elementGroup and Frames. What are they really for?

[maguri]

Hi,

I cant find a real usage for element groups or frames. At first, I thought they could help me to get report fields glued together but it is not the case.

I have this use case: A report, somehow like a form:

  line 1 -->    label1:  text1      label2: text2

  line 2 -->    label3: text3      label4: text4

Each line must be vertically aligned: if text1 or text2 stretches, all fields in line 2 must move downwards accordingly. The result must be like:

line 1 -->    label1: xxxxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyyy zzzzzzzz        label 2: qqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq

                    aaaaaaaaaaaaa bbbbbbbbbb cccc

line 2 -->    label 3: kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk          label 4: wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

I tried using  elementGroup, putting fields of each line in different groups with no success. labels and texts align by their own way.

I tried using Frames with partial success. If the report is simple it works. If the report contains subreports, charts, images, etc. it stops working.

The only way to solve the problem is by using report grous. It is terrible!! One report group for each line!! (But it works).

So, I havent found a useful usage for element Groups and Frames.

Could someone please give me a light on this? I've searched the internet for this with no success.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[lucianc]

Element groups are used to group elements that need to stretch together (via stretchType=relativeToTallest).  However, element groups do not function as a "box" as the effect of element stretches are propagated individually to the rest of the elements below.

Frames are element containers that function as a whole when viewed from the outside.  When you have a report band that is composed of several element lines, you should usually create a frame for each such line and nest the elements inside the frames so that stretching elements have the right effect on element lines below.

I can't say why frames didn't work for you unless you post a sample report that illustrates the problem.

Regards,

Lucian