ActiveReports v15 Preview Webinar Recap

I had the pleasure of hosting a live preview webinar recently, which focused on showcasing the upcoming features of ActiveReports 15. As usual, we had an amazing turnout and engagement from the participants. If you missed it, no worries! This blog summarizes the discussion and provides a recording of the event to watch at your leisure.

ActiveReports 15 introduced a lot of improvements and new features. The first feature we discussed was .NET 5 support. We also glossed over the benefits and pros and cons of updating to .NET 5. In summary, we can expect that Microsoft will continue to build on the features and performance improvements introduced in .NET 5 as they prepare for the release of .NET 6 in November 2021.

But is it worth updating now? Well, if you have a .NET Core 3.1 application, updating to .NET 5 should be fairly straightforward. For the .NET Framework application, the move is likely to be more involved. In that case, you have to look at the future of your app and consider your ROI. For any new apps you build, you will want to target .NET 5. ActiveReports, for its part, doesn't require anything special for .NET 5 migration. All you need is Visual Stuido 16.8 or later and ActiveReports 15 to get started.

Another new feature of ActiveReports 15 is the PageSize.Height = "Auto" setting for RDL reports. This is a setting that automatically calculates report height at runtime and removes page breaks. If you are printing on a scroll of paper, such as retail receipts, this setting helps calculate your report height so you can print the length of the report. It's a great feature for printing variable length reports.

The next set of features discussed pertains to the End-User Report Designer for Web. These are best explained in the video, but I will briefly outline each here:

• Enhanced API - makes embedding and customizing the designer component in your application much easier
• Table builder - quickly create a tabular report and group the data by dragging and dropping datasets and fields onto the designer surface. Move columns by dragging and dropping at design time
• Tablix wizard - an intuitive UI that helps you create complex matrices and pivots, with nested column and row groupings, with a few clicks
• Advanced parameters panel - use from a dozen controls to create very complex custom parameter panels
• Advanced filtering - creating complex nested filters with AND/OR operators is so much easier now

If you haven't done so already, please download ActiveReports 15 and try these features in your application. And if you have an active maintenance subscription, this version is FREE for you. Don't know if your maintenance is active? Contact our sales team at us.sales@grapecity.com or 1-(800) 858-2739 to find out.

I hope that you have found this webinar helpful and informative. As we get ready to plan our roadmap for next year, I would love to hear from you to learn more about the features that interest you.