ActiveReports allows you to merge two or more reports in Visual Studio for previewing in the viewer control or printing. The document containing the merged reports can also be saved to an RDF file or exported.

This walkthrough illustrates how to create two ActiveReports and merge the reports into one document.

This walkthrough is split up into the following activities:

• Adding two ActiveReports to a Visual Studio project
• Connecting the reports to a data source
• Adding controls to both reports to contain data
• Adding code to the Form_Load event to combine the reports
• Viewing the report 

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

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

Adding two ActiveReports to a Visual Studio project

To add two ActiveReports to a Visual Studio project

1. Open a new project in Visual Studio.
2. Click on Project > Add New Item.
3. Select ActiveReports file and rename the file rptOne.
4. Click Open.
5. Click on Project > Add New Item.
6. Select ActiveReports file and rename the file rptTwo.
7. Click Open.

Connecting the reports to a data source

To connect rptOne to a data source

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

To connect rptTwo to a data source

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

Adding controls to display the data

To add controls to the reports

1. Add the following controls to rptOne, naming them as indicated:

   Control	DataField	Name	Text/Caption	Location
   TextBox	OrderDate	txtOrderDate	Order Date	0, 0
   TextBox	OrderID	txtOrderID	Order ID	1.125, 0
   TextBox	ShipName	txtShipName	Ship Name	2.25, 0
   TextBox	ShipAddress	txtShipAddress	Ship Address	3.375, 0
   TextBox	ShipCity	txtShipCity	Ship City	4.5, 0

2. Add the following controls to rptTwo, naming them as indicated:

   Control	DataField	Name	Text/Caption	Location
   TextBox	ProductID	txtProductID	Product ID	0, 0.06
   TextBox	ProductName	txtProductName	Product Name	1.125, 0.06
   TextBox	QuantityPerUnit	txtQuantityPerUnit	Quantity Per Unit	2.25, 0.06
   TextBox	ReorderLevel	txtReorderLevel	Reorder Level	3.375, 0.06
   TextBox	UnitsOnOrder	txtUnitsOnOrder	Units On Order	4.5, 0.06

Adding code to the Form_Load event

To write the code in Visual Basic

• Right-click at the top of Form1, and click on View Code to display the code view for the form. At the top left of the code view for Form1, click the drop-down arrow and select (Base Class Events). At the top right of the code window, click the drop-down arrow and select Load. This creates an event-handling method for the Form1_Load event. Add code to the handler to:
  • Add rptTwo to rptOne

To write the code in C#

• Click at the top of Form1 to select the form. Click on the events icon in the Properties window to display available events for the form. Double-click Load. This creates an event-handling method for the Form1_Load event. Add code to the handler to:
  • Add rptTwo to rptOne

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

  ' Visual Basic
  Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
  	Handles MyBase.Load
          Dim rpt As New rptOne()
          rpt.Run()
          Dim rpt2 As New rptTwo()
          rpt2.Run()
          rpt.Document.Pages.AddRange(rpt2.Document.Pages)
          Viewer1.Document = rpt.Document
  End Sub

  //C#
  private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
  {
  	rptOne rpt1 = new rptOne();
  	rpt1.Run();
  	rptTwo rpt2 = new rptTwo();	
  	rpt2.Run();
  	rpt1.Document.Pages.AddRange(rpt2.Document.Pages);
  	viewer1.Document = rpt1.Document;
  }

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

  ' Visual Basic
  Dim i As Integer
  Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
  	Handles MyBase.Load
  	Dim rpt As New rptOne()
  	rpt.Run()
  	Dim rpt2 As New rptTwo()
  	rpt2.Run()
  	For i = 0 To rpt2.Document.Pages.Count - 1
  		rpt.Document.Pages.Add(rpt2.Document.Pages(i))
  	Next
  	Viewer1.Document = rpt.Document
  End Sub

  //C#
  int i;
  private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
  {
  	rptOne rpt1 = new rptOne();
  	rpt1.Run();
  	rptTwo rpt2 = new rptTwo();
  	rpt2.Run();
  	for(i = 0; i < rpt2.Document.Pages.Count; i++)
  	{
  		rpt1.Document.Pages.Add(rpt2.Document.Pages[i]);
  	}
  	viewer1.Document = rpt1.Document;
  }

Viewing the report

To view the report

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

Walkthrough: Exporting Output | Samples | Walkthroughs

 

 

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