Rectangles and Lines (Report Builder and SSRS)

Rectangles and lines can create visual effects within a report. You can set display properties on these report items from the Border section of the Home tab, and set other properties by using the Properties pane. You can add features like a background color or image, a tooltip, or a bookmark to a rectangle.

Note

You can create and modify report definitions (.rdl) in Report Builder and in Report Designer in SQL Server Data Tools. Each authoring environment provides different ways to create, open, and save reports and related items. For more information, see Designing Reports in Report Designer and Report Builder (SSRS) on the Web at microsoft.com.

In This Article

Rectangles and Lines as Report Parts

Using a Rectangle as a Container

Adding a Report Border

How-To Topics

See Also

Rectangles and Lines as Report Parts

You can publish rectangles with the items that they contain separately from the report as report parts. Report parts are self-contained report items that are stored on the report server and can be included in other reports. Use Report Builder to browse and select parts from the Report Part Gallery to add to your reports. Use Report Designer or Report Builder to save report parts for use in the Report Part Gallery. For more information, see Report Parts (Report Builder and SSRS) and Report Parts in Report Designer (SSRS) on the Web at microsoft.com.

You cannot publish the report items within the rectangle as report parts. When people add the rectangle to a report, they get the rectangle and the items it contains.

Back to Top

Using a Rectangle as a Container

You can use a rectangle as a container for other items. When you move the rectangle, the items that are contained within the rectangle move along with it. An item within the rectangle shows the name of the rectangle in its Parent property. For more information about using a rectangle as a container, see Add a Rectangle or Container (Report Builder and SSRS) and Display the Same Data on a Matrix and a Chart (Report Builder).

Note

A rectangle is only a container for items that you either create in the rectangle or drag into the rectangle. If you draw a rectangle around an item that already exists on the design surface, the rectangle will not act as its container. The rectangle will not be listed in the item's Parent property.

When using rectangles to contain report items, consider how the items will be affected as a whole during report rendering. Report items that contain repeated rows of data (for example, tables) will expand to accommodate the data that is returned by a query, and this affects the positioning of other items in the rectangle. A table will push items down if they are positioned below the data region. To anchor an item in place, you can place the report item inside of a rectangle that has an upper edge above the lower edge of the table. For more information, see Rendering Behaviors (Report Builder and SSRS).

Back to Top

Adding a Report Border

You can add a border to a report by adding borders to the headers, footers, and report body themselves, without adding lines or rectangles. For more information, see Add a Border to a Report (Report Builder and SSRS).

Back to Top

How-To Topics

Add a Border to a Report (Report Builder and SSRS)

Add a Rectangle or Container (Report Builder and SSRS)

Add and Modify a Line (Report Builder and SSRS)

See Also

Tasks

Add a Rectangle or Container (Report Builder and SSRS)