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Script for Subreports
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ActiveReports 6 > ActiveReports User Guide > Samples and Walkthroughs > Walkthroughs > Layout Files with Embedded Script > Script for Subreports

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

This walkthrough illustrates how to use scripting when creating a subreport.

This walkthrough is split up into the following activities:

Tip: For basic steps like adding a report to a Visual Studio project and viewing a report, please see the Basic Data Bound Reports walkthrough.

To complete the walkthrough, you must have access to the Northwind database.
A copy is located at C:\Program Files\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 6\Data\NWIND.MDB (on a 64-bit Windows operating system, a copy is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 6\Data\NWIND.MDB).

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

To temporarily connect the main report to a data source

  1. Add an ActiveReports 6 File (xml-based) to a Visual Studio project and rename it rptMain.
    Note: The following steps are just for convenience so that the fields list in the Report Explorer can be populated at design time.
  2. Click the gray report DataSource icon on the Detail section band to open the Report Data Source dialog.
  3. On the OLE DB tab, next to Connection String, click the Build button.
  4. In the Data Link Properties window that appears, select Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider and click the Next button.
  5. Click the ellipsis (...) button to browse to the Northwind database. Click Open once you have selected the appropriate access path.
  6. Click OK to close the window and fill in the Connection String field.
  7. In the Query field, enter the following SQL query.
    SQL Query Copy Code
    SELECT * FROM Orders INNER JOIN Customers ON Orders.CustomerID = Customers.CustomerID ORDER BY CompanyName, OrderDate
  8. Click OK to save the data source and return to the report design surface.

To temporarily connect the subreport to a data source

  1. Add a second ActiveReports 6 (xml-based) File to the project and rename it rptSub.
    Note: The following steps are just for convenience so that the fields list in the Report Explorer can be populated at design time.
  2. Right-click the PageHeader or PageFooter section and select Delete. Subreports do not render these sections, so deleting them saves processing time.
  3. Click in the grey area below the report to select it, and in the Properties Window, change the report's ShowParameterUI property to False. This prevents the subreport from requesting a parameter from the user.
  4. Click the gray report DataSource icon on the Detail section band to open the Report Data Source dialog.
  5. Click the Build button.
  6. In the Data Link Properties window that appears, select Microsoft Jet 4.0 OLE DB Provider and click the Next button. 
  7. Click the ellipsis button to browse to the NorthWind database. Click Open once you have selected the appropriate access path.
  8. Click OK to close the window and fill in the Connection String field.
  9. In the Query field, enter the following SQL query.
    SQL Query Copy Code
    Select * from [order details] inner join products on [order details].productid = products.productid
  10. Click OK to return to the report design surface.

To add controls to rptMain to display data

  1. Right-click on the design surface of rptMain and select Insert then Group Header/Footer to add group header and footer sections to the report.
  2. In the Properties Window, make the following changes to the group header:
    • Name: ghCompanies
    • BackColor: LemonChiffon
    • CanShrink: True
    • DataField: CompanyName
    • GroupKeepTogether: All
    • KeepTogether: True
  3. In the Report Explorer, expand the Fields node, then the Bound node. Drag the following field onto ghCompanies and set the properties as indicated.

    ShowGroup header ghCompanies field

    Field Miscellaneous Size Location
    CompanyName Font Style = Bold
    Font Size = 12    		 4, 0.2 in 0, 0 in
  4. Add a second GroupHeader/Footer section to rptMain.
  5. Make the following changes to the group header:
    • Name: ghOrders
    • BackColor: LightYellow
    • CanShrink: True
    • DataField: OrderDate
    • GroupKeepTogether: All
    • KeepTogether: True
  6. Drag the following fields and controls onto ghOrders and set the properties as indicated.

    ShowghOrders controls

    Control DataField Size Text Miscellaneous Location
    TextBox OrderDate 1, 0.198 in OutputFormat = MM/dd/yy 1.13, 0 in
    TextBox RequiredDate 1, 0.198 in OutputFormat = MM/dd/yy 3.5, 0 in
    TextBox ShippedDate 1, 0.198 in OutputFormat = MM/dd/yy
    Alignment = Right    		 5.5, 0 in
    Label 1, 0.198 in Ordered: Font Style = Bold 0, 0 in
    Label 1, 0.198 in Required: Font Style = Bold 2.5, 0 in
    Label 0.65, 0.198 in Shipped: Font Style = Bold 4.8, 0 in
  7. Change the CanShrink property of the detail section to True.
  8. Drag the following control onto the detail section and set the properties as indicated.

    ShowDetail section control

    Control ReportName Name Size Location
    Subreport C:\full project path\rptSub.rpx SubReport1 6.5, 1 in 0, 0 in

To add controls to rptSub

  1. Right-click on the design surface of rptSub and select Insert then Group Header/Footer to add group header and footer sections to the report.
  2. Make the following changes to the group header:
    • Name: ghOrderDetails
    • BackColor: LightSteelBlue
    • CanShrink: True
    • DataField: OrderID
  3. Add four label controls to ghOrderDetails and set the properties as indicated.

    ShowghOrderDetails labels

    Font Style Text Alignment Location
    Bold Product Name Left 0, 0
    Bold Quantity Right 3.25, 0
    Bold Unit Price Right 4.4, 0
    Bold Discount Right 5.5, 0
  4. Add four line controls to ghOrderDetails and set the properties as indicated.

