Thursday, December 20, 2012
Order Form Sample–Part 36

If the report was created at this time, it will look like the picture below.

Sample report with a few imperfections.

There are still a few things to change:

  1. Right-align field labels in the second column.
  2. Format Unit Price, Extended Price, Subtotal, Freight, and Total as currency.
  3. Format Order Date, Required Date, and Shipped Date on the left side, and hide the time.
  4. Format Discount as percentage.

Right-Align

In Visual Studio report designer, select all field labels in the right-hand column by clicking on them while holding Ctrl key. On the toolbar, press the Align Right icon.

Aligning all field labels on the right side to the right.

Format as Currency

Right-click on the cell containing Unit Price, and press Text Box Properties.

Activating 'Text Box Properties' context menu option for 'UnitPrice' cell.

Switch to the Number section, and select “Currency” from the list.

Formatting a field as currency.

Press OK to save. Perform the same operation on Subtotal, Freight, Total, and Extended Price text boxes.

Format As Date

Select the three date fields: Order Date, Required Date, and Shipped Date. Press the Align Left button on the toolbar.

Aligning the date fields to the left.

Right-click on the first field, Order Date, and press Text Box Properties.

Activating 'Text Box Properties' context menu option for 'OrderDate' field.

Switch to Number section, and make the following changes.

Property Value
Category Date
Type *Monday, January 31, 2000

The screen will look like below:

Configuring a text box as a date field.

Press OK to save. Make the same changes to Required Date and Shipped Date fields.

Format as Percentage

Right-click on Discount field, and press Text Box Properties.

Activating 'Text Box Properties' context menu option for 'Discount' field.

Switch to the Number section, and select Percentage from the list.

Formatting a field as a percentage.

Press OK to save. Make sure to save the report file as well.

Finalized Report

Now that the minor imperfections have been removed, the report will look more like the picture below.

Order Report with the imperfections fixed.

The next step will be to add an action that will activate the report.