ActiveReports JS Viewer does not render TextBox border lines (visible in PDF ex

ActiveReports JS Viewer does not render TextBox border lines (visible in PDF ex

Posted by: triloknathn on 20 February 2026, 9:35 am EST

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  triloknathn

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  Posted 20 February 2026, 9:35 am EST

  Hello,

  We are using ActiveReports to generate reports at runtime and render them both in the web viewer and as exported PDF/Excel files. We are seeing a rendering difference between the Web viewer and exported formats.

  1. Our setup

  ActiveReports 6 (legacy) / migrated to newer ActiveReports runtime

  SectionReport generated fully at runtime

  Report layout is built programmatically (fields, grouping, subtotals, totals, charts, etc.)

  After calling Run(), we save the report as RDF using:
  
  Document.Save(…)

  In web:

  The RDF is loaded and displayed in the JS Viewer

  For export:

  The same report is exported to PDF/Excel using ActiveReports export APIs

  2. Expected behaviour

  We draw separator lines above subtotal and total rows using:

  TextBox borders, e.g.

  txtReportColumn.Border.TopStyle = BorderLineStyle.Solid;

  In some cases, full-width footer lines using Line controls (e.g. LineReportFooter1/2/3)

  These lines are expected to be visible in both:

  Web viewer (JS Viewer)

  Exported PDF

  3. Actual behaviour

  In exported PDF / Excel:
  
  The top border line above totals/subtotals renders correctly.

  In JS Web Viewer:
  
  The same TextBox border line is missing.

  The full-width footer lines (Line controls) render correctly in both Web and PDF.

  The missing line appears to be specifically related to TextBox borders (used to render column-width separator lines above totals/subtotals).

  This results in visual inconsistency:

  PDF shows subtotal/total separation clearly

  Web viewer does not show the same separator line

  4. What we have verified

  The settings and flags (e.g. “Extend total lines”, “Show total top border line”) are passed correctly into the report object.

  The border logic is executed (confirmed via debugging).

  The same RDF file, when exported to PDF, shows the line correctly.

  The issue seems specific to how the JS Viewer renders TextBox borders in SectionReports.

  5. Questions

  Is this a known limitation of the JS Viewer when rendering TextBox border styles in SectionReports / RDF documents?

  Are TextBox borders fully supported in the JS Viewer?

  Is there any recommended alternative to draw column-width separator lines that render consistently in both:

  JS Viewer

  PDF export
  
  (e.g. using Line controls instead of TextBox borders, or another supported technique)?

  Is there any viewer setting or rendering option that affects border visibility?

  Goal

  We want the subtotal/total separator lines to appear consistently in both the Web viewer and exported reports without redesigning all legacy report layouts.

  Thanks in advance for any guidance.

  Regards,
  
  Triloknath

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  anand.sinha

  

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  Posted 23 February 2026, 5:06 am EST

  Hi Triloknath,

  For exports to PDF, the preview and export should look the same as PDF exports are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), so if your PDF output is different than that of the viewer output, then this could be a bug or an issue specific to your project.

  To be able to debug the cause of the issue, we would require a sample report, an RDF file, so we can test the same in a viewer on our end and by exporting it to PDF.

  However, if the issue is limited to Excel exports then please note that Excel exports are not WYSIWYG so there can be some differences in the exported Excel to that of the viewer.

  Regards,
  
  Anand

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  triloknathn

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  Posted 23 February 2026, 1:13 pm EST

  Hello Anand,

  Thanks for the response.

  We’re using ActiveReports Web Viewer 10 (HTML5/JS Viewer) with runtime-generated SectionReports.
  
  We’ve attached:

  The generated .rdf file

  A PDF export of the same report (expected output)

  Screenshots showing the difference between Web viewer and PDF

  Issue summary:

  When opening the same RDF in:

  ActiveReports Web Viewer 10 → column-width separator lines (borders above subtotal/total cells) are missing

  PDF export (WYSIWYG) → the same lines render correctly

  These lines are implemented using:

  txtReportColumn.Border.TopStyle = BorderLineStyle.Solid

  This renders correctly in Desktop/PDF but not in the Web viewer.

  Could you please confirm:

  Whether TextBox.Border.* is supported in Web Viewer rendering for SectionReport RDF?

  If this is a known limitation or a bug in the Web viewer renderer?

  Is there a recommended supported approach for rendering column-width separator lines in Web Viewer?

  This would help us decide whether to implement a workaround on our side or if this should be handled by the viewer.

  Thanks for your help.

  Regards,
  
  Triloknath

• 

  anand.sinha

  

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  Posted 24 February 2026, 5:16 am EST

  Hi Triloknath,

  Unfortunately, ActiveReports 10 is no longer supported, so we won’t be able to assist you with that version of ActiveReports.

  However, we did try to replicate the issue with ActiveReports 19 by specifying a top border to our TextBox through code and then previewing it within the Desktop Viewer, WebViewer, JSViewer, and PDF. But in our case, all of the previews were the same.

  It could be possible that the issue was fixed in a version after ActiveReports 10. Therefore, the issue may be replicable in your case.
  
  We’ll recommend upgrading to the latest version of ActiveReports by downloading it from here: Download ActiveReports.

  We have attached our WebViewer and JSViewer sample for your reference.

  Regards,
  
  Anand

  JSViewer_MVC.zip
  
  WebViewer_ASP.NET_C#.zip