Create a Variety of Easy-to-Read Customizable .NET Reports
ActiveReports.NET provides numerous of ways to design a .NET report. Several report options are available for selection with various file format to create the .NET report you need, when you need it.
RDL Report
What is an RDL Report?
This is a report format that allows you to freely layout report controls without layout restrictions such as control size and page size. In RDL Reports, controls can grow and shrink both vertically and horizontally, depending on the size of data available to them. Similar to Page Reports, the data regions, such as List control and Table control, can be used for grouping to display repeated sections. Since these controls grow according to the dataset size, the rendered result depends on the number of records in the data.
RDL Reports are ideal for long tabular reports such as general ledgers, invoices, and when you want to flexibly display a report with data whose size varies, instead of a form with a fixed layout, or when you want to arrange tables and charts using different data sources. As controls expand to accommodate your data, ActiveReports breaks it down into pages based on the report's Page Size setting.
RDL Reports also offer the ability to create and use Master Reports. A Master Report allows you to maintain consistency across reports containing common features such as data, company logos, and page headers, or footers. The body of the master report can be used to add content reports. The Master Report is then used as a 'template' shell inherited by other reports. This allows users to quickly change the company address, themes, logos, for an entire suite of reports–all in one convenient place.
RDL Reports offer a simple design with any of ActiveReports' WYSIWYG designers. Make full use of interactive features such as parameters, filters, sorting, drill-down, drill-through, table of contents, bookmarks, and more.
Page Report
What is a Page Report?
Page Reports provide developers with a new way of creating reports by focusing primarily on the layout. These specific styles of reports are difficult, if not impossible, in other .NET reporting tools. In a Page layout, you design reports at the page level. Each page acts as a container and can serve as a copy of the first or a new page altogether. This not only lets you design different layouts for each page but also allows you to place controls anywhere on the page. The size and position of these controls are precisely defined when designing the report. At runtime, the controls do not reposition or resize based on the data available. Any overflow of the data can be linked to an OverFlowPlaceHolder control. Data regions such as List control and Table control can be used for grouping to display repeated sections.
Page Reports are great for creating invoices, billing statements, mail merge, catalogs, regulatory forms, and other highly structured reports where the layout is important. Because you're designing on a specific page size, there is no need to use code or add measurements to make sure that everything fits on a Page Report. Unlike RDL Reports, data regions remain fixed at runtime so you can drop a table on the design surface, set a property to size it exactly how you want, and render a pixel-perfect output every time–regardless of data size.
Page reports offer intuitive design with any of ActiveReports' WYSIWYG designers. Make full use of interactive features such as parameters, filters, sorting, drill-down, drill-through, table of contents, bookmarks, and more.
Section Report
What is a Section Report?
.NET Section Reports Design Time Run TimeThis is the traditional ActiveReports banded report type, featuring a Detail section for repeating data. It also includes optional Header and Footer sections for groups, pages, and the overall report. Section Reports are similar to Access and Crystal Reports. Using code-behind or scripts, you can respond to the various events that occur–all while the report generates to create extremely customized reports.
Section Reports can be completely code-based (C# or VB.NET) or XML-based when created in an ActiveReports designer component. The code-based and event-driven nature of Section Reports makes it the ideal report type to use when extreme flexibility and control is needed.
Section Reports are useful for forms that either output large amounts of data as a list or repeatedly display data.
