Class Base

Represents the root class of the FastReport object's hierarchy.

Inheritance

System.Object

Base

ComponentBase

CommandParameter

DataComponentBase

Dictionary

Parameter

Total

GridControlColumn

ExportBase

MapLayer

ShapeBase

MSChartSeries

Report

Implements

IFRSerializable

Namespace: FastReport

Assembly: FastReport.Base.dll

Syntax

public abstract class Base : Component, IFRSerializable

Constructors

Base()

Initializes a new instance of the Base class with default settings.

Declaration

public Base()

Properties

AllObjects

Gets the collection of all child objects.

Declaration

public ObjectCollection AllObjects { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
ObjectCollection

Remarks

This property returns child objects that belongs to this object and to child objects of this object. For example, Report.AllObjects will return all objects that contains in the report - such as pages, bands, text objects.

BaseName

The base part of the object's name.

Declaration

public string BaseName { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Remarks

This property is used to automatically create unique object's name. See CreateUniqueName()

ChildObjects

Gets the collection of this object's child objects.

Declaration

public ObjectCollection ChildObjects { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
ObjectCollection

Remarks

This property returns child objects that belongs to this object. For example, Report.ChildObjects will return only pages that contains in the report, but not page childs such as bands. To return all child objects, use AllObjects property.

ClassName

Gets the short type name.

Declaration

public string ClassName { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Remarks

Returns the short type name, such as "TextObject".

Flags

Gets the flags that allow some functionality in the designer.

Declaration

public Flags Flags { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
Flags

Remarks

Use this property only if you developing a new FastReport object.

IsAncestor

Gets a value indicating whether the object was introduced in the ancestor report.

Declaration

public bool IsAncestor { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean

IsDesigning

Gets a value indicating whether the object is in the design state.

Declaration

public bool IsDesigning { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean

IsPrinting

Gets a value indicating whether the object is currently printing.

Declaration

public bool IsPrinting { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean

IsRunning

Gets a value indicating whether the object is currently processed by the report engine.

Declaration

public bool IsRunning { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Boolean

Name

Gets or sets the name of the object.

Declaration

public virtual string Name { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.String

Remarks

Name of the report object must contain alpha, digit, underscore symbols only. Data objects such as Variable, TableDataSource etc. can have any characters in they names. Each component must have unique name.

Examples

The following code demonstrates how to find an object by its name:

TextObject text1 = report1.FindObject("Text1") as TextObject;

Exceptions

Type	Condition
DuplicateNameException	Another object with such name exists.
AncestorException	Rename an object that was introduced in the ancestor report.

OriginalComponent

Gets an original component for this object.

Declaration

public Base OriginalComponent { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
Base

Remarks

This property is used in the preview mode. Each object in the prepared report is bound to its original (from the report template). This technique is used to minimize the prepared report's size.

Page

Gets reference to the parent PageBase object.

Declaration

public PageBase Page { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
PageBase

Parent

Gets or sets the parent of the object.

Declaration

public Base Parent { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
Base

Remarks

Each report object must have a parent in order to appear in the report. Parent must be able to contain objects of such type.

Another way (preferred) to set a parent is to use specific properties of the parent object. For example, the Report object has the Pages collection. To add a new page to the report, use the following code: report1.Pages.Add(new ReportPage());

Examples

    Report report1;
    ReportPage page = new ReportPage();
    page.Parent = report1;

Exceptions

Type	Condition
ParentException	Parent object cannot contain this object.

Report

Gets reference to the parent Report object.

Declaration

public Report Report { get; }

Property Value

Type	Description
Report

Restrictions

Gets or sets the flags that restrict some actions in the designer.

Declaration

public Restrictions Restrictions { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
Restrictions

Remarks

Use this property to restrict some user actions like move, resize, edit, delete. For example, if Restriction.DontMove flag is set, user cannot move the object in the designer.

ZOrder

Gets or sets the Z-order of the object.

