Horizontal text field alignments

[jmbaker]

Hi,

 

I have a question concerning layouts. Consider the following text field expression:

 

"Total: "+$F{MB}+"MB used"

 

If the value of MB is a number then it will be output using toString(). But this behaviour is not ideal because the field looks better formatted, which can be done using the Pattern facility on a text field.

 

However this means I need to create three text fields:

 

"Total: "

$F{MB} (with a pattern set}

"MB used"

 

and place all three text fields beside each other. And this is where I have a problem. The output looks unprofessional if the text isn't perfectly aligned (horizontally), and given the value of $F{MB} is entirely variable, the gap between the fields can not be pre-determined.

 

Is there a facility to make text fields sit beside each other and automtically increase/decrease in width, ensuring all fields are kept close to each other?

 

Thanks,

 

 

John

[svenn]

No there is not. What you could do is create a scriptlet and do the formatting in it. You could then place the formated text in a variable.

[momzilla]

NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance().format($F{choice_amt})+"/"+NumberFormat.getCurrencyInstance().format($F{sp_sup_orig_rate})

 

 

 

is what I do for currency...

 

 

you will probably want NumberFormat.getInstance()

 

iow,

 

"Total: "+NumberFormat.getInstance().format($F{MB})+" MB used"

Post edited by: momzilla, at: 2008/01/03 16:45

[jmbaker]

Hello,

 

I'm taking the "X "+NumberFormat...+" Y" route but it's kind of annoying given I thought there were some internal date/number formatting features driven from parameters (REPORT_TIME_ZONE, for example). Surely what I'm asking for is a really sensible idea? Could this be added to the wish list of features? It seems increasibly obvious for anyone wishing to mix dates/numbers & text.

 

Thanks,

 

 

John