Page Layout when Exporting to Excel (Report Builder)
A report can consist of multiple pages of data. Reports that are saved as file types that support page breaks can have page breaks at the beginning and/or the end of a group. Excel preserves layout and page breaks in an exported report. To see how to add a page break in Report Builder, see Controlling Page Breaks, Headings, and Columns (Report Builder).
The layout of the data becomes a table generated from the entire report. Cells are merged as necessary to let report items cover their allotted area. Overlapping elements are handled by placing them next to each other.
Rows and columns are sized to match the layout of the original report. If the layout has too many rows or columns for Excel, the export option generates an error and the report is not processed.
Page Orientation
The paper height and width are compared to an internal table containing the most common paper sizes and orientations. If there is a match, that paper size is used, and the orientation is set to Portrait. If the height and width isn't found, the internal paper size table is searched again with the width and height reversed. If a match is found, then the paper size is used but the orientation is set to Landscape. If still no match is found, orientation is determined by comparing the height to the width. If the paper height is greater than the width, the orientation is set to Portrait; otherwise it is set to Landscape.
Pagination
All page break information is written into the worksheet for printer pagination. However, tables and matrices that contain other elements that have page breaks might not save correctly.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Export a Report as a Different File Type (Report Builder)
Concepts
Exporting a Report as a Different File Type (Report Builder)
Design Considerations for Exporting a Report as a Different File Type (Report Builder)