How to create a custom report designer

[Guest]

Hi,

I am trying to create my own report designer. Basically a layout page where
users can put either a table or a chart, header footer etc. The table seems
like a pivot table designer, but with some modifications - like users can
order the fields however they want, specify grouping on row or column area
etc.

Basically I am looking for a layout control where I can let the end user
drag and drop items, move and resize items (like textbox, grid) etc.

I was wondering if there was support in the .NET framework to do such tasks
easily. I do know that there are several 3rd party components I can use -
Like Visio, Dundas Diagram for .NET, SyncFusion etc, but for my needs, some
of these seem heavy weight and some others don't provide a straightforward
way to do it.

Any suggestions/ideas?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Kevin Spencer]

Of course there's support in the .Net platform for creating such
applications. Whether it is "easily" or not is pretty much a measure of your
own ability. I recently built my own reporting and printing engine in C#.
There were challenges, yes, but it only took me a couple of months to build
an extensible set of classes and tools, and a fully-functional Windows Forms
reporting application.

--
HTH,

Kevin Spencer
Microsoft MVP
Chicken Salad Surgery

It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken salad.