The FlexReportDesigner control displays .flxr files in design mode and allows you to drag, copy, and resize report fields and sections. The advantage of using the FlexReportDesigner control in place of the FlexReportDesigner app is that you can modify the FlexReportDesigner source code to suit your needs. Using the FlexReportDesigner control, you can create your own fully functional report designer app or add certain report design functionality to your apps.

Creating your own customized report designer is useful in many situations, for example:

• When you want to integrate the designer tightly into your application rather than running a separate application. For example, see the report designer in Microsoft Access.
• When you want to customize the data sources available to the user or the types of fields that can be added to the report. For example, you might want to use custom data source objects defined by your application.
• When you want to write a better, more powerful report designer application than the one you use now that makes it easier to do things which are important to you or to your co-workers. For example, add groups of fields to the report.

To use the FlexReportDesigner component, simply create a Windows Forms App, add a FlexReport control to the form, bind it with the report you want to edit, and set the Report property in the designer control.

The following steps describe how to create a sample designer and implement a simple report using the C1FlexReportDesigner control. The purpose of this sample designer is to illustrate how the FlexReportDesigner control integrates with a designer application. It allows you to load and save files containing multiple reports, edit and preview reports, add and remove reports from the file, undo/redo, and modify reports.

The following image showcases a sample designer application.

Follow the step-by-step implementation for creating a sample designer app.

Setup the Application

1. Create a new Windows Forms App.
2. Drag and drop the following controls on the form, from the ToolBox, as mentioned below:

   Control	Control Name	Description
   Label	label1, label2	Label control displays some informative text on the UI.
   C1FlexViewerPane	c1FlexViewerPane1	C1FlexViewer Pane control for previewing the reports.
   C1FlexReportDesigner	c1FlexReportDesigner1	C1FlexReport Designer control for designing and editing reports.
   PropertyGrid	PropertyGrid1	PropertyGrid control for editing properties of object selected in the designer.
   ListBox	listReport	ListBox control with a list of reports currently loaded.
   Splitter	splitter1	Splitter control resizes the docked controls at run-time.
   ToolStrip	toolStrip1	ToolStrip control acts like a container without adding its child controls.
   C1FlexReport	c1FlexReport1	C1FlexReport component used for rendering reports into the c1FlexViewerPane1 control.

   The form contains controls such as labels and splitters, which are used to improve the layout. These are optional and may be omitted depending on your needs. The application source code implements all of these controls, and you can use the source code as a basis for your implementation.

3. Define the class variables and constants by adding the following code to Form.cs of your project:

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   // fields private string _fileName; // name of the current file private bool _dirty; // current file has changed int _ctr = 0; // title to display in the form caption private const string _appName = "FlexReportDesigner Demo";

4. Modify the UI using UpdateUI method. This makes sure that the UI reflects the application's state. Also, the first call should be made in response to the Form_Load event, to initialize the toolbar and form caption.

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   private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e) { UpdateUI(); } private void UpdateUI() { // update caption Text = (_fileName != null && _fileName.Length > 0) ? string.Format("{0} - [{1}] {2}", _appName, _fileName, _dirty ? "*" : "") : _appName; // push/release design/preview mode buttons bool design = c1FlexReportDesigner1.Visible && c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report != null; _btnDesign.Checked = design; _btnPreview.Checked = !design; // enable/disable buttons _btnCut.Enabled = design && c1FlexReportDesigner1.CanCut; _btnCopy.Enabled = design && c1FlexReportDesigner1.CanCopy; _btnPaste.Enabled = design && c1FlexReportDesigner1.CanPaste; _btnUndo.Enabled = design && c1FlexReportDesigner1.CanUndo; _btnRedo.Enabled = design && c1FlexReportDesigner1.CanRedo; bool reportSelected = design && listReport.SelectedItem != null; _btnAddReport.Enabled = c1FlexReportDesigner1.Visible; _btnDelReport.Enabled = reportSelected; _btnAddField.Enabled = reportSelected; _btnAddLabel.Enabled = reportSelected; }

   Notice how UpdateUI uses the CanCut, CanPaste, CanUndo, and CanRedo properties to enable and disable toolbar buttons.

