This topic uses "Conditional Formatting" report to demonstrate how to change a field's appearance depending on the data it represents. This can be done using parameters.

Conditional formatting allows you to format data based on one or more conditions. In this report, the data fields are highlighted depending on the following conditions which are defined in a parameter named pCondition:

• Unit price greater than 50
• Unit price greater than 100
• More than 50 units in stock

The report contains another parameter, pHighlightColor, that highlights the data fields depending on the conditions defined in the pCondition parameter.

On previewing the report, the data fields with the unit price greater than 50 are highlighted in red color. However, you can select any other condition from the above listed conditions and also change the highlighting color to green from the Parameters Panel. Perform the following steps to see how this can be done.

To create a report with conditional formatting

• Step 1: Create a report
• Step 2: Connect the report to a data source
• Step 3: Add parameters
• Step 4: Add conditional formatting
• Step 5: View the report

Step 1: Create a report

1. Open the C1FlexReportDesigner and go to FILE|New.
2. Click New Report drop down from the Reports tab and select Empty Report to create a report.

Step 2: Connect the report to a data source

1. Switch to the Data tab, right-click the Main data source and choose Edit to open and the Data Sources Wizard and start editing.
2. Select OLEDB Data Provider from the Data provider drop-down and click the ellipsis button next to the Connection string textbox to select the C1NWind.mdb file.
3. Select Products table from the Data source tab.

Step 3: Add parameters

1. Right-click Parameters and select Add Parameters to add two parameters, pCondition and pHighlightColor.
2. Set the following properties for the parameters from the Properties window.
   

   pCondition properties	Value
   Prompt	Condition
   Value	1
   DataType	Integer

   
   

   pHighlightColor properties	Value
   Prompt	Color
   Value	Red
   DataType	String

   
   
3. Specify the properties for each parameters in AllowedValuesDefinition property as follows. The following values set alternate color to the row.
   
   

   pCondition Labels	Values
   Unit price greater than 50	CInt(1)
   Unit price greater than 100	CInt(2)
   More than 50 units in stock	CInt(3)

   
   

   pHighlightColor Labels	Values
   Red	Red
   Green	Green

   
   

Step 4: Add conditional formatting

1. Add four TextFields to the report header and set the following properties:
   

   Property	Value
   TextField1.Text	=pCondition.Prompt & ":"
   TextField2.Text	=pHighlightColor.Prompt & ":"
   TextField3.Text	=pCondition.DisplayText
   TextField4.Text	=pHighlightColor.DisplayText

   
   
2. Click Groups in Home tab and add a group named HeaderGroup.
3. In the Groups wizard, set the following properties for HeaderGroup:
   

   Property	Value
   ShowGroupFooter	True
   ShowGroupHeader	True

   
   
4. Click OK to close the Groups wizard.
5. In HeaderGroup_Header, add five TextFields and set the following properties.

   Property	Value
   TextField5.Text	Product Name
   TextField6.Text	Quantity Per Unit
   TextField7.Text	Stock
   TextField8.Text	Unit Price
   TextField9.Text	Discontinued

   
   
6. In the Details section, add five TextFields corresponding to the TextFields in HeaderGroup_Header, and set the following properties:
   

   Property	Value
   TextField10.Text	=ProductName
   TextField11.Text	=QuantityPerUnit
   TextField12.Text	=Stock
   TextField13.Text	=UnitPrice
   TextField14.Text	=Discontinued

   
   
7. Select Detail from the drop-down list on the top of the Properties window.
8. Go to the OnFormat property and click the ellipsis next to it.
9. The VBScript Editor appears. Enter the following VBScript expression in the editor to apply conditional formatting.
   

   row = row + 1
   if row mod 2 = 1 Then
     rowColor = Rgb(248, 248, 248)
   Else
     rowColor = "Transparent"
   EndIf
   
   doHighlight = False
   if pCondition = 1 Then
     doHighlight = UnitPrice > 50
   ElseIf pCondition = 2 Then
     doHighlight = UnitPrice > 100
   ElseIf pCondition = 3 Then
     doHighlight = UnitsInStock > 50
   EndIf
   
   if doHighlight Then
     textColor = pHighlightColor
   Else
     textColor = Rgb(90, 70, 50)
   EndIf
   
   Detail.BackColor = rowColor
   for i = 0 to Detail.Fields.Count - 1
     Detail.Fields(i).ForeColor = textColor
   Next
   

Step 4: View the report

1. Preview the report.
2. In the Preview mode, click Parameters from the View group to open the parameters panel and apply parameters.