[Webinar] Create Paginated Reports Using Tablix

This blog provides show notes for our March 4, 2021 webinar, “Create Paginated Reports Using Tablix.” The webinar is presented by Syncfusion developer Priyadharshini V. A recording of the webinar is embedded below. The Q&A portion of the webinar is provided at the end of this blog.

 

Overview

This webinar covers the following topics:

• What is a tablix report item?
• How is tablix categorized?
• When should you use tablix?
• What are the behaviors and structures?
• What are the key features of tablix?

What is a tablix report item?

A Tablix report item summarizes business data and displays the result in a flat table format, cross-table format, or in free-form layout.

How is tablix categorized?

In SSRS RDL standard, “tablix” is a generalized term that means the combination of table, matrix (cross-table or pivot table), and list report items (table+list+matrix=tablix).

The table and matrix report items can display detailed data or grouped data. Both matrix and table display in a grid layout, but the key difference between tables and matrices is that tables can include only row groups, whereas matrices have row groups and column groups. Lists are a little different. Like a table and a matrix, a list is not restricted to a grid layout. It can be used to create free-form layouts.

When to use them?

• Table: To create a flat structure or a row-wise grouping design, use a table report item.
• Matrix: To organize and analyze large data sets or to create multidimensional views of data, use a matrix report item.
• List: To design a business reports such as an invoice, a mail-merge, and a form, use a list.

Behaviors and Structure

Table

A simple table design contains a table header row and a details row with three columns. A table can have only row groups. By default, each cell in a table contains a text box.

Matrix

A simple matrix design contains a row group, a column group, a corner cell, and a data cell. By default, each cell in a matrix contains a text box. We can easily build a hierarchical structure using matrix.

List

By default, a cell in a list contains a rectangle. It acts as a container to place multiple report items side by side to design a free-form layout.

Key Features

• Aggregation and expression.
• Group by rows and columns.
• Visual cues.
• Group headers and footers.
• Conditional formatting.
• Merge and split cells.
• Drill-down action.
• Interactive sorting.
• Drill-through action.

Conclusion

In your day-to-day life, surely, you will come across tablix designs. For example, bank transaction statements, invoices, balance sheet reports, and so on. So, you can generate various types of day-to-day business reports using tablix. This webinar covered the basics of tablix report item, and how to design paginated reports using tablix in Bold Reports. We hope you enjoyed this webinar and that you’ll keep an eye out for future Bold Reports webinars.

Recommended resources (related links):

• Bold Reports website: boldreports.com
• Bold Reports documentation: help.boldreports.com

Webinar Q&A

Can we display report items inside the tablix cell?

Yes, we can display sparklines, databar, and other report items inside the tablix cell.

Is that possible to handle report items position and size using expressions?

No, at run time position and size of report items render based on the report data.

Can we color cells using expressions?

Yes, we can color cells dynamically using expressions.

How to display each tablix group in separate page on rendering?

We can achieve this by using the Page Break property. It supports to add page breaks at start, between, and end of groups.

How to specify text to show in the rendered report in place of a data region that has no data?

We can achieve this by using the NoRowsMessage property.

Can we export reports into excel format?

Yes, we can export reports into popular file formats like PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, PowerPoint, XML, and HTML.

Will drilldown preserve with table report item when exporting to excel format?

Yes, drilldown will preserve in excel format. You can expand and collapse sections of the report. The other supported export formats exports the current show or hide state of the report. Interactive toggling is not supported.