Can Grow for object based on function (AC2003)

[David E. Jones]

I have a report with two text boxes in Detail set to Can Grow. Both
boxes have functions as the data source. The functions simply
concatenate data from other fields in the underlying data source, which
is an Excel spreadsheet. The text boxes don't "grow" when the report is
previewed. When I change the data sources for the boxes to a single
field, they will grow. My question is: should I expect Can Grow to work
only on a single-field data source, or if there are other guidelines to
consider for this feature? Thanks.

 

[Marshall Barton]

I have a report with two text boxes in Detail set to Can Grow. Both
boxes have functions as the data source. The functions simply
concatenate data from other fields in the underlying data source, which
is an Excel spreadsheet. The text boxes don't "grow" when the report is
previewed. When I change the data sources for the boxes to a single
field, they will grow. My question is: should I expect Can Grow to work
only on a single-field data source, or if there are other guidelines to
consider for this feature?

Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

 

[David E. Jones]

Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

I guess there's something strange going on in this report. I substituted
a simplified formula for the function, and got the same result. The
simplified formula is this (for movie titles and year):
Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"

If I expand the text box to two lines, the text will display and wrap.
But if I shrink the box to one line, it won't grow to the next line. The
main difference in the function is that deals with nulls in DateOfPub.
When I select only Title as the data source, the row will grow.

 

[Marshall Barton]

Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

I guess there's something strange going on in this report. I substituted
a simplified formula for the function, and got the same result. The
simplified formula is this (for movie titles and year):
Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"

If I expand the text box to two lines, the text will display and wrap.
But if I shrink the box to one line, it won't grow to the next line. The
main difference in the function is that deals with nulls in DateOfPub.
When I select only Title as the data source, the row will grow.

That is very strange. Just grasping at straws now, but your
posted expression is missing the initial = sign, probably
just a posting typo.

Also double check that the section's CanGroe property is set
to Yes or, if it's set to No, that there is plenty of room
below the text box for it to grow into.

I can't think of anything else, except maybe you're using a
bad font that doesn't report character widths properly or
some kind of corruption.

 

[David E. Jones]

David E. Jones wrote:

I have a report with two text boxes in Detail set to Can Grow. Both
boxes have functions as the data source. The functions simply
concatenate data from other fields in the underlying data source, which
is an Excel spreadsheet. The text boxes don't "grow" when the report is
previewed. When I change the data sources for the boxes to a single
field, they will grow. My question is: should I expect Can Grow to work
only on a single-field data source, or if there are other guidelines to
consider for this feature?

Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

I guess there's something strange going on in this report. I substituted
a simplified formula for the function, and got the same result. The
simplified formula is this (for movie titles and year):
Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"

If I expand the text box to two lines, the text will display and wrap.
But if I shrink the box to one line, it won't grow to the next line. The
main difference in the function is that deals with nulls in DateOfPub.
When I select only Title as the data source, the row will grow.

That is very strange. Just grasping at straws now, but your
posted expression is missing the initial = sign, probably
just a posting typo.

Also double check that the section's CanGroe property is set
to Yes or, if it's set to No, that there is plenty of room
below the text box for it to grow into.

I can't think of anything else, except maybe you're using a
bad font that doesn't report character widths properly or
some kind of corruption.

Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, this one is bizarre. The expression does
have the = sign: just my omission in posting. The Detail section is set
to Can Grow, and though there's no extra room for the text box to grow,
it will grow with the field selected, just not with the expressions. I
may do some more experimenting. Another possibility is that somehow the
report doesn't work as it should when the source data isn't coming from
an Access table.

 

[Marshall Barton]

Marshall Barton wrote:
David E. Jones wrote:
I have a report with two text boxes in Detail set to Can Grow. Both
boxes have functions as the data source. The functions simply
concatenate data from other fields in the underlying data source, which
is an Excel spreadsheet. The text boxes don't "grow" when the report is
previewed. When I change the data sources for the boxes to a single
field, they will grow. My question is: should I expect Can Grow to work
only on a single-field data source, or if there are other guidelines to
consider for this feature?

Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

I guess there's something strange going on in this report. I substituted
a simplified formula for the function, and got the same result. The
simplified formula is this (for movie titles and year):
Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"

If I expand the text box to two lines, the text will display and wrap.
But if I shrink the box to one line, it won't grow to the next line. The
main difference in the function is that deals with nulls in DateOfPub.
When I select only Title as the data source, the row will grow.

