Adding Other Report Items
In addition to data regions, reports use other report items to add visual interest, highlight key information, or provide related information. To add a report item to a report, open the Toolbox and drag the item to the design surface. You can change the properties of a report item by using the Properties pane. For example, you can add a border or padding, change the initial visibility or direction, or specify an exact size and location for the item.
The following report items are available in Reporting Services:
Textbox Text boxes can be placed anywhere on a report and can contain labels, fields, or calculated data. You use expressions to define the value to display in a text box when you view a report.
Note
If you drag a report dataset field value directly to the report design surface, or to a text box on the report design surface, you only see the first value in the result set when you view the report. To see all the values for a field, you must drag the field to a Tablix data region cell.
Image Images display binary image data in a report. You provide the source for the image. The source can be a URL reference to an image stored on a Web server, a reference to embedded image data, or a reference to binary image data in a database. Reporting Services supports .bmp, .jpeg, .gif, and .png files.
Line Lines display horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. A line is defined with a start and end point and can have various styles (for example, weight and color) assigned to it. A line has no data associated with it.
Rectangle Rectangles can be used in two ways: as a graphical element, or as a container for other report items. As a graphical element, a rectangle has the same properties as a line. As a container, you drag report items from the toolbox or from the design surface into the rectangle. A rectangle acts as a parent container for all report items inside it. Placing report items in a parent container helps control how they appear on each report page. For more information, see Understanding Rendering Behaviors.
Subreport A subreport displays report that has been saved to a report server in a parent report. The subreport can refer to a fully formatted independent report, or one that is designed to be embedded within the main report. When you define a subreport, you can also define parameters to filter data in the subreport.
When deciding whether to use a subreport, you may want to consider using a data region instead, particularly if the subreport is not used by multiple reports. Because the report server processes each instance of a subreport as a separate report, performance can be impacted. Data regions provide much of the same functionality and flexibility as subreports, but with better performance. For more information, see Nesting Data Regions.
**Page header and page footer **Page headers and footers display information on the top or bottom of every page, respectively. You can set properties for the first and last page of a report to show or hide the header and footer.
In This Section
Adding Text Boxes to a Report
Describes text box report items.Adding Rectangles and Lines
Describes rectangle and line report items. Rectangles can be used as both a graphical item and as a container for other report items.Adding Subreports
Describes subreport report items and how you can use them to display one report within another.Adding Images to a Report
Provides information about image report items.Adding Page Headers and Footers
Describes how to control the content and appearance of headers and footers on report pages.
See Also