Making simple modifications to components

This section introduces the general actions that you can perform on the report components.

Resizing a component and its elements

To resize a component, click anywhere in the component, then you will see it is surrounded by a rectangle with resizing handles. Point to a handle, when the mouse pointer turns to a double-headed arrow, you can drag the handle to resize the component.

To adjust the width of a column in a table, point to the right boundary of the column, when the mouse pointer becomes a double-headed arrow, drag the handle to resize the column.

To adjust the row height in a table, point to the lower boundary of a row, when the mouse pointer becomes a double-headed arrow, drag the handle to resize the row height. Then all the other rows of the same role will be resized too. For example, if a detail row is resized, all rows in the detail area will be resized. If a group row is resized, all rows of the group will be resized, while the other groups' rows keep unchanged.

To resize the column or row in a crosstab, drag the right or lower boundary. Then all the columns or rows of the same role will change too.

For a tabular, point to the boundary between two cells and the mouse pointer will become a double-headed arrow, you can then drag the boundary to adjust the size of the related cells.

Hiding/showing a component

To hide a component, right-click on the component, then use Hide on the shortcut menu.

For a row, a column, or a header/footer in a table, there are two ways to access the Hide option:

• Right-click any cell within the object, go to the submenu of Table Row or Table Column, then select Hide.
• First select the object by right-clicking any cell within the object and selecting Select on the submenu of Table Row or Table Column, then right-click the object and select Hide.

To show the hidden components, click Menu > Edit > Unhide Components and then select the desired components to show from the drop-down list. Another way to show the component after hiding is Undo.

Editing a component

• To edit a label, click in the text and update the content. You can also use the Quick Formats toolbar to format the font, border, alignment, and background color of a label.
• To edit a table, crosstab, or chart, use the corresponding component wizard on the shortcut menu. For details, see Manipulating data components.
• To edit an image or a multimedia, click on the component, when the icon appears at its upper left corner, right-click on the icon and click Edit on the shortcut menu and then modify the settings in the displayed dialog.
• For a tabular, you can edit it as follows:
  • Merging tabular cells
    Adjacent cells in a tabular which form a rectangle can be merged into one cell.

    To merge adjacent cells, select them one by one while holding the Ctrl key, then click Menu > Format > Merge or click on the toolbar, and these cells will be merged into one cell.

  • Splitting a tabular cell
    To split a tabular cell, select the cell and click Menu > Format > Split or click on the toolbar, then in the Split Cell dialog, specify the number of rows and columns and click OK.

Modifying component properties

JReport Studio allows you to modify object properties with the corresponding properties dialog.

• To format the properties of an object in a report, right-click the object and then select Properties from the shortcut menu. In the corresponding properties dialog, specify the settings as required.

  For a table cell, the Properties option is available on the submenu of Table Cell after you right-click the cell.

  For a row, a column, or a header/footer in a table, there are two ways to access the Properties option:

  • Right-click any cell within the object, go to the submenu of Table Row or Table Column, then select Properties.
  • First select the object by right-clicking any cell within the object and selecting Select on the submenu of Table Row or Table Column, then right-click the object and select Properties.
• If you want to format the properties of the report, click Menu > Edit > Report Body, then in the Report Body Properties dialog, configure the properties as required.

For detailed explanation about options in the properties dialogs, refer to the specific topics in JReport Studio dialogs.

Deleting a component

A component can be removed from the report if it is no longer required. To delete a component, right-click on the component, then use Delete on the shortcut menu. Then, a message will prompt, asking for your confirmation. Click Yes in the message box so as to remove the component.

To delete a table column, take one of the following:

• Right-click any cell within the column, go to the submenu of Table Column, then select Delete.
• First select the column by right-clicking any cell within the column and selecting Select on the submenu of Table Column, then do either of the following:
  • Drag the column to the Resources panel.
  • Right-click the column and select Delete.