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How to: Set Text Box Orientation (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS)

A text box can be oriented in different directions: horizontally, vertically (text reading from top to bottom), or rotated by 270 degrees (text reading from bottom to top). Because orientation is set on the text box not the text, the orientation applies to all the text in the text box. You cannot specify different orientations for parts of the text. Size the column width and the row height manually to accommodate the rotated text.

The WritingMode property, which you use to specify text orientation, is not available in the Text Box Properties dialog box. You need to open the Properties pane and set the property there. The available values for the WritingMode property are Horizontal (text reading left to right), Vertical (text reading top to bottom), Rotate270 (text reading bottom to top). You must manually size the column width and the row height to accommodate the text.

Note

You can create and modify report definitions (.rdl) in Report Builder 3.0 and in Report Designer in Business Intelligence Development Studio. Each authoring environment provides different ways to create, open, and save reports and related items. For more information, see Designing Reports in Report Designer and Report Builder 3.0 (SSRS) on the Web at microsoft.com.

To set text orientation

  1. Create a new report or open an existing report.

  2. If the Properties pane is not open, click the View tab and select the Properties check box.

  3. Click the text box for which you want to change text orientation.

  4. Locate the WritingMode property in the Properties pane and in the drop-down list select the text orientation to apply to the text box.

    Note

    When the properties in the Properties pane are organized into categories, WritingMode is in the Localization category.

  5. In the list box, select Horizontal, Vertical, or Rotate270.