Rectangles and Lines (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS)
Rectangles and lines can create visual effects within a report. You can set display properties on these report items from the Border section of the Home tab, and set other properties by using the Properties pane. You can add features like a background color or image, a tooltip, or a bookmark to a rectangle.
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.
In This Article
Rectangles and Lines as Report Parts
Using a Rectangle as a Container
Adding a Report Border
How-To Topics
See Also
Rectangles and Lines as Report Parts
You can publish rectangles with the items that they contain separately from the report as report parts. Report parts are self-contained report items that are stored on the report server and can be included in other reports. Use Report Builder to browse and select parts from the Report Part Gallery to add to your reports. Use Report Designer or Report Builder to save report parts for use in the Report Part Gallery. For more information, see Report Parts (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS) and Report Parts in Report Designer (SSRS) on the Web at microsoft.com.
You cannot publish the report items within the rectangle as report parts. When people add the rectangle to a report, they get the rectangle and the items it contains.
.gif "Arrow icon used with Back to Top link")
Back to Top
Using a Rectangle as a Container
You can use a rectangle as a container for other items. When you move the rectangle, the items that are contained within the rectangle move along with it. An item within the rectangle shows the name of the rectangle in its Parent property. For more information about using a rectangle as a container, see How to: Add a Rectangle or Container (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS) and How to: Display the Same Data on a Matrix and a Chart (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS).
Note
A rectangle is only a container for items that you either create in the rectangle or drag into the rectangle. If you draw a rectangle around an item that already exists on the design surface, the rectangle will not act as its container. The rectangle will not be listed in the item's Parent property.
When using rectangles to contain report items, consider how the items will be affected as a whole during report rendering. Report items that contain repeated rows of data (for example, tables) will expand to accommodate the data that is returned by a query, and this affects the positioning of other items in the rectangle. A table will push items down if they are positioned below the data region. To anchor an item in place, you can place the report item inside of a rectangle that has an upper edge above the lower edge of the table. For more information, see Understanding Rendering Behaviors (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS).
Back to Top
Adding a Report Border
You can add a border to a report by adding borders to the headers, footers, and report body themselves, without adding lines or rectangles. For more information, see How to: Add a Border to a Report (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS).
Back to Top