That is very strange. Just grasping at straws now, but your
posted expression is missing the initial = sign, probably
just a posting typo.

Also double check that the section's CanGroe property is set
to Yes or, if it's set to No, that there is plenty of room
below the text box for it to grow into.

I can't think of anything else, except maybe you're using a
bad font that doesn't report character widths properly or
some kind of corruption.

Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, this one is bizarre. The expression does
have the = sign: just my omission in posting. The Detail section is set
to Can Grow, and though there's no extra room for the text box to grow,
it will grow with the field selected, just not with the expressions. I
may do some more experimenting. Another possibility is that somehow the
report doesn't work as it should when the source data isn't coming from
an Access table.

Where the data comes form is irrelevant.

I suggest that you create a simple test report with just a
couple of text boxes, one with the expression:
=Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"
and the other with:
=yourfunction()
and the see what happens.

If that works as expected, the try to find out what's
different in your real report.

 

[David E. Jones]

David E. Jones wrote:
Marshall Barton wrote:
David E. Jones wrote:
I have a report with two text boxes in Detail set to Can Grow. Both
boxes have functions as the data source. The functions simply
concatenate data from other fields in the underlying data source, which
is an Excel spreadsheet. The text boxes don't "grow" when the report is
previewed. When I change the data sources for the boxes to a single
field, they will grow. My question is: should I expect Can Grow to work
only on a single-field data source, or if there are other guidelines to
consider for this feature?
Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

I guess there's something strange going on in this report. I substituted
a simplified formula for the function, and got the same result. The
simplified formula is this (for movie titles and year):
Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"

If I expand the text box to two lines, the text will display and wrap.
But if I shrink the box to one line, it won't grow to the next line. The
main difference in the function is that deals with nulls in DateOfPub.
When I select only Title as the data source, the row will grow.

That is very strange. Just grasping at straws now, but your
posted expression is missing the initial = sign, probably
just a posting typo.

Also double check that the section's CanGroe property is set
to Yes or, if it's set to No, that there is plenty of room
below the text box for it to grow into.

I can't think of anything else, except maybe you're using a
bad font that doesn't report character widths properly or
some kind of corruption.

Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, this one is bizarre. The expression does
have the = sign: just my omission in posting. The Detail section is set
to Can Grow, and though there's no extra room for the text box to grow,
it will grow with the field selected, just not with the expressions. I
may do some more experimenting. Another possibility is that somehow the
report doesn't work as it should when the source data isn't coming from
an Access table.

Where the data comes form is irrelevant.

I suggest that you create a simple test report with just a
couple of text boxes, one with the expression:
=Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"
and the other with:
=yourfunction()
and the see what happens.

If that works as expected, the try to find out what's
different in your real report.

I created a simple report like the one you suggested, with three text boxes:
=Title
=Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"
=fncTitleAndDateOfPubText([Title],[DateOfPub])

The only one that grew and wrapped was =Title. The other two simply
truncated.

I also copied the report and revised it to use a data source that was in
the Access database (not from Excel) and got the same result.

I suppose the next thing I could try is to start with a new database,
and import just a few records and do some testing there.

 

[Marshall Barton]

Marshall Barton wrote:
David E. Jones wrote:
Marshall Barton wrote:
David E. Jones wrote:
I have a report with two text boxes in Detail set to Can Grow. Both
boxes have functions as the data source. The functions simply
concatenate data from other fields in the underlying data source, which
is an Excel spreadsheet. The text boxes don't "grow" when the report is
previewed. When I change the data sources for the boxes to a single
field, they will grow. My question is: should I expect Can Grow to work
only on a single-field data source, or if there are other guidelines to
consider for this feature?
Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

I guess there's something strange going on in this report. I substituted
a simplified formula for the function, and got the same result. The
simplified formula is this (for movie titles and year):
Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"

If I expand the text box to two lines, the text will display and wrap.
But if I shrink the box to one line, it won't grow to the next line. The
main difference in the function is that deals with nulls in DateOfPub.
When I select only Title as the data source, the row will grow.

