What kind of report should I use?

What kind of report should I use?

Posted by: strutzj on 3 February 2026, 3:42 pm EST

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  strutzj

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  Posted 3 February 2026, 3:42 pm EST

  I am so frustrated with ActiveReports. Everything is difficult, online documentation sucks, and it takes so long to do anything. Yes, it’s very flexible. I used Crystal Reports years ago and it was SO much easier to design complex reports.

  Sorry, now that I’ve voiced my frustration, here’s my question. I want to design a report with a top section, a middle section and a bottom section. The top section is fixed in length, the middle section can vary in length by a lot (sometimes spanning multiple pages), and the bottom section can vary in length by a little. I’ve been trying to use page reports but keep running into problem after problem. The middle section is a table linked to data by my software application (vb.net). Overflow Placeholders aren’t working for me because they are fixed in length. Footers aren’t working for me because they appear at the end of every page. What kind of report should I use that 1) I can send data from software, 2) flows from top to bottom in the sections I described, and 3) can span one or more pages? This is for a desktop business application, not a web application.

  Thanks for any help…

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  prabhat.sharma

  

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  Posted 4 February 2026, 6:56 am EST

  Hi Jim,

  Apologies for the inconvenience you’ve experienced. We completely understand how frustrating it can be when things don’t work as expected.

  Thank you for sharing the details about your report layout. Based on your requirements, Section Report appears to be the most suitable format for your use case.

  Here’s a detailed response addressing your points:

  1. Sending data from software: Section Reports can be bound to various data sources such as DataSets, DataTables, or object collections. You can pass your data directly from your VB.NET application into the report.

  2. Flowing from top to bottom in the sections you described:

  ReportHeader: Place your fixed top content here (title, company info, etc.). Set CanGrow = false to ensure the size remains fixed.

  GroupHeader: Use this for table column headers. You can set RepeatStyle = OnPage if you want headers to repeat on every page.

  Detail Section: This is where the main table or row data goes. Each record in your dataset is rendered as a separate Detail section.

  GroupFooter : Place your bottom content here (totals, notes, signatures). Set CanGrow = true to allow variable length content.
  
  This setup ensures the report flows naturally from top to bottom.

  3. Spanning one or more pages: The Detail section automatically grows across pages if the content does not fit on a single page. ActiveReports handles pagination for you, so multiple Detail rows will continue onto the next page as needed, and headers can repeat per page if configured.

  We’ve also attached a sample report (SalesActivityReport.rpx) for your reference.

  If you have different layout needs, we kindly request that you share a PDF of your expected layout with sample/dummy data. That will help us provide more tailored assistance.

  Please let us know if you have any further questions.

  Regards,
  
  Prabhat Sharma.

  SalesActivityReport.zip

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  strutzj

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  Posted 5 February 2026, 12:25 pm EST

  Thank you, this is very helpful.

  I changed my test project to use a section report instead of a page report. I am able to get the viewer to launch but it does not display a report. I had created a report with nothing in it, so I attempted adding a table to the details section and set the data source from code - but there is no table in the toolbox. Resetting the toolbox made things worse - everything is grayed out. How do I get the controls back - with the table? Thanks for any help.

  Project3.zip

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  prabhat.sharma

  

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  Posted 6 February 2026, 5:46 am EST

  Hello Jim,

  In the section report, the layout model is band-based, where the controls in the Details section repeat per record, so it works by default as a table control, and there is no direct table control in the section report.

  The equivalent in Section Reports is:
  
  GroupHeader / PageHeader → column headings (repeat as needed)
  
  Detail → one “row” of fields
  
  GroupFooter / ReportFooter → totals, summaries

  We have updated your report file to display the data, and you can modify the layout as needed.
  
  Also, when loading the section report in the viewer, you can pass the SectionReport object directly to the LoadDocument method instead of passing the SectionDocument object.

  MyForm.Viewer1.LoadDocument(NewReport)

  If you still face any issues, please feel free to ask.

  Regards,
  
  Prabhat Sharma.
  
  SectionReportTest.zip

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  strutzj

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  Posted 6 February 2026, 3:39 pm EST

  Thanks, this is very helpful. Actually, after I wrote yesterday, I figured all of this out and had begun to make a “table” from text boxes with a row of column labels in the header section and a row of data in the details section. It took me some time to glean this from online reading. I wish there was a single source that explained it as well as you have here. I’m going off to work on this and I may have other questions later. Thanks again.

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  strutzj

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  Posted 11 February 2026, 3:48 pm EST

  Okay, I’m making progress. I have the table working in my section report but cannot get the textbox in the header section working with parameters. I want to be able to write the text property from an external vb.net form. Thanks for any help…Jim

  Project3.zip

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  prabhat.sharma

  

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  Posted 12 February 2026, 6:22 am EST

  Hello Jim,

  It seems to be a new request. We have created a new case for this on our private support portal and will share the updates there only to avoid confusion.

  https://developer.mescius.com/my-account/my-support/case/7322e816-fc07-f111-8407-6045bdd39e91

  Regards,
  
  Prabhat Sharma.