path to NWind.mdb. Click Open once you have selected the appropriate access path.
Click OK to continue.
In the Query field, type "Select * from customers order by customerID".
Click OK to return to the report design surface.

Connecting rptDrillDown1 to a data source

To connect the report to a data source

Click on the yellow report DataSource icon in the Detail section. This brings up the report DataSource dialog box.
Click on Build...
Select Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider and click Next >>
Click on the ellipsis to browse for the access path to NWind.mdb. Click Open once you have selected the appropriate access path.
Click OK to continue.
In the Query field, type "Select * from orders where customerID = '<%customerID%>' order by orderdate".
Click OK to return to the report design surface.
In the properties grid, change the ShowParametersUI property for rptDrillDown1 to False to allow rptMain to pass in the parameter without requesting it from the user.

Connecting rptDrillDown2 to a data source

To connect the report to a data source

Click on the yellow report DataSource icon in the Detail section. This brings up the report DataSource dialog box.
Click on Build...
Select Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider and click Next >>
Click on the ellipsis to browse for the access path to NWind.mdb. Click Open once you have selected the appropriate access path.
Click OK to continue.
In the Query field, type "Select * from [order details] where orderID = <%orderID||10248%> order by productid".
Note: Setting a default value for the parameter in this query allows you to see fields in the Report Explorer instead of an error message.
Click OK to return to the report design surface.
In the properties grid, change the ShowParametersUI property for rptDrillDown2 to False to allow rptMain to pass in the parameter without requesting it from the user.

Adding controls to display the data

To add controls to the reports

Add the following controls to rptMain, naming them as indicated:

Control	DataField	Name	Text/Caption	Section	Location
Label	(Empty string)	lblCustomer	Customer	PageHeader	0, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblCompanyName	Company Name	PageHeader	1.1875, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblContactName	Contact Name	PageHeader	3.5625, 0
TextBox	CustomerID	txtCustomerID	Customer ID	Detail	0, 0
TextBox	CompanyName	txtCompanyName	Company Name	Detail	1.1875, 0
TextBox	ContactName	txtContactName	Contact Name	Detail	3.5625, 0

Add the following controls to rptDrillDown1, naming them as indicated:

Control	DataField	Name	Text/Caption	Section	Location
Label	(Empty string)	lblCustomerID	CustomerID	PageHeader	0, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblOrderID	OrderID	PageHeader	1.1875, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblEmployeeID	EmployeeID	PageHeader	2.4375, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblOrderDate	Order Date	PageHeader	3.625, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblShippedDate	Shipped Date	PageHeader	4.8125, 0
TextBox	CustomerID	txtCustomerID	Customer ID	Detail	0, 0
TextBox	OrderID	txtOrderID	Order ID	Detail	1.1875, 0
TextBox	EmployeeID	txtEmployeeID	Employee ID	Detail	2.4375, 0
TextBox	OrderDate	txtOrderDate	Order Date	Detail	3.625, 0
TextBox	ShippedDate	txtShippedDate	Shipped Date	Detail	4.8125, 0

Add the following controls to rptDrillDown2, naming them as indicated:

Control	DataField	Name	Text/Caption	Misc Details	Section	Location
Label	(Empty string)	lblOrderID	Order ID	(Empty string)	PageHeader	0, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblProductID	Product ID	(Empty string)	PageHeader	1.1875, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblUnitPrice	Unit Price	(Empty string)	PageHeader	2.375, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblQuantity	Quantity	(Empty string)	PageHeader	3.5625, 0
Label	(Empty string)	lblDiscount	Discount	(Empty string)	PageHeader	4.75, 0
TextBox	OrderID	txtOrderID	Order ID	(Empty string)	Detail	0, 0
TextBox	ProductID	txtProductID	Product ID	(Empty string)	Detail	1.1875, 0
TextBox	UnitPrice	txtUnitPrice	Unit Price	OutputFormat = Currency	Detail	2.375, 0
TextBox	Quantity	txtQuantity	Quantity	(Empty string)	Detail	3.5625, 0
TextBox	Discount	txtDiscount	Discount	OutputFormat = Currency	Detail	4.75, 0