That is very strange. Just grasping at straws now, but your
posted expression is missing the initial = sign, probably
just a posting typo.

Also double check that the section's CanGroe property is set
to Yes or, if it's set to No, that there is plenty of room
below the text box for it to grow into.

I can't think of anything else, except maybe you're using a
bad font that doesn't report character widths properly or
some kind of corruption.

Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, this one is bizarre. The expression does
have the = sign: just my omission in posting. The Detail section is set
to Can Grow, and though there's no extra room for the text box to grow,
it will grow with the field selected, just not with the expressions. I
may do some more experimenting. Another possibility is that somehow the
report doesn't work as it should when the source data isn't coming from
an Access table.

Where the data comes form is irrelevant.

I suggest that you create a simple test report with just a
couple of text boxes, one with the expression:
=Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"
and the other with:
=yourfunction()
and the see what happens.

If that works as expected, the try to find out what's
different in your real report.

I created a simple report like the one you suggested, with three text boxes:
=Title
=Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"
=fncTitleAndDateOfPubText([Title],[DateOfPub])

The only one that grew and wrapped was =Title. The other two simply
truncated.

I also copied the report and revised it to use a data source that was in
the Access database (not from Excel) and got the same result.

I suppose the next thing I could try is to start with a new database,
and import just a few records and do some testing there.

Trying it in a new db is a good thought.

Are there any clues in where the truncation takes place?
Maybe there's something in the date value that's causing
trouble???

 

[David E. Jones]

David E. Jones wrote:
Marshall Barton wrote:
David E. Jones wrote:
Marshall Barton wrote:
David E. Jones wrote:
I have a report with two text boxes in Detail set to Can Grow. Both
boxes have functions as the data source. The functions simply
concatenate data from other fields in the underlying data source, which
is an Excel spreadsheet. The text boxes don't "grow" when the report is
previewed. When I change the data sources for the boxes to a single
field, they will grow. My question is: should I expect Can Grow to work
only on a single-field data source, or if there are other guidelines to
consider for this feature?
Can Grow doesn't know or care how a text box value is
supplied. I suspect the problem is in the function or how
it is used.

I guess there's something strange going on in this report. I substituted
a simplified formula for the function, and got the same result. The
simplified formula is this (for movie titles and year):
Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"

If I expand the text box to two lines, the text will display and wrap.
But if I shrink the box to one line, it won't grow to the next line. The
main difference in the function is that deals with nulls in DateOfPub.
When I select only Title as the data source, the row will grow.
That is very strange. Just grasping at straws now, but your
posted expression is missing the initial = sign, probably
just a posting typo.

Also double check that the section's CanGroe property is set
to Yes or, if it's set to No, that there is plenty of room
below the text box for it to grow into.

I can't think of anything else, except maybe you're using a
bad font that doesn't report character widths properly or
some kind of corruption.
Thanks for the thoughts. Yes, this one is bizarre. The expression does
have the = sign: just my omission in posting. The Detail section is set
to Can Grow, and though there's no extra room for the text box to grow,
it will grow with the field selected, just not with the expressions. I
may do some more experimenting. Another possibility is that somehow the
report doesn't work as it should when the source data isn't coming from
an Access table.

Where the data comes form is irrelevant.

I suggest that you create a simple test report with just a
couple of text boxes, one with the expression:
=Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"
and the other with:
=yourfunction()
and the see what happens.

If that works as expected, the try to find out what's
different in your real report.

I created a simple report like the one you suggested, with three text boxes:
=Title
=Trim([Title]) & " (" & Trim([DateOfPub]) & ")"
=fncTitleAndDateOfPubText([Title],[DateOfPub])

The only one that grew and wrapped was =Title. The other two simply
truncated.

I also copied the report and revised it to use a data source that was in
the Access database (not from Excel) and got the same result.

I suppose the next thing I could try is to start with a new database,
and import just a few records and do some testing there.

Trying it in a new db is a good thought.

Are there any clues in where the truncation takes place?
Maybe there's something in the date value that's causing
trouble???

Since you posted, I did try the new database trial, and all the fields
did grow correctly. The DateOfPub isn't a date field, but simply a year
in a Text field (e.g., 2005), and that field may be the problem,
especially with the frequent empty occurrences. But at least the issue
of the function being the problem is ruled out.