Configure the FlexReportDesigner Toolbar

1. Handle the toolbar button clicks and route them to the appropriate handlers using the following code.

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   private void toolStrip1_ItemClicked(object sender, ToolStripItemClickedEventArgs e) { // design/preview mode if (e.ClickedItem == _btnDesign) SetDesignMode(true); if (e.ClickedItem == _btnPreview) SetDesignMode(false); // file commands if (e.ClickedItem == _btnNew) NewFile(); if (e.ClickedItem == _btnOpen) OpenFile(); if (e.ClickedItem == _btnSave) SaveFile(); //// allow user to undo clipboard operations if (e.ClickedItem == _btnCut || e.ClickedItem == _btnPaste) c1FlexReportDesigner1.UndoSaveState(); //// clipboard if (e.ClickedItem == _btnCut) c1FlexReportDesigner1.DoCut(); if (e.ClickedItem == _btnCopy) c1FlexReportDesigner1.DoCopy(); if (e.ClickedItem == _btnPaste) c1FlexReportDesigner1.DoPaste(); //// undo/redo if (e.ClickedItem == _btnUndo) c1FlexReportDesigner1.UndoUndo(); if (e.ClickedItem == _btnRedo) c1FlexReportDesigner1.UndoRedo(); //// add/remove reports if (e.ClickedItem == _btnAddReport) NewReport(); if (e.ClickedItem == _btnDelReport) DeleteReport(); //// add fields //// (just set create info and wait for CreateField event from designer) if (e.ClickedItem == _btnAddField) { c1FlexReportDesigner1.DoCreateFieldWithMouse(e.ClickedItem); } if (e.ClickedItem == _btnAddLabel) { c1FlexReportDesigner1.DoCreateFieldWithMouse(e.ClickedItem); } }

      
2. Configure the design mode using SetDesignMode method as showcased in the following code.

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   private void SetDesignMode(bool design) { // show/hide preview/design panes c1FlexReportDesigner1.Visible = design; c1FlexViewerPane1.Visible = !design; // no properties in preview mode if (!design) { label2.Text = "Properties"; propertyGrid1.SelectedObject = null; } // attach copy of the report to preview control // (so changes caused by script aren't saved) if (!design) { c1FlexViewerPane1.DocumentSource = null; c1FlexReport1 = c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report; Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor; c1FlexReport1.Render(); if (c1FlexReport1.PageCount > 0) c1FlexViewerPane1.DocumentSource = c1FlexReport1; Cursor = Cursors.Default; } // done, update UI UpdateUI(); }

   
   The application's designer control appears when the user selects a new report or clicks the Design button on the toolbar. However, when the user clicks on the Preview button, the application renders the current report into the preview control.

Configure the Toolbar Command Buttons

This simple designer has three commands that support files: New, Open, and Save. The following steps help you add these commands to the designer toolbar.

1. Create the NewFile method to clear the class variables, report list, preview and designer controls, and then update the UI using the following code.

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   private void NewFile() { _fileName = ""; _dirty = false; listReport.Items.Clear(); c1FlexViewerPane1.DocumentSource = null; c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report = null; UpdateUI(); }

2. Create the OpenFile method to prompt the user for a report definition file to open and use the FlexReport component to retrieve a list of report names in the selected file using the following code.

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   public void OpenFile() { // get name of file to open OpenFileDialog dlg = new OpenFileDialog(); dlg.FileName = "*.flxr"; dlg.Title = "Open Report Definition File"; if (dlg.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.OK) return; // check selected file string[] reports = null; try { reports = C1FlexReport.GetReportList(dlg.FileName); } catch { } if (reports == null || reports.Length == 0) { MessageBox.Show("Invalid (or empty) report definition file"); return; } // clear list NewFile(); // load new file Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor; _fileName = dlg.FileName; foreach (string reportName in reports) { C1FlexReport rpt = new C1FlexReport(); rpt.Load(_fileName, reportName); listReport.Items.Add(new ReportHolder(rpt)); } Cursor = Cursors.Default; // select first report listReport.SelectedIndex = 0; }

3. Create the SaveFile method to prompt the user for a file name and use an XmlTextWriter to save each report into the new file using the following code.

