# Design View This topic introduces the main parts of the report designer in Banded Layout report, Fixed Page Layout report, and RDLX report. Learn more in ActiveReports ## Content The report designer is fully integrated with the Microsoft Visual Studio IDE. In this topic, we introduce the main parts of the designer in Section Report, Page Report, and RDLX report to help you select the one to best suit your specific needs. ### Report Designer in Section Reports ![Report designer in section reports](https://cdn.mescius.io/document-site-files/images/b298aea2-8cb8-4a0f-be88-4f54aa263ebd/images/designer/designview_sectionlayout.png) **Design Surface** The design surface offers a default report structure that contains a page header, a detail section, and a page footer along with some grey area below these sections. Drag report controls and fields onto these sections to display your data. Use section grab handles to drag a section's height up or down. Right click the report and select **Insert** to add other types of header and footer section pairs. **Data Source Icon** The Data Source icon is located in the band along the top of the detail section. Click this icon to open the **Report Data Source** dialog, where you can bind your report to any OLE DB, SQL, or XML data source. **Section Collapse Icon** A Section Collapse icon (-) appears on each band adjacent to the section header. When you click the collapse icon the section collapses and an expand icon (+) appears. Please note that section collapse is only available in the **Designer** tab. All sections of the report are visible in the **Preview** tab or when the report is rendered. > type=info > **Tip**: In order to make a section invisible, set the **Height** property of the section to 0 or the **Visible** property to False. **Rulers** Rulers are located at the top and left of the design view. They help a user visualize the placement of controls in the report layout and how they appear in print. Please note that you have to add the right and left margin widths to determine whether your report fits on the selected paper size. The left ruler includes a grab handle for each section to resize the section height. See [Rulers](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/rulers) for more information. **Grab Handles** Grab handles on the vertical ruler indicate the height of individual sections. You can drag them up or down to change section heights, or double-click to automatically resize the section to fit the controls in it. **Designer Tabs** The designer provides three tabs: **Designer**, **Script** and **Preview**. You can create your report layout visually in the Designer tab, add script to report events in the Script tab to implement .NET functionality, and see the result in the Preview tab. See [Designer Tabs](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/designer-tabs) for more information. **Designer Buttons** Designer buttons are located below the design surface next to the designer tabs. **Dimension Lines**, **Hide Grid**, **Dots**, **Lines**, **Snap to Lines**, and **Snap to Grid** buttons help you to align report controls and data regions. The **Select Mode** and **Pan Mode** buttons determine whether you select controls on the design surface, or move the visible area of a zoomed-in report. See [Designer Buttons](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/designer-buttons) for more information. **Zoom Bar** The zoom bar provides a slider that you drag to zoom in and out of the design surface, or you can use the **Zoom in** and **Zoom out** buttons at either end of the slider. See [Zoom Support](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/zoom-support) for more information. ### Report Designer in Page reports/RDLX reports ![Report designer in Page reports/RDL reports](https://cdn.mescius.io/document-site-files/images/b298aea2-8cb8-4a0f-be88-4f54aa263ebd/images/designer/designview_pagelayout.png) In a Page Report or an RDLX Report, the designer offers the following features that you can use to create, design and edit a report. **Design Surface** The design surface of a report appears initially as a blank page and grid lines. You can create your own layout and drag report controls and fields onto the design surface to display your data. **Rulers** Use the ruler to determine how your report will look on paper. Please note that you have to add the right and left margin widths to determine whether your report will fit on the selected paper size. See [Rulers](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/rulers) for more information. **Designer Tabs** The designer provides three tabs: **Designer**, **Script** and **Preview**. You can create your report layout visually in the Designer tab, add script to report events in the Script tab to implement .NET functionality, and see the result in the Preview tab. See [Designer Tabs](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/designer-tabs) for more information. **Page Tabs(Page Report)** By default, the designer provides two page tabs, **Page 1** and **New**, below the design surface. Each page tab represents a layout page of the report. **Page 1** represents the first page of your report, and you can click **New** to add another page to your report. See [Page Tabs](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/page-tabs) for more information. **Designer Buttons** Designer buttons are located below the design surface next to the designer tabs. **Dimension Lines**, **Hide Grid**, **Dots**, **Lines**, **Snap to Lines**, and **Snap to Grid** buttons help you to align report controls and data regions. The **Select Mode** and **Pan Mode** buttons determine whether you select controls on the design surface, or move the visible area of a zoomed-in report. See [Designer Buttons](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/designer-buttons) for more information. **Zoom Bar** The Zoom Bar provides a slider that you drag to zoom in and out of the design surface, or you can use the **Zoom in** and **Zoom out** buttons at either end of the slider. See [Zoom Support](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/zoom-support) for more information > type=info > **Tip**: ActiveReports provides some useful keyboard shortcuts for the controls placed on the design surface. > > * **Arrow Keys**: To move control by one grid line. > * **[Ctrl\] + Arrow Keys**: To move control by 1/100 inch (around 0.025 cms) > * **[Shift\] + Arrow Keys**: To increase or decrease the size of the control by one grid line. ## See Also [ActiveReports Designer](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer) [Report Explorer](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/report-explorer) [Properties Panel](/activereportsnet/docs/v20.1/developers/working-with-reports-devs/activereports-designer/properties-window)