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[Snorri B.]

We have the need of creating a document that will look similar to the attached one. (All the data fields are bold). The 4GL report code is very simple, but the layout is not. I've been trying to set it up in the reportdesigner but it's not going too well. Apparently, it is almost impossible to draw the gridlines as in the attached document. Or am I missing something?

Is this layout perhaps too complex for the RW?

Best regards,
-Snorri

[Reuben B.]

We have the need of creating a document that will look similar to the attached one. (All the data fields are bold). The 4GL report code is very simple, but the layout is not. I've been trying to set it up in the reportdesigner but it's not going too well. Apparently, it is almost impossible to draw the gridlines as in the attached document. Or am I missing something?

Is this layout perhaps too complex for the RW?

Best regards,
-Snorri

Hi Snorri,

That report is definitely doable.  I'm not sure exactly how to point you in the right direction.  Getting the lines can be done using 3 different techniques.

1. Scan an empty document that has the lines and use that as a background image similar to OrderStock in the demos.  You can use this if the lines are in the same place on every page and don't vary depending on the data.  Unfortunately OrderStock doesn't have a PageHeader or Page Footer so you'd have to do one thing different.  With the background image, add it as a child of the Page Header layout box with X,Y=0, and set the Floating Behaviour property = free so that it is not included in the size of the page header.

2. Render the lines as borders around layout boxes and other widgets.

3. Render the lines as per a number of reports in the demo as a layout box that has x-size=1 or y-size=1 and background-color = black.

As for how you'd arrange things if you don't use the background image technique, you will have to arrange a number of layout boxes in certain ways.

How that arrangement is, I'd draw an analogy to forms and the way you can use VBOX, HBOX.  You would use LayoutBox TopToBottom, LayoutBox LeftToRight in a similar way.  So if it was a form you might have ...

VBOX
   HBOX
      VBOX
         Skuldari
         Krofuhahi
      VBOX
         HBOX
            Lanstimi Ar
            Vextir Reik
            <blank>
         HBOX
            Fjoldi ...
            Man milli ...
            Grunnsvilata ...
         HBOX
            Vextir
            Dags ...
            Gjaddagi ...
         Gjalddagar
         
...  so replace VBOX with LayoutBox TopToBottom, HBOX with LayoutBox LeftToRight, and set the X-Size or Y-Size as appropriate.

If you take your report as being header/detail/footer.  The lines in the detail that are fixed will have to be drawn in the header and use the Floating Behaviour=Free property so that they aren't included in the page header.

Hope that helps,


Reuben