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   public void SaveFile() { // get name of file to save SaveFileDialog dlg = new SaveFileDialog(); dlg.FileName = _fileName; dlg.Title = "Save Report Definition File"; if (dlg.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.OK) return; // save file XmlTextWriter w = new XmlTextWriter(dlg.FileName, System.Text.Encoding.Default); w.Formatting = Formatting.Indented; w.Indentation = 2; w.WriteStartDocument(); // write all reports to it Cursor = Cursors.WaitCursor; w.WriteStartElement("Reports"); w.WriteElementString("FormatVersion", "1.0 1.0.0.0"); foreach (ReportHolder rh in listReport.Items) rh.Report.Save(w); w.WriteEndElement(); Cursor = Cursors.Default; // close the file w.Close(); // and be done _fileName = dlg.FileName; _dirty = false; UpdateUI(); }

4. Create a ReportHolder wrapper class to store reports in listboxes as shown in the following code. This class overrides the ToString() method to render the report names in the listbox.

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   public class ReportHolder { public readonly C1FlexReport Report; public ReportHolder(C1FlexReport report) { Report = report; } override public string ToString() { string s = Report.ReportName; return (s != null && s.Length > 0) ? s : "Unnamed Report"; } }

Hook Up the Controls

Next, add the event handlers that hook up all the controls together.

1. Add the following code for the SelectedIndexChanged event, which deals with the display of a new report in design mode when the user chooses report from the list control. The controls are connected by means of event handlers.

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   private void ListReport_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e) { // switch to design mode SetDesignMode(true); // attach selected report to designer and preview controls c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report = null; c1FlexViewerPane1.DocumentSource = null; if (listReport.SelectedItem != null) c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report = ((ReportHolder)listReport.SelectedItem).Report; }

2. Implement the SelectionChanged event for the FlexReportDesigner control. Here, the designer uses a property grid control to expose the properties of the report elements selected in the designer. This is done by setting the SelectedObject property of the PropertyGrid  control. In its response the control fires a SelectionChanged event.

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   private void C1FlexReportDesigner1_SelectionChanged(object sender, EventArgs e) { // object[] sel = c1FlexReportDesigner1.SelectedFields; if (c1FlexReportDesigner1.SelectedFields.Count > 0) { label2.Text = "Field Properties"; propertyGrid1.SelectedObjects = c1FlexReportDesigner1.SelectedFields.ToArray(); } else if (c1FlexReportDesigner1.SelectedSubSections.Count>0) { label2.Text = "Section Properties"; propertyGrid1.SelectedObject =c1FlexReportDesigner1.GetCurrentSection(); } else if (c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report != null) { label2.Text = "Report Properties"; propertyGrid1.SelectedObject = c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report; } else // nothing selected { label2.Text = "Properties"; propertyGrid1.SelectedObject = null; } // done UpdateUI(); }

3. Implement the handler for the PropertyValueChanged event of the PropertyGrid control to refresh the designer and show changes when a value changes in the Property window using the following code. Then, implement the handler for the ValuesChanged event of the FlexReportDesigner control to update the property window and show the changes when properties of the selected objects change in the designer.

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   private void C1FlexReportDesigner1_ValuesChanged(object sender, ValuesChangedEventArgs e) { propertyGrid1.Refresh(); _dirty = true; UpdateUI(); } private void PropertyGrid1_PropertyValueChanged(object s, PropertyValueChangedEventArgs e) { c1FlexReportDesigner1.Refresh(); _dirty = true; UpdateUI(); }

Configure Reports

1. Create the DeleteReport method to remove the selected report from the report list and clear the Report property of the designer control using the following code.

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   // remove current report from the list private void DeleteReport() { // a report must be selected int index = listReport.SelectedIndex; if (index < 0) return; // remove report from the designer and from the list c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report = null; listReport.Items.RemoveAt(index); // select another report if we can if (index > listReport.Items.Count - 1) index = listReport.Items.Count - 1; if (index > -1) listReport.SelectedIndex = index; // done _dirty = true; UpdateUI(); }

2. Create the NewReport method to generate a new report using the following code. The NewReport method invokes a wizard that allows the user to select a data source, grouping options, layout, and style. While implementing your designer, you can use the wizard code as-it-is or customize it to suit your needs.