Adding three Windows Forms with viewers to your project

To add three Windows Forms with viewers to your project

Click on Project > Add Windows Form.
Select Windows Form and rename it frmViewMain.
Click Open.
Drag the ActiveReports Viewer control onto the frmViewMain and set the Dock property to Fill.
Click on Project > Add Windows Form.
Select Windows Form and rename it frmViewDrillDown1.
Click Open.
Drag the ActiveReports Viewer control onto the frmViewDrillDown1 and set the Dock property to Fill.
Click on Project > Add Windows Form.
Select Windows Form and rename it frmViewDrillDown2.
Click Open.
Drag the ActiveReports Viewer control onto the frmViewDrillDown2 and set the Dock property to Fill.

Adding code to frmViewMain

To write the code to run rptMain in Visual Basic

Double-click at the top of frmViewMain to display the code view for the report. At the top left of the code view for frmViewMain, click the drop-down arrow and select Viewer1. At the top right of the code window, click the drop-down arrow and select Load. This creates an event-handling method for frmViewMain's Viewer1_Load event.

To write the code to run rptMain in C#

Click in the Viewer section of frmViewMain to select the viewer. Click on the events icon in the Properties window to display available events for the viewer. Double-click Load. This creates an event-handling method for frmViewMain's Viewer1_Load event.

The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles _
        MyBase.Load
    Dim rpt As New rptMain()
    Viewer1.Document = rpt.Document
    rpt.Run()
End Sub

//C#
private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
       rptMain rpt = new rptMain();
       this.viewer1.Document = rpt.Document;
       rpt.Run();
}

To write the code to simulate drill down reporting in Visual Basic

Double-click at the top of frmViewMain to display the code view for the report. At the top left of the code view for frmViewMain, click the drop-down arrow and select Viewer1. At the top right of the code window, click the drop-down arrow and select Hyperlink. This creates an event-handling method for frmViewMain's Viewer1_Hyperlink event.

To write the code to simulate drill down reporting in C#

Click in the Viewer section of frmViewMain to select the viewer. Click on the events icon in the Properties window to display available events for the viewer. Double-click Hyperlink. This creates an event-handling method for frmViewMain's Viewer1_Hyperlink event.

The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
Private Sub Viewer1_HyperLink(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DataDynamics.ActiveReports _
        .Viewer.HyperLinkEventArgs) Handles Viewer1.HyperLink
        Dim rpt2 As New rptDrillDown1()
        Dim frm2 As New frmViewDrillDown1()
        rpt2.Parameters("customerID").Value = e.HyperLink.ToString
        Console.WriteLine(rpt2.ds.SQL.ToString)
        rpt2.Run()
        frm2.My_Viewer.Document = rpt2.Document
        frm2.ShowDialog(Me)
End Sub

//C#
private void viewer1_HyperLink(object sender, DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Viewer
        .HyperLinkEventArgs e)
{
        rptDrillDown1 rpt2 = new rptDrillDown1();
        frmViewDrillDown1 frm2 = new frmViewDrillDown1();
        rpt2.Parameters["customerID"].Value = e.HyperLink.ToString();
        rpt2.Run();
        frm2.My_Viewer.Document = rpt2.Document;
        frm2.ShowDialog(this);
}

Adding code to frmViewDrillDown1

To write the code in Visual Basic

Double-click at the top of frmViewDrillDown1 to display the code view for the report. At the top left of the code view for frmViewDrillDown1, click the drop-down arrow and select Viewer1. At the top right of the code window, click the drop-down arrow and select Hyperlink. This creates an event-handling method for frmViewDrillDown1's Viewer1_Hyperlink event.

To write the code in C#

Click in the Viewer section of frmViewDrillDown1 to select the viewer. Click on the events icon in the Properties window to display available events for the viewer. Double-click Hyperlink. This creates an event-handling method for frmViewDrillDown1's Viewer1_Hyperlink event.

