Discrete Control over Report Items

[Paul]

I am very new to Telerik and am currently just evaluating it as a possible reporting solution. Please bear with me.

Here is a basic example of what I am trying to do:

I have a Panel. Inside the Panel is a Shape. Inside the Shape are some TextBoxes. I am using the Shape to frame some TextBoxes (for visual organization). The Panel grows with the TextBoxes, but the Shape does not. So on some records, some of the data in the TextBoxes bleeds over the Shape.

What I would like to do is to have the shape grow/shrink with each record - basically, resize the Shape in relation to the Panel for *each record* that gets rendered. One thing I tried was to Anchor the Shape to the Panel. That has resulted in limited success. So I assume I may have to do this through code(?).

If anyone could point me in the right direction (documentation/examples/etc), I'd really appreciate it. I've been searching for hours and have only come up with out-dated code examples that don't align with the current API.

Thanks in advance!

Paul

[Nasko]

Hello Paul,

Thank you for contacting Telerik Support.

The Shape item is not a container item, unlike the Panel item. It does not have child items and cannot grow based on child items. The TextBox item inside the shape is actually not a child item, but is overlapping with the shape.
In order to increase the size of the shape based on the Panel item you can set Shape.Docking = Fill and Shape.Stretch = True.
Another approach to frame the text boxes inside the panel is by using a background image. This can be done via the Panel.Style.BackgroundImage property.

I will be happy to assist you if you have further questions.

Regards,
Nasko
Telerik

 

 

[Paul]

Thank you for your reply.

I apologize for not being clear. I understand that the Shape item is not a container item. This is why I am looking for alternate methods to manipulate Report Items.

We have a number of complex banded/statistical reports. The complexity requires very discrete control over the Report Items in order to maintain an effective design to end users. Manipulating Shapes (and other Report Items) on a record-by-record basis can be very helpful to us in some situations. But like you said, a Shape is not a container item. Therefore, I would like to know if a Shape’s Properties (or any Report Item) can be evaluated and changed on a record-by-record basis – whether that is via code, or some other means.

To explain our dilemma another way, please consider the attached image file.

On a banded Report, we may have multiple Bands within the Details section. The challenge we have found with Telerik, is (it seems) Report Items cannot be removed completely. They can have their Visible Property
unchecked, and/or have their Height Property set to a low number at Initialization. Unchecking the Visible Property leaves empty white space on the rendered Report. Setting an Item’s Height Property to a very low number will
never completely remove the Item from the rendered report (Shapes are just shrunk to a very small size, and/or white space is left where the Item is located). Experimenting with different things has given us mixed results, but
never fully allowed us to control the report’s design the way we need to. In addition, we have found the need to make certain other concessions in report design in order to achieve some of what we are after.

If there is any other information or documentation you can point me toward, it would be very appreciated. Our evaluation period of Telerik Reporting is nearing the end. We are currently considering several technologies
for our reporting needs. There are a lot of things we like about Telerik Reporting. But it is also important that we understand its exact capabilities so that we can consider these limitations as we move forward with our needs.

Thank you for your time.
Best Regards,

Paul Madden

[Nasko]

Hello Paul,

The described dynamic report layout can be achieved in Telerik Reporting by using Conditional Formatting and Bindings.

We have created a sample report which demonstrates how to hide panels based on the retrieved data and also modify the report layout, so it accounts for hidden items and does not have empty white space.
Please find the sample report in the attached file. In order to run the report you will need the AdventureWorks sample database.

Note that in report with complex layout, changing the visibility of an item does not guarantee that the space it occupies would be filled in by the items below or to the right of it. For more information on visibility rules, please follow the Design Considerations for Report Item Layout help article.

Regards,
Nasko
Telerik