ActiveReports

ActiveReports is a .NET reporting tool used by developers of .NET Core, MVC, JavaScript, WinForms, and ASP.NET applications. It was originally developed by Data Dynamics, which was then acquired by GrapeCity. ActiveReports is a set of components and tools that facilitates the production of reports to display data in documents and web-based formats. It is written in managed C# code and allows Visual Studio programmers to leverage their knowledge of C# or Visual Basic.NET when programming with ActiveReports.

ActiveReports
Developer(s)Data Dynamics, now GrapeCity
Stable release
13 / 15 January 2019 (2019-01-15)
PlatformWindows Forms / ASP.NET / .NET / Microsoft SQL Server / HTML5 / JavaScript
TypeBusiness Intelligence, Reporting
Licenseproprietary
Websiteactivereports.grapecity.com

Among the components included with ActiveReports are exports to file formats such as PDF, Excel, RTF, and Word. The main components are a Visual Studio integrated report designer, and an API that developers use to create customized reports from a variety of data sources.

ActiveReports Standard Edition includes a Visual Query Designer, a customizable Windows Viewer control, and a WPF Viewer control. The integrated report designer handles three types of reports:

  • Section Reports with banded sections like the original ActiveReports (reminiscent of Microsoft Access reports)
  • Page Reports with a fixed layout for forms
  • RDL Reports with a continuous page layout like the original Data Dynamics Reports (uses Report Definition Language)

The Professional Edition of ActiveReports includes the Standard Edition tools plus End-User Report Designer controls for desktop and web. Developers can host these report designers in their own Microsoft Windows and web applications to let end users create and modify reports. It also includes a client side JavaScript viewer, server-side ASP.NET viewer, ASP.NET HTTP Handlers that export reports to HTML or PDF format without custom code and advanced PDF encryption.


Features

Features new to version 3

ActiveReports Designer

  • Design-time preview tab
  • Component tray for design-time work with .NET data providers
  • Report Explorer support for parameters and calculated fields
  • Design-time support for custom parameters
  • Design-time unbound fields

Windows Forms Viewer

  • Users can add annotations
  • Linked reports open in tabbed pages
  • Web links open within the viewer

Reporting Engine

  • Chart control supports seven new chart types
    • Funnel
    • Pyramid
    • Gantt
    • Kagi
    • Point and figure
    • Renko
    • Three line break
  • ReportInfo control for page N of M or report run dates

Features new to version 6

Latest Service Releases

  • Microsoft Silverlight Report Viewer
  • Windows Azure reporting in partial trust and full trust modes
  • ASP.NET medium trust support
  • Support for Visual Studio 2010
  • Support for .NET Framework 4.0 Client profile
  • Utility to convert from Crystal Reports (2005 and 2008) to ActiveReports

Standard Edition

  • Cross-section box and line controls that span report sections
  • Quality and performance improvements
  • New Reduced Space Symbology (RSS) barcode styles
  • External style sheets
  • Designer snap lines
  • Granular control over text boxes and labels
  • 64 bit support

Features new to version 7
  • Added Page-Based Reports with advanced data regions including charts, tables, and crosstabs that can be mixed within the same report section, eliminating the need to use subreports in most instances.
  • Table Control
  • Matrix Control
  • Support for Visual Studio 2012
  • Advanced Printing Support: Scale pages, add page watermarks, print multiple report pages on a single sheet (N-up).
  • Persistent Licensing makes the installed system remain licensed until the license is manually deactivated, making upgrade to maintenance releases easier.

[1]

Features new to version 7, service pack 1
  • Added a WPF Report Viewer.
  • Added a PDF/A export option for report archiving.

[2]

Features new to version 8
  • Added touch support for the Windows and WPF Viewer.
  • Added the Maps report item for spatial and analytical geographical representation of data with support for views, projections, vector layers, and Virtual Earth tile layers from the Microsoft Bing service.
  • Added the HTML5 viewer with touch and gesture support.
  • Updated reporting engine optimized for speed.
  • Expanded barcode support for GS1 Composite symbology including RSS14Stacked and RSSLimited barcode styles, and added MicroPDF417 options to control compaction and segments.
  • Added ActiveReports Server as an optional add-on that supports multi-tenant reporting, security extensibility, data caching, and report optimization features.