The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
Private Sub Viewer1_HyperLink(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As DataDynamics _
        .ActiveReports.Viewer.HyperLinkEventArgs) Handles Viewer1.HyperLink
        Dim rpt3 As New rptDrillDown2()
        Dim frm3 As New frmViewDrillDown2()
        rpt3.Parameters("orderID").Value = e.HyperLink.ToString
        Console.WriteLine(rpt3.ds.SQL.ToString)
        rpt3.Run()
        frm3.Viewer1.Document = rpt3.Document
        frm3.ShowDialog(Me)
End Sub
Friend ReadOnly Property My_Viewer() As DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Viewer.Viewer
	Get
		Return Me.Viewer1
	End Get
End Property

//C#
private void viewer1_HyperLink(object sender, DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Viewer
        .HyperLinkEventArgs e)
{
        rptDrillDown2 rpt3 = new rptDrillDown2();
        frmViewDrillDown2 frm3 = new frmViewDrillDown2();
        rpt3.Parameters["orderID"].Value = e.HyperLink.ToString();
        Console.WriteLine(rpt3.ds.SQL.ToString());
        rpt3.Run();
        frm3.My_Viewer.Document = rpt3.Document;
        frm3.ShowDialog(this);
}
internal DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Viewer.Viewer My_Viewer
{
        get
        {
                return this.viewer1;
        }
}

Adding code to frmViewDrillDown2

To write the code in Visual Basic

In the code view of frmViewDrillDown2, add the following code after the Windows Form Designer generated code.

To write the code in C#

In the code view of frmViewDrillDown2, add the following code after the Windows Form Designer generated code.

The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
Friend ReadOnly Property My_Viewer() As DataDynamics _
        .ActiveReports.Viewer.Viewer
        Get
	        Return Me.Viewer1
        End Get
End Property

//C#
internal DataDynamics.ActiveReports.Viewer.Viewer My_Viewer
{
        get
        {
                return this.viewer1;
        }
}

Adding the code needed to set the hyperlink property for rptMain

To write the code in Visual Basic

Right-click in any section of the design window of rptMain, and click on View Code to display the code view for the report. At the top left of the code view for rptMain, click the drop-down arrow and select Detail. At the top right of the code window, click the drop-down arrow and select BeforePrint. This creates an event-handling method for rptMain's Detail_BeforePrint event.

To write the code in C#

Click in the Detail section of rptMain to select the section. Click on the events icon in the Properties window to display available events for the section. Double-click BeforePrint. This creates an event-handling method for rptMain's Detail_BeforePrint event.

The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
Private Sub Detail_BeforePrint(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles Detail.BeforePrint
        Me.txtCustomerID.HyperLink = Me.txtCustomerID.Text
End Sub

//C#
private void Detail_BeforePrint(object sender, System.EventArgs eArgs)
{
        this.txtCustomerID.HyperLink = this.txtCustomerID.Text;
}

Adding the code needed to set the hyperlink property for rptDrillDown1

To write the code in Visual Basic

Right-click in any section of the design window of rptDrillDown1, and click on View Code to display the code view for the report. At the top left of the code view for rptDrillDown1, click the drop-down arrow and select Detail. At the top right of the code window, click the drop-down arrow and select BeforePrint. This creates an event-handling method for rptDrillDown1's Detail_BeforePrint event.

To write the code in C#

Click in the Detail section of rptDrillDown1 to select the section. Click on the events icon in the Properties window to display available events for the section. Double-click BeforePrint. This creates an event-handling method for rptDrillDown1's Detail_BeforePrint event.

The following example shows what the code for the method looks like.

' Visual Basic
Private Sub Detail_BeforePrint(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
        Handles Detail.BeforePrint
        Me.txtOrderID.HyperLink = Me.txtOrderID.Text
End Sub

//C#
private void Detail_BeforePrint(object sender, System.EventArgs eArgs)
{
      this.txtOrderID.HyperLink = txtOrderID.Text;
}