Purpose

There are a lot of documentations for using the xreports module. For xreports newbies, they might not know the right lingo how to ask and what keywords to use to search. This page contains common questions for xreports newbies which might help them to get started.

How to move a group of elements on the Design Surface?

You can use the rubber band by pressing left click on Design Surface. Remember that all elements must be totally inside the rubber band in order to be selected.

How to make the elements on Design Surface looking nice and neat?

You can first use rubber band to select the elements you want them to be aligned. Then, select one of the Align Left, Align Right, Align Top, or Align Bottom function to make them looking nice and neat.

How to align the text header in group box widget?

Select the group box widget, then go to the widget properties panel and change the Text Align property.

How to add columns and rows to tables?

Before adding a column or row, you need to first click on the table or row from which you are going to add a new column or row.  Then right click, go to "table", and then select "add columns" or "add rows".

How to edit the size of rows and columns of tables?

If you want to resize a column or row without moving the widgets within or without the columns and rows (which is the default), you can re-size the lines with the mouse while pressing CTRL on the keyboard. 

How to move widgets with the keyboard instead of mouse

Click on the widget to select it, and then use the Left, Right, Up, Down keys on your keyboard.

How to resize a widget with the keyboard instead of mouse

Click on the widget to select it, the press to hold down the SHIFT key, and then use the Left, Right, Up, Down keys on your keyboard.

How to add, delete columns, rows to and from a table

Right click in the table and from the menu that pops up, select "Table" and choose the appropriate action from the menu items under it.

How to merge cells in a table

Drag a rubber band around the cells you want to merge. Then right click in the table and from the menu that pops up, select "Table" and choose "Merge Cells" from the menu items under it.

How to add text without first having to drag and drop a label widget from the palette

Click on the design surface where you want to add text and then just directly start typing. After you are done with typing the complete text, just press ENTER, on the keyboard, to exit the edit mode.

How to edit label text without using the widget properties panel

Click on the label widget to select it, then press ENTER on the keyboard. This will let you change the text and when you are done, press ENTER again to exit the edit mode.

How to search for a form field or widget

Select "Find" from the "Edit" menu or click the find Toolbar icon. Enter the search text in the window that comes up and click OK. If you have the Properties Tab selected, this will search for a form field containing that text on the Form Fields Panel. But if you have the Design Surface selected, it will search for a widget which contains that text. When searching for form fields, the search start at the selected field and goes downwards. If you want it to start from the top, ensure that you click on the form name to select it.

How to go to the next field without using the TAB key

Just press the ENTER key as an alternative way of going to the next field in accordance to the tab index.

How to remove the colored header from a table

Just clear the background color property for this header, using the widget properties panel. Or simply make it to have the same background color as that of the table. After doing so, the vertical lines supposed to start from the top of the table may appear as not starting from the very top. To fix this, drag re-size them to the top.

Resources

• XReports Module 
• XReports Module User Guide
• XReports Module Report Designer
• XReports Module ReportDesigner Technical Overview
• XForms Module Release Notes
• Download Module
• GitHub project (source code)