[2]

Features new to version 9
  • Added Layers, groups of controls that you can lock or unlock, add or remove, show or hide for complex layouts.
  • Added the Visual Query Designer, a graphical interface that allows users to interactively build queries and view the results.
  • Added the Table of Contents control to display an organized hierarchy of report headings and labels along with their page numbers in the body of a report.
  • Improved Excel Rendering Engine for better exporting performance and precise layout accuracy.
  • Added independent rounded corners for Shape and CrossSectionBox controls in Section Reports.
  • Added support for mouse-controlled resize handlers for overflow areas in Page Reports.
  • Improved reporting engine for better performance and smaller memory footprints.

[2]

Features new to version 10
  • Replaced the Matrix with the new Tablix data region to allow users to create stepped matrices, merge cells vertically, and use multiple adjacent row and column groupings.
  • Added the Word rendering extension for DOCX format exports.
  • Added style sheets for RDL and Page reports.
  • Improved integration between ActiveReports Server and the developer version of ActiveReports so that developers can execute reports on the server and use shared data sets.
  • Created a new lighter layout engine for faster rendering and fewer formatting and layout challenges.

[3]

Features new to version 11
  • Optimized rendering for two times faster first page load times, 1.5 times faster PDF export file generation and 60% smaller peak memory footprint.
  • Added composite charts to RDL and Page reports to enable merging of line, bar, and area plots on the same chart with multiple Y axes.
  • Added JSON data provider that allows reports to consume data from JSON files, web services and REST API.
  • Added CSV data provider that allows reports to consume data from comma separated, tab separated, and other plain text files.
  • Improved the XML data provider with an XML Query Designer with a tree view of the data.
  • Added an Excel import wizard that can also be an intermediary for importing layouts from other reporting tools.
  • Added PDF printing pre-sets and optimized the PDF export for shorter export times and smaller output files.
  • Added galley mode to the HTML5 viewer so that wide and long reports can be viewed as a single, scrollable sheet.
  • Added new properties to the API: PageReportDesignerActions (End User Designer), OverwriteOutputFile (rendering extensions), and OptimizeStatic (PDF).
  • Added the Micro QR Code symbology to the barcode control.

[4]

Features new to version 12
  • With Dataset Joins in Page and RDL reports, you can use nested data regions bound to different datasets
  • Shrink the text in TextBox and Label controls to fit within the width of the control by using MinCondenseRate property
  • Support for some more industry-standard barcodes such as Code_11, SSCC-18, Telepen, and Maxicode
  • The ActiveReports installer offers option to specify the installation path and option to integrate ActiveReports in specific Visual Studio IDE versions.
  • Export your Page and RDL reports to CSV and JSON file formats
  • New RepeatToFill Property for Tablix (Page report)
  • We have enhanced the ActiveReports Import tool by adding a new RPX import feature, allowing you to convert your section reports to RDL reports.

[5]

Features new to version 13
  • ActiveReports now provides new generation viewer which is built on JavaScript library.
  • You can embed the new Web Designer into any web application to deliver ad hoc reporting.
  • New Chart control that provides ease of data visualization through encodings
  • Convert Section reports to Page reports, in addition to RDL reports.
  • We have a new AutoMergeMode property for detail cells in Table and Tablix data region.
  • Improved RichTextBox control now supports more tags and attributes.
  • FormattedText control now supports more tags and attributes and displays the formatting of the html text directly in the Designer
  • Extending your Visual Studio theme to the ActiveReports VS integrated Designer

[6]

Features new to version 14
  • Full .NET Core support with the ability to host reporting application, as well as ActiveReports rendering engine, on Windows, Linux, or Mac systems.
  • Create interactive PDFs (Acrobat Forms) using the new InputField control
  • BandedList control is now supported in the web based report designer
  • The web based report designer also supports datasource and dataset creation
  • The web based report designer can be localization using resource files.
  • New WebViewer control was added for use with ASP.NET applications
  • ActiveReports assemblies have been published to NuGet.
  • ActiveReports samples are now published to GitHub.

