PRB: Cannot Shorten Report Bands of Wizard-Generated Reports

• Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0 and 3.0b

SYMPTOMS

After a report has been generated using the Report Wizard, the report bands (Detail, Group or Page Header bands) act as if they cannot be shrunk above the position of a memo field or a long character field, even if the memo or long character field and its label has been deleted or moved.

CAUSE

When other fields lie below the memo or long character field, the Report Wizard adds an invisible line below each memo field and long character field to control the floating characteristics of these fields and their labels.

RESOLUTION

If it is necessary to edit a Wizard-generated report, ensure that the line below the memo or long character field is moved with these fields or is deleted from the report.

STATUS

This behavior is by design. The Report Wizard adds the invisible line below these fields that have a potential to grow and float to keep the labels positioned with their respective field.

MORE INFORMATION

The Report Wizard should always add an invisible line below a memo or long character field when there are other fields are below these fields. The Report Wizard's apparent threshold width of the character field before placing a line underneath is around 60 to 65 characters. Of the three types of Report Wizards, the standard Report Wizard and the One-to-Many Report Wizard seem to exhibit this behavior most. In the standard Report Wizard, it is usually the Detail band that appears to not shorten. In the One-to- Many Report Wizard, it could be the Group Header, the Detail band, or both, depending on whether a memo or long character field is added to the respective band.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

1. Open the Employee table in the Vfp\Samples\Data subdirectory.

2. On the Tools menu, click Wizards, and then click Report.

3. Select the Report Wizard, and click OK.

4. In the Available Fields list, scroll down and move Notes to the Selected Fields list. Then move the First_Name and Last_name fields to the Selected Fields list.

5. Click the Next button twice until Step 3 is reached. In the Step 3 - Layout dialog box, click Rows in the Field Layout section.

6. Click Finish. In Step 5 - Finish, select the "Save report and modify it in the Report Designer." Click the Finish button, and give the report a name. Then click Save.

7. With the report open in the Report Designer, select the Last Name label control, and press the DELETE key or choose Clear from the Edit menu. Repeat this process for the First Name label and the Last_name and First_name fields.

8. Try to close the Detail band by clicking the band itself and dragging it upward, or double-click the Detail band, reduce the height spinner value, and choose OK.

To find out where the lines are, choose Select All from the Edit menu, or use the mouse to draw and drag a selection box along the right edge of the report above the Detail band. The Select All method will select all controls on the report but should show the selection handles at either end of the line. They appear as small gray boxes at the left and right edges of the report. If you need to see the line, be sure the line is selected, and then choose Pen from the Format menu. Change the point size to something other than None.

NOTE: It may be necessary to move the Detail band down to view the selection boxes of the line, especially if the Detail band was moved up against the invisible line in Step 8.

REFERENCES

For more information on designing reports and using the Report Designer, please see Chapter 9 in the "Visual FoxPro User's Guide."