Calculating Height of dynamic TPPMemos

rbuser

Hi,

I have a report with a number of tPPMemo's, in which STRETCH is set to
"True".

During runtime, lines are added to the tPPMemo. How can I find out the
height of the tPPMemo.

(I need to do this, so I can reposition the component underneath, and resize
the component to make sure all fits in the same region).

Thanks & Regards

Adam.

nicocizik

Hi Adam,

ReportBuilder does not calculate the vertical size of a stretchable
component before it prints. One option would be to use the font size to
determine the memo height before it is printed based on how many lines it
contains. This way you would know ahead of time the height of the memo and
would be able to position the components after it has printed.

Another option (since you are using regions) would be to place a subreport
below the memo inside the region and have it shiftrelativeto the memo. Then
place all components that need to appear below the memo inside the subreport
and they will stay below the memo regardless.

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hi Nico,

Thanks for your reply.


Is it possible to get the vertical size of a stretchable component *after*
it prints, and maybe doing a two-pass on the report?


I could look at doing this, although I'd need to try and have some sort of
function, as their are numerous places where this is required (not just a
once off). Do you have an example of this please?


Sorry - I didn't explain clearly with that. Just to clarify - when I was
talking about regions, I was being generic (as an an area). I wasn't talking
about tppRegions. ;-)

Thanks & Regards

Adam.

nicocizik

Hi Adam,


You could generate the report to a "dummy" device initially and calculate
the height of a dynamic object that way. In the past we have had customers
do this to determine where a dynamic band will break or where a group will
end. This may be overkill in your situation though.


If you are not using regions, you could simply place a TppRegion below the
dynamic memo with the components you want below it and set the region to
shiftrelativeto the memo. This will keep the region and everything inside
it properly below the memo no matter how large it gets.

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hi Nico,

Thanks again for your reply...


Ahh - so the twopass function doesn't actually allow you to calculate the
size - you'd actually have to print to a dummy device first.


In this instance, wouldn't it just 'move' the region down, instead of
actually shrinking the region?

Thanks & Regards

Adam.

nicocizik

Hi Adam,


It would be possible to determine the height of the memo in the first pass
but this would only be for informational purposes as it would not be
possible to move or add any other objects successfully.


Perhaps I'm missunderstanding what you would like your report to do.
Placing a region below a dynamic height memo will shift the region and all
of its contents down as the memo grows. The only way this would not work
would be that the memo was already inside a region because RB does not
support nested regions. Did you have something else in mind?

--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Hi Nico,


I'm using reportbuilder to create some certificates that are used by
government authorities. The layout consists of areas, broken up into 'boxes'
with text. The first box may contain a Location details, with name, address
etc - and maybe anywhere from 3 to 7 lines in height. These boxes are fixed
in width and height.

One of the requirements is that after the text is printed, the rest of the
box be cancelled out in the following fashion:

A horizontal line should proceed immediately after the last line of text,
followed by a diagnol line from top left to bottom right - filling the rest
of the blank space in that box.

My thought at present was to have a TppImage component, with the horizontal
and vertical line, shift the top 'reliative to' the memo field, and resize
the height to make sure that the diagonal line does not proceed into the
next section (box) below.

I'm trying to figure out a calculation to determine the height of the memo
field, so I can both move the TppImage to the correct position, and also
resize it so it only fills in the rest of the box, without going outside.

Thanks & Regards

Adam.

nicocizik

Hi Adam,

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

In your case you should be able to use a two pass report to measure the
height of the memo manually then alter the image size and position based on
that measurement. This is possible because you have a static space to work
with. Altering dynamic height reports in the first pass can almost always
cause problems.

Try using the TppMemo.OnDrawCommandCreate event to find out how many lines
of text the memo will take up. Then use the TCanvas.TextHeight to calculate
the approximate height of the memo object. Once you have this number you
can compare it to the height of the area the memo is in and
resize/reposition the image accordingly. Below is a bit of psuedo code...

uses
ppDrwCmd;

procedure TForm1.ppDBMemo1DrawCommandCreate(Sender, aDrawCommand: TObject);
begin

//access a TCanvas using a TBitmap or the printer object
//assign the memo's font to the canvas
//Calculate the height of some text with the same font as the memo
(TCanvas.TextHeight('Wj');)

try
if ppReport1.FirstPass then
begin
//number of lines in the memo
liLines := TppDrawText(aDrawCommand).WrappedText.Count;

//calculate the approx height of the memo
lHeight := liLines * lTextHeight;

//move and resize the image

end;
end;


--
Regards,

Nico Cizik
Digital Metaphors
http://www.digital-metaphors.com

rbuser

Thanks Nico!

I'll give this a try.

Best Regards

Adam.