[7]

Professional Edition

Includes all of the Standard Edition features, and adds the following:.

End-User Report Designer

  • Allows developers to host the designer in Windows Forms applications
  • Provides end-user report editing capabilities
  • Provides easy access for saving and loading report layouts
  • Allows developers to monitor and control the end user's design environment
  • Allows developers to customize the designer to the needs of end users

ASP.NET

  • WebViewer control with RawHTML, HTML, and PDF viewer types can be used on ASP.NET pages
  • Allows quick viewing of ActiveReports on the web
  • Provides printing and exporting capabilities
  • Provides text search capability with matches returned including page numbers
  • Supports end user interactivity (drill down, drill through, sorting, parameters, table of contents, etc)
The Web Designer component with important parts labeled

JavaScript Viewer[8]

  • Responsive web design
  • Adapts different display sizes
  • Less dependency on other libraries (jquery, etc.)
  • Works on modern web application frameworks - ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Core MVC, HTML5, and major JavaScript Frameworks such as Angular and Vue.js

Web Designer Component[9]

  • Can be hosted in web applications to enable self-service reporting
  • Responsive to mobile and desktop layouts
  • Familiar layout and design
  • Supports modern browsers and frameworks (MVC, ASP.NET Core, JavaScript, etc)

Supported document formats

Included report items
  • SubReport
  • Chart
Some of the many chart types available in ActiveReports
  • Text Box
  • Label
  • Line
  • Picture
  • Check Box
  • Page Break
  • Report Information
  • Rich Text Box
  • Shape
  • Bar Code
  • Cross Section Line
  • Cross Section Box
  • OLE Object
  • 3rd party controls (charts, grids, calendars, etc.)
  • Matrix
  • Table
  • Banded List
  • Bullet
  • Calendar
  • Container
  • Formatted Text
  • Map
  • Overflow Placeholder
  • Sparkline
  • Table of Contents
  • InputField

Known Issues

In the past, ActiveReports was known to be unable to handle large reports.[10] This issue was ongoing across years and versions.[11][12] Since that time, development efforts have focused on improving large report handling in every release.

ActiveReports can be used in many ways, so each project can have a number of reasons for consuming memory. In newer versions, CacheToDisk and CacheToDiskLocation properties were added for PDF exports. Some other considerations that may cause too much memory use in section reports include:[13]

  • Large or repeated images on every page
  • Subreports in repeating sections instantiated in the wrong event so that many new instances are created instead of one
  • Summaries in header sections that delay rendering
  • Report and Document object instances not released from memory

References
  1. http://www.componentone.com/SuperProducts/ActiveReports/Features/#ar7
  2. ".NET UI Controls | Tools for WinForms, WPF, UWP, ASP.NET MVC | ComponentOne". GrapeCity.
  3. "GrapeCity Releases ActiveReports 10 with a New Tablix Data Region and Style Sheets". www.prnewswire.com.
  4. ".NET Reporting | Design Custom .NET Reports in Code | ActiveReports". GrapeCity.
  5. "ActiveReports 12 Releases | ActiveReports". GrapeCity.
  6. "What's New in ActiveReports 13: A Web Designer and JavaScript Viewer | ActiveReports". GrapeCity.
  7. "ActiveReports 14 is Released | ActiveReports". GrapeCity. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  8. "JS Viewer". help.grapecity.com.
  9. "Create a Simple Web Designer Sample". help.grapecity.com.
  10. "System Out of Memory Exception (active reports, asp.net, C#)". The Official Forums for Microsoft ASP.NET.
  11. http://arhelp.grapecity.com/groups/topic/approach-to-building-a-large-report/#post-502669
  12. "c# - PDF*.tmp file are not deleted and Out of Memory Exception when CacheToDisk is used". Stack Overflow.
  13. "ActiveReports 10 Help". help.grapecity.com.
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