ActiveReports allows reports to be saved in their own standard format called an RDF file (Report Document Format). In this format, the data is static. The saved report displays the data that is retrieved when you run the report. You can save a report to an RDF file and load it into the viewer control.

Section report can be stored as an RDF document using the SectionDocument class. It is the intermediate format and can be used in following scenarios:

• to access data and parameters and export later as described in this topic
• to work with annotations, see Add and Save Annotations.
• to merge reports, see Insert or Add Report Pages.

Save a report as a static RDF file

1. Double-click the title bar of the Windows Form to create an event-handling method for the Form_Load event.
2. Add the following code to the handler to save the report.

   To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

   Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
   Dim rpt As New YourReportName() rpt.Run() rpt.Document.Save(Application.StartupPath + \NewRDF.RDF)

   To write the code in C#

   C# code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
   YourReportName rpt = new YourReportName(); rpt.Run(); rpt.Document.Save(Application.StartupPath + \\NewRDF.RDF);

Load a saved RDF file into the ActiveReports viewer

1. Double-click the title bar of the Windows Form to create an event-handling method for the Form_Load event.
2. Add the following code to the handler to load the saved report.

   To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

   Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
   Viewer1.Document.Load("Location of the .RDF File")

   To write the code in C#

   C# code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
   viewer1.Document.Load(@"Location of the .RDF File");

Save or load report files to a memory stream

1. Double-click the title bar of the Windows Form to create an event-handling method for the Form_Load event.
2. Add the following code to the handler to save the report to a memory stream and load the memory stream into the ActiveReports viewer.

   The following examples show what the code for the method looks like.

   To write the code in Visual Basic.NET

   Visual Basic.NET code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
   Dim strm As New System.IO.MemoryStream() Dim rpt As New YourReportName() rpt.Run() rpt.Document.Save(strm) Dim theBytes(strm.Length) As Byte strm.Read(theBytes, 0, Int(strm.Length)) strm.Position = 0 Viewer1.Document.Load(strm)

   To write the code in C#

   C# code. Paste INSIDE the Form_Load event.	Copy Code
   System.IO.MemoryStream strm = new System.IO.MemoryStream(); YourReportName rpt = new YourReportName(); rpt.Run(); rpt.Document.Save(strm); byte[] theBytes = new byte[strm.Length]; strm.Read(theBytes, 0, (int)strm.Length); strm.Position =0; viewer1.Document.Load(strm);