Labels are one of the most commonly used controls in the Finished Reports Designer. They are used to display text and data anywhere in a report.
A label can display either fixed text, such as a report title, or dynamic content from the report data.
What Is a Label?
A Label is a report control used to display text or values in a Finished Report.
Labels can display:
- Static text — Report titles, headings, instructions, or other fixed text
- Field values — Data from the View, such as Customer Name, Order Date, or Amount
- Expressions — Calculated or combined values
- Formatted values — Dates, currency, percentages, and other formatted output
- Summaries — Totals, counts, averages, and other calculations
Labels can be placed in different report bands depending on where the information should appear.
For example:
- A report title may be placed in the Report Header
- Column headings may be placed in the Page Header
- Record values may be placed in the Detail band
- Totals may be placed in a Group Footer or Report Footer
Why Use Labels?
Labels give you control over how information is presented in a Finished Report.
They are commonly used to:
- Add report titles and headings
- Display values from the View
- Create column headers
- Show calculated values
- Display group and report totals
- Format dates, numbers, currency, and percentages
- Combine text and data into a single report element
Most Finished Reports will use multiple labels to control both the content and layout of the report.
Step 1: Open and Run a View
Open the View you want to use and select Run View so the report data is available.
Step 2: Open the Finished Reports Designer
Open the Finished Reports Designer.
Step 3: Add a Label
Select the Label control from the Designer toolbox.
Step 4: Place the Label
Drag the label into the report band where you want it to appear.
For example, a label can be placed in the:
- Report Header
- Page Header
- Group Header
- Detail
- Group Footer
- Report Footer
Step 5: Open Label Tasks
Select the label and open the label task menu using the cog icon.
Step 6: Configure Label Settings
Labels can be configured to display static text, expressions, formatted values, or summary calculations.
Text
Use Text to display static information.
Example
Text: Sales Report
Result: Sales Report
Expression
Use Expression when the label should display dynamic information from the report data.
Select the ellipsis next to Expression to open the expression editor.
Example
Expression:'Contact Name: ' + [ContactName]
Result:
Contact Name: John Doe
Format String
Use Format String to control how values such as dates, numbers, currency, or percentages are displayed.
Select the ellipsis next to Format String to configure the format.
Example
Raw Value: 3/11/2025
Format: 'MMMM d, yyyy'
Result: March 11, 2025
Summary
Use the summary options when a label should calculate values at the group, report, or page level.
Common summary calculations include:
- Sum
- Count
- Average
- Minimum
- Maximum
Example: Group Summary
Suppose the report is grouped by SalesRep and includes the SalesAmount field in the Detail band.
Place a summary label in the SalesRep Group Footer and configure it to calculate the Sum of SalesAmount.
The summary label will display the total sales amount for each sales rep.
For example:
SalesRep: Alex Carter
SalesAmount values: $125.00, $240.00, $85.00, $150.00
Group Total: $600.00
Example: Report Summary
To display the total sales amount for the entire report, place another summary label in the Report Footer and configure it to calculate the Sum of SalesAmount.
For example:
- Alex Carter: $600.00
- Jordan Lee: $475.00
- Morgan Reed: $725.00
Report Total: $1,800.00
Step 7: Configure Label Sizing and Behavior
Labels include options that control how the label responds to its content.
- Auto Width — Automatically adjusts the label width based on its content.
- Can Grow — Allows the label height to increase when additional space is needed.
- Can Shrink — Allows the label height to decrease when less space is needed.
- Multiline — Allows the label to display multiple lines of text.
- Word Wrap — Wraps text within the label boundaries.
Comments
0 comments
Please sign in to leave a comment.