Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Rectangles
A rectangle item is often used as background for other report items. It is also used as a parent container. By
that we mean if you place report items within the rectangle, the rectangle will form a parent-child relationship
between itself and the contained report items. Configurations to the parent rectangle item affect the child report
items.
You can test this relationship by placing a textbox within a rectangle and then changing a property that
they share, such as the background color. Changing the background color for the rectangle also changes the
background of the textbox because of this parent-child relationship. Additionally, report items move with the
rectangle if it is repositioned.
To place a rectangle within the header, access the Visual Studio Toolbox. If the toolbox is not currently
displayed, you can force it to appear by clicking the View
➤
Toolbox menu item. Once you have access to the
Toolbox, click the Rectangle item and drag it into the Header section of the Report Designer. You can then adjust
the properties such as size and background color, as shown in Figure
17-7
.
The rectangle's properties can also be
set using Visual Studio's Report Formatting toolbar.
Figure 17-7.
Setting a Rectangle item's BackgroundColor property
properties, properties, and properties
The Visual studio Properties window (which usually resides on the right side of the Visual studio
environment) is the primary way to set most properties. But when working with the Report Designer, you will
find that properties can also be set within various dialog windows, menus, and toolbars.
some properties are set only in a dialog window or in Visual studio's property window, but not both.
Additionally, some properties are accessed in other ui components such as smartTags.