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   private void NewReport() { // select a data source (just mdb files in this sample) OpenFileDialog dlg = new OpenFileDialog(); dlg.FileName = "*.mdb"; dlg.Title = "Select report data source"; if (dlg.ShowDialog() != DialogResult.OK) return; // select first table from data source string connString = string.Format(@"Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source={0};", dlg.FileName); string tableName = GetFirstTable(connString); if (tableName == null || tableName.Length == 0) { MessageBox.Show("Failed to retrieve data from the selected source."); return; } // create new report C1FlexReport rpt = new C1FlexReport(); rpt.ReportName = tableName; // set data source rpt.DataSource.ConnectionString = connString; rpt.DataSource.RecordSource = tableName; // add a title field Section s = rpt.Sections[SectionTypeEnum.Header]; s.Visible = true; s.Height = 600; TextField f = new TextField(); f.Name = "TitleField"; f.Text = tableName; f.Height = 600; f.Width = 4000; f.Top = 0; f.Left = 0; f.Font.Bold = true; f.Font.Size = 24; f.ForeColor = Color.Navy; s.Fields.Add(f); FieldInfo fld1 = (FieldInfo)(rpt.DataSource.DataSourceInfo.Fields[1]); FieldInfo fld2 = (FieldInfo)(rpt.DataSource.DataSourceInfo.Fields[2]); string[] fieldNames = new string[] { fld1.Name, fld2.Name}; int cnt = Math.Min(5, fieldNames.Length); // add a page header s = rpt.Sections[SectionTypeEnum.PageHeader]; s.Visible = true; s.Height = 400; Rectangle rc = new Rectangle(0, 0, 1000, (int)s.Height); for (int i = 0; i < cnt; i++) { f = new TextField(); f.Name = "TitleField"; f.Text = fieldNames[i]; f.Height = rc.Height; f.Width = rc.Width; f.Top = rc.Top; f.Left = rc.Left; f.Font.Bold = true; f.Font.Bold = true; rc.Offset(rc.Width, 0); s.Fields.Add(f); } // add detail section s = rpt.Sections[SectionTypeEnum.Detail]; s.Visible = true; s.Height = 300; rc = new Rectangle(0, 0, 1000, (int)s.Height); for (int i = 0; i < cnt; i++) { f = new TextField(); f.Name = "TitleField"; f.Text.Expression = fieldNames[i]; f.Height = rc.Height; f.Width = rc.Width; f.Top = rc.Top; f.Left = rc.Left; f.Font.Bold = true; f.Font.Bold = true; rc.Offset(rc.Width, 0); s.Fields.Add(f); } // add new report to the list and select it listReport.Items.Add(new ReportHolder(rpt)); listReport.SelectedIndex = listReport.Items.Count - 1; // done _dirty = true; UpdateUI(); }

3. Create a helper method named GetFirstTable to open a connection, retrieve the DB schema and return the name of the first table it finds using the following code.

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   private string GetFirstTable(string connString) { string tableName = null; OleDbConnection conn = new OleDbConnection(connString); try { //get schema conn.Open(); DataTable dt = conn.GetOleDbSchemaTable(OleDbSchemaGuid.Tables, null); foreach (DataRow dr in dt.Rows) { // check the table type string type = dr["TABLE_TYPE"].ToString().ToUpper(); if (type != "TABLE" && type != "VIEW" && type != "LINK") continue; // get the table name tableName = dr["TABLE_NAME"].ToString(); break; } // done conn.Close(); } catch { } // return the first table we found return tableName; }

4. Create new fields in the report by handling the CreateField event using the following code.

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   private void C1FlexReportDesigner1_CreateField(object sender, CreateFieldEventArgs e) { // save undo info c1FlexReportDesigner1.UndoSaveState(); // add label field string fieldName = string.Format("NewField{0}", ++_ctr); string fieldText = fieldName; TextField field = new TextField(); field.Text = fieldText; field.Name = fieldName; field.Top = e.FieldBounds.Top; field.Width = e.FieldBounds.Width; field.Height = e.FieldBounds.Height; field.Left= e.FieldBounds.Left; e.SubSection.ParentSection.Fields.Add(field); // if this is a calculated field, if (e.CreateFieldInfo == _btnAddField) { FieldInfo fld1 = (FieldInfo)(c1FlexReportDesigner1.Report.DataSource.DataSourceInfo.Fields[0]); field.Text.Expression = fld1.Name; } c1FlexReportDesigner1.UpdateFromReport(); }