Declaration

public int ZOrder { get; set; }

Property Value

Type	Description
System.Int32

Remarks

The Z-order is also called "creation order". It is the index of an object in the parent's objects list. For example, put two text objects on a band. First object will have ZOrder = 0, second = 1. Setting the second object's ZOrder to 0 will move it to the back of the first text object.

Methods

Assign(Base)

Copies the contents of another, similar object.

Declaration

public virtual void Assign(Base source)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Base	source	Source object to copy the contents from.

Remarks

Call Assign to copy the properties from another object of the same type. The standard form of a call to Assign is

destination.Assign(source);

which tells the destination object to copy the contents of the source object to itself. In this method, all child objects are ignored. If you want to copy child objects, use the AssignAll method.

Examples

    Report report1;
    Report report2 = new Report();
    // copy all report settings, do not copy report objects
    report2.Assign(report1);

See Also

AssignAll(Base)

AssignAll(Base)

Copies the contents (including children) of another, similar object.

Declaration

public void AssignAll(Base source)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Base	source	Source object to copy the state from.

Remarks

This method is similar to Assign(Base) method. It copies child objects as well.

Examples

    Report report1;
    Report report2 = new Report();
    // copy all report settings and objects
    report2.AssignAll(report1);

See Also

Assign(Base)

BaseAssign(Base)

Assigns values from another source.

Declaration

public void BaseAssign(Base source)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Base	source	Source to assign from.

Remarks

Note: this method is relatively slow because it serializes an object to the xml and then deserializes it.

Clear()

Clears the object's state.

Declaration

public virtual void Clear()

Remarks

This method also disposes all object's children.

CreateUniqueName()

Creates the unique object's name.

Declaration

public void CreateUniqueName()

Remarks

Note: you have to set object's parent before calling this method. Method uses the BaseName property to create a name.

Note: this method may be very slow on a report that contains lots of objects. Consider using own naming logic in this case.

Examples

TextObject textObj = new TextObject();
dataBand1.Objects.Add(textObj);
textObj.CreateUniqueName();

Deserialize(FRReader)

Deserializes the object.

Declaration

public virtual void Deserialize(FRReader reader)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
FRReader	reader	Reader object.

Remarks

Do not call this method directly. You should override it if you are developing a new component for FastReport.

This method is called when the object needs to restore the state. It may happen when:

• loading the report from a file or stream;
• loading the report from the designer's undo buffer;
• assigning another object to this object using the Assign(Base) or AssignAll methods;
• loading the object from the designer's clipboard;
• loading the object from the preview pages.

DeserializeSubItems(FRReader)

Deserializes nested object properties.

Declaration

protected virtual void DeserializeSubItems(FRReader reader)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
FRReader	reader	Reader object.

Remarks

Typically the object serializes all properties to the single xml item:

<TextObject Name="Text2" Left="18.9" Top="37.8" Width="283.5" Height="28.35"/>

Some objects like DataBand have child objects that serialized in subitems:

<DataBand Name="Data1" Top="163" Width="718.2" Height="18.9">
  <TextObject Name="Text3" Left="18.9" Top="37.8" Width="283.5" Height="28.35"/>
</DataBand>

To read such subitems, the DeserializeSubItems method is used. Base implementation reads the child objects. You may override it to read some specific subitems.

Examples

The following code is used to read report's styles:

protected override void DeserializeSubItems(FRReader reader)
{
  if (String.Compare(reader.ItemName, "Styles", true) == 0)
    reader.Read(Styles);
  else
    base.DeserializeSubItems(reader);
}

Dispose(Boolean)

Declaration

protected override void Dispose(bool disposing)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.Boolean	disposing

ExtractDefaultMacros(String)

Replaces the macros in the given string and returns the new string.

Declaration

protected string ExtractDefaultMacros(string text)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.String	text	The text containing macros.

Returns

Type	Description
System.String	The text with macros replaced with its values.

ExtractMacros()

Used to extract macros such as "TotalPages#" in the preview mode.

