Binding a Data Field to a Control

When modifying or creating a report, you may need to display the contents of a database field at a specific location within the report. To control how, where and when the database field is displayed, you must use the Report Designer Tool to select an appropriate type of control then bind the data field to that control.

For this example, we will edit an existing report and bind a field to a rich text control. The same process can be used for most controls – labels, rich text, table cells, and so on.

For more information on data binding, see the Report Designer User Guide (Developer Express), located in the folder where you installed the Report Manager.

To bind a data field to a control

1.	In My Reports, select the report, then click Edit report.

2.	To edit the existing layout, click the Layout button, then click the Edit this layout in the layout designer button.

For more information, see Changing the Layout.

3.	From the Toolbox, drag the Rich Text control to the location where the database field is to be displayed on the report.

Rulers and grid lines are available to help you align the control with other controls on the report.

4.	Click the control in the report and use the options in the Property Grid to adjust properties such as font, size and color.

5.	With the control still selected on the report, click the Fields List tab and expand the Table folder under dataSet1.

Every database field that has been added to your report on the Fields tab will be displayed. For more information on adding fields to your report see Modifying the Fields to be Included.

Click the database field to be bound to the rich text control and drag it on top of the rich text control on the report.

– OR – 

With the control still selected on the report, navigate to the Data section of the Property Grid. Expand Data Bindings | Rtf and click the Binding drop-down arrow and select the field to be bound to this control.