    ShowghOrderDetails line controls

    Name X1 X2 Y1 Y2
    Line1 3.2 3.2 0 0.2
    Line2 4.3 4.3 0 0.2
    Line3 5.45 5.45 0 0.2
    Line4 0 6.5 0.2 0.2
  5. Make the following changes to the detail section:
    • BackColor: Gainsboro
    • CanShrink: True
  6. In the Report Explorer, expand the Fields node, then the Bound node. Drag the following fields onto the detail section and set the properties as indicated.

    ShowDetail section fields

    Field Size Alignment OutputFormat Location
    ProductName 3.15, 0.198 in Left 0, 0 in
    Quantity 1, 0.198 in Right 3.25, 0 in
    Products.UnitPrice 1, 0.198 in Right Currency 4.4, 0 in
    Discount 1, 0.198 in Right Percentage 5.5, 0 in
  7. Add four line controls to the detail section and set the properties as follows (or copy and paste them from ghOrderDetails):

    ShowDetail section lines

    Name X1 X2 Y1 Y2
    Line5 3.2 3.2 0 0.2
    Line6 4.3 4.3 0 0.2
    Line7 5.45 5.45 0 0.2
    Line8 0 6.5 0.2 0.2

To embed script in the main report

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

  3. Embed script to set the data source for the main report and pass data into the subreport.

The following example shows what the script looks like.

ShowTo write the script in Visual Basic.NET

Visual Basic.NET script. Paste in the script editor window. Copy Code
Dim rptSub As DataDynamics.ActiveReports.ActiveReport
Sub ActiveReport_ReportStart
  'Create a new instance of the generic report
  rptSub = new DataDynamics.ActiveReports.ActiveReport()
  'Load the rpx file into the generic report
  rptSub.LoadLayout(me.SubReport1.ReportName)
  'Connect data to the main report
  Dim connString As String = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\Program Files\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 6\Data\NWIND.MDB;Persist Security Info=False"
  Dim sqlString As String = "Select * from orders inner join customers on orders.customerid = customers.customerid order by CompanyName,OrderDate"
  Dim ds As new DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource()
  ds.ConnectionString = connString
  ds.SQL = sqlString
  rpt.DataSource = ds
End Sub

Sub Detail1_Format
  Dim rptSubCtl As DataDynamics.ActiveReports.SubReport = me.SubReport1
  Dim childDataSource As New DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource()
  childDataSource.ConnectionString = CType(rpt.DataSource, DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource).ConnectionString
  'Set a parameter in the SQL query
  childDataSource.SQL = "Select * from [order details] inner join products on [order details].productid = products.productid where [order details].orderid = <%OrderID%>"
  'Pass the data to the subreport
  rptSub.DataSource = childDataSource
  'Display rptSub in the subreport control
  rptSubCtl.Report = rptSub
End Sub

ShowTo write the script in C#

C# code. Paste in the script editor window. Copy Code
DataDynamics.ActiveReports.ActiveReport rptSub;
public void Detail1_Format()
{
  DataDynamics.ActiveReports.SubReport rptSubCtl = this.SubReport1;
  DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource childDataSource = new DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource();
  childDataSource.ConnectionString = ((DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource) rpt.DataSource).ConnectionString;
  //Set a parameter in the SQL query
  childDataSource.SQL = "Select * from [order details] inner join products on [order details].productid = products.productid where [order details].orderid = <%OrderID%>";
  //Pass the data to the subreport
  rptSub.DataSource = childDataSource;
  //Display rptSub in the subreport control
  rptSubCtl.Report = rptSub;
}

public void ActiveReport_ReportStart()
{
  //Create a new instance of the generic report
  rptSub = new DataDynamics.ActiveReports.ActiveReport();
  //Load the rpx file into the generic report
  rptSub.LoadLayout(this.SubReport1.ReportName);
  //Connect data to the main report
  string connString = @"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=C:\Program Files\GrapeCity\ActiveReports 6\Data\NWIND.MDB;Persist Security Info=False";
  string sqlString = "Select * from orders inner join customers on orders.customerid = customers.customerid order by CompanyName,OrderDate";
  DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource ds = new DataDynamics.ActiveReports.DataSources.OleDBDataSource();
  ds.ConnectionString = connString;
  ds.SQL = sqlString;
  rpt.DataSource = ds;
}

To write the code to load the xml-based report into the ActiveReports viewer

  1. Double-click the title bar of the Windows Form containing the viewer to create a Form_Load event.
  2. Add code to load the RPX into a generic ActiveReport and display it in the viewer.

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

ShowTo write the code in Visual Basic.NET

Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the form load event. Copy Code
Dim rpt As New DataDynamics.ActiveReports.ActiveReport()
rpt.LoadLayout("C:\MyProjectPath\rptMain.rpx")
rpt.Run()
Me.Viewer1.Document = rpt.Document

ShowTo write the code in C#

C# code. Paste INSIDE the form load event. Copy Code
DataDynamics.ActiveReports.ActiveReport rpt = new DataDynamics.ActiveReports.ActiveReport();
rpt.LoadLayout(@"C:\MyProjectPath\rptMain.rpx");
rpt.Run();   
viewer1.Document = rpt.Document;

See Also