Declaration

public virtual void ExtractMacros()

Remarks

This method is used mainly by the TextObject to extract macros and replace it with actual values passed in the pageIndex and totalPages parameters. This method is called automatically when the object is being previewed.

FindObject(String)

Searches for an object with given name.

Declaration

public virtual Base FindObject(string name)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.String	name	Name of the object to find.

Returns

Type	Description
Base	Returns a null reference if object is not found

Examples

The following code demonstrates how to find an object by its name:

TextObject text1 = report1.FindObject("Text1") as TextObject;
if (text1 != null) 
{ 
  // object found 
}

FloatDiff(Single, Single)

Checks if two float values are different.

Declaration

protected bool FloatDiff(float f1, float f2)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.Single	f1	First value.
System.Single	f2	Second value.

Returns

Type	Description
System.Boolean	true if values are not equal.

Remarks

This method is needed to compare two float values using some precision (0.001). It is useful to compare objects' locations and sizes for equality.

ForEachAllConvectedObjects(Object)

Gets the collection of all child objects, converts objects if necessary

Declaration

public ObjectCollection ForEachAllConvectedObjects(object sender)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.Object	sender	the object or export, that call this convertation

Returns

Type	Description
ObjectCollection

GetConvertedObjects()

Used to get an enumeration of the objects to which this object will be converted, before calling this function, the IsHaveToConvert function will be called

Declaration

public virtual IEnumerable<Base> GetConvertedObjects()

Returns

Type	Description
System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable<Base>	By default returns this object

Remarks

The functions IsHaveToConvert and GetConvertedObjects allow you to convert objects from one to another, for example the export will convert object before adding it to the file and convert recursive, i.e. If the new object has the ability to convert, it will be converted again but limit is 10 times. At the time of export it is called, only on objects inside the band, the child objects of converted object will be returned, and the child objects of old object will be ignored.

GetCustomScript()

Returns a custom code that will be added to the report script before report is run.

Declaration

public virtual string GetCustomScript()

Returns

Type	Description
System.String	A custom script text, if any. Otherwise returns null.

Remarks

This method may return any valid code that may be inserted into the report script. Currently it is used in the TableObject to define the following script methods: Sum, Min, Max, Avg, Count.

Note: you must take into account the current script language - C# or VB.Net. You may check it via Report.ScriptLanguage property.

GetExpressions()

Gets all expressions contained in the object.

Declaration

public virtual string[] GetExpressions()

Returns

Type	Description
System.String[]	Array of expressions or null if object contains no expressions.

Remarks

Do not call this method directly. You may override it if you are developing a new component for FastReport.

This method is called by FastReport each time before run a report. FastReport do this to collect all expressions and compile them. For example, GetExpressions method of the TextObject class parses the text and returns all expressions found in the text.

HasFlag(Flags)

Gets a value indicating whether the object has a specified flag in its Flags property.

Declaration

public bool HasFlag(Flags flag)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Flags	flag	Flag to check.

Returns

Type	Description
System.Boolean	true if Flags property contains specified flag.

HasParent(Base)

Gets a value indicating whether the object has the specified parent in its parent hierarchy.

Declaration

public bool HasParent(Base obj)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Base	obj	Parent object to check.

Returns

Type	Description
System.Boolean	Returns true if the object has given parent in its parent hierarchy.

HasRestriction(Restrictions)

Gets a value indicating whether the object has a specified restriction in its Restrictions property.

Declaration

public bool HasRestriction(Restrictions restriction)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Restrictions	restriction	Restriction to check.

Returns

Type	Description
System.Boolean	true if Restrictions property contains specified restriction.

InvokeEvent(String, Object)

Invokes script event.

Declaration

public void InvokeEvent(string name, object param)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.String	name	Name of the event to invoke.
System.Object	param	Event parameters.

Remarks

Do not call this method directly. You should use it if you are developing a new component for FastReport.

Use this method to call an event handler that is located in the report's script.

Examples

Example of the OnBeforePrint method:

public void OnBeforePrint(EventArgