Components

For each of the components, you can specify a name in the* (Name)* field of the Properties window. This name is required to access the value of this component later.

Label

The label is used to describe another control. For example, you can specify which values have to be entered into a text box.

Text Box

Users can enter any desired text in a text box. To later reference the text entered into the text box, use (Name).Text.

Group

You can use group controls to organize other components in a clearly arranged form layout. From a functional point of view, there is no difference between grouped components and components that are arranged directly on the main screen. Use the Text property to specify the text to be displayed as the group title.

Button

For each form, you must add at least one button whose Dialog Result property has a value other than None or Cancel. The OK or Yes dialog results are best suited to apply the values from the form to the report.

Checkbox

To enable the input of Boolean values, add checkboxes. If the checkmark is set, the value of the component is True, if the checkbox is empty, the value of the component is False. The Checked property defines whether the checkmark will be set by default or not. To later reference the status of the checkbox, use (Name).checked.

Radio Button

Use radio buttons if you want to provide a set of options excluding each other (i.e. only one option may be selected at a time). If you want to add multiple radio button sets, either arrange them in group boxes or panels. For each set of radio buttons, one radio button should be defined with the Checked property set to True. In the report, you can use the (Name).checked expression to find out whether the button was selected.

Combo Box and LookUp Box

For entries whose allowed values can be selected from a list, so called combo boxes or lookup boxes are available. These components are suitable for all cases where a limited number of valid values is available which may change dynamically. As the source for the values of the combo box, you can either define a data column or enter static values.

In the lookup box, a key is stored in addition to the value. This enables you to filter not only on the selected name, but, e.g. also on the primary key of the selected value.

In the Properties window, select the data column, e.g., tHosts.Hostname under* (Data Bindings) - Items.* When adding a lookup box, additionally select the data column to be used as the key, e.g. tHosts.HostID. You can enter a static list of values into the Items and Keys properties which are not grouped under (Data Bindings).

Then, you can specify the (Name).selectedItem and (Name).selectedKey expressions to use the selected values or keys in the report.

Checked List Box

A checked list box lists values which the user can select by enabling the checkbox to the left of the corresponding value. In the Properties window, under (Data Bindings) - Items, select the data column whose values will be made available for selection. Using the Check on Click option in the Behavior category of the Properties window, you can define if a value is enabled by simply clicking on it or if the associated checkbox needs to be checked to enable the value. In the report, you can reference the selected values by specifying (Name).selectedItems.

Date Time Picker

Date-time pickers are used to select a date. Above all, this component is required if the user wants to restrict the report output to a certain period of time. In the report, specify (Name).value to reference the selected date. When you select the date, the current time is added automatically. If you only want to use the date, specify (Name).value.date.

Numbers (Numeric Up Down)

Use the Numeric Up Down component to make sure that only numbers will be entered. In addition, you can define a minimum and a maximum value. You can enter a default value using the Value property. To reference the number entered by the user, specify (Name).value.

Panel

The Panel, similarly to the Group component, can be used for structuring the components and for grouping radio buttons. The difference between a panel and a group is that the panel does not stand out against the rest of the form as long as it has the same color as the background.