About Section Names
The following topics are discussed in this section.
Introduction, Page 221
Methodology, Page 222
StrToSectionCode, Page 223
Introduction
Section names in the Crystal Reports VCL are now the same as the shortened section names used in the Crystal Report Designer. The following prefixes are used for the different possible sections:
RH |
= Report Header |
|
|
PH |
= Page Header |
|
|
GH |
= Group Header |
|
|
D |
= Details |
GF |
= Group Footer |
|
|
PF |
= Page Footer |
|
|
RF |
= Report Footer |
|
|
Group Headers and Footers also have a number associated with the prefix, which specifies to which Group they belong, starting with the number 1 for the first Group:
GH1 |
= |
Group Header for Group 1 |
|
|
|
GF2 |
= |
Group Footer for Group 2 |
If a Section has been divided into multiple Sub-Sections, these are specified by alphabetic letters going from a to z and then aa to zz, and so on.
GH1a |
= |
Group Header 1, sub-section a |
GF2b |
= |
Group Footer 2, sub-section b |
|
|
|
If the Retrieve method is used for the properties such as SectionFormat and AreaFormat, the Section property will automatically be calculated and filled by the VCL Component. If the manual Add/Delete methods are used, the Section will have to be assigned manually.
Seagate Crystal Visual Component Library |
221 |
Methodology
The Crystal Reports Print Engine uses the following numbering division:
●1000 for each main section
●25 for each sub-section
●0 to 24 for each Group For example:
1000 is used for the report Header
2000 for the Page Header
3000 for the Group Header, etc. Groups can be from 0 to 24, so:
Group Header 1 is 3000 Group Header 3 is 3002, etc.
Sub-sections are divided by 25, so: Group Header 1a is 3000 Group Header 2b is 3026, etc.
This means a possible 40 divisions of 25 for each Section, since 40 * 25 = 1000. Therefore the print engine cannot access more than 40 sub-sections at runtime. Since the VCL Component uses the runtime print engine, it also has this limitation. While this is not usually a problem with most reports, the limit is reached if a report contains more than 40 Detail sections, for example. In such cases, the VCL Component will only retrieve the first 40 sections.
Using the information spelled out above, a simple example of the sections of a report, with their corresponding section code numbers is illustrated below:
Area / Sections |
Area / Section Numbers |
Report Header |
1000 |
Report Header a |
1000 |
Report Header b |
1025 |
Page Header |
2000 |
Page Header a |
2000 |
Page Header b |
2025 |
Seagate Crystal Visual Component Library |
222 |
Group Header 1 |
3000 |
Group Header 1a |
3000 |
Group Header 1b |
3025 |
Group Header 1c |
3050 |
Group Header 2 |
3001 |
Group Header 2a |
3001 |
Group Header 2b |
3026 |
Group Header 2c |
3051 |
Details |
4000 |
Details a |
4000 |
Details b |
4025 |
Group Footer 2 |
5001 |
Group Footer 2a |
5001 |
Group Footer 2b |
5026 |
Group Footer 2c |
5051 |
Group Footer 1 |
5000 |
Group Footer 1a |
5000 |
Group Footer 1b |
5025 |
Group Footer 1c |
5050 |
Page Footer |
7000 |
Page Footer a |
7000 |
Page Footer b |
7025 |
Report Footer |
8000 |
Report Footer a |
8000 |
Report Footer b |
8025 |
StrToSectionCode
The StrToSectionCode function is used internally by the Seagate Crystal Reports Component, but it is also a public method and can be used by programmers. It's purpose is to take a Section name from one of the component's Section properties and turn it back into a Print Engine Section code. This function is also used by those objects that have a SectionAsCode property.
Seagate Crystal Visual Component Library |
223 |