Lesson 4: Defining a Report Layout 

 

Now that the datasets are defined, you can add a table data region to the report. A data region is a data-bound report item. The table data region that you add to the report will contain data from the Employees dataset. When you first open a table data region, it has three columns and three rows. Each row is used to specify the following information:

  • Header
  • Details
  • Footer

In this tutorial, the table header and footer are not specified directly. Instead, you will use just the Details section to specify repeated rows of employee data. A table header will be specified automatically when you drag fields to the Details section. The table footer section is not used at all.

To add a table data region and fields to a report

  1. Click the Layout tab.

  2. In the Toolbox, click Table, and then click on the design surface. Report Designer draws a table, with three columns, spanning the width of the design surface.

    The Toolbox may appear as a tab on the left side of the design area. To open the Toolbox, move the pointer over the Toolbox tab.

    Note

    If the Toolbox is not visible, in the View menu, click Toolbox.

     

     

  3. In the Datasets window, expand Employees.

  4. Drag the FirstName field from the Datasets window to the middle (detail) row of the first column in the table.

    Note

    If the Datasets window is not visible, in the View menu, click Datasets.

     

     

  5. Drag the LastName field from the Datasets window to the middle (detail) row of the second column in the table.

  6. Drag the Title field from the Datasets window to the middle (detail) row of the third column in the table.

Next Steps

After you create the report layout, you can continue to the next step: Lesson 5: Adding a Report Parameter.

See Also

Concepts

Tutorial: Using a Dynamic Query in a Report

Other Resources

Using Dynamic Queries
Working with Table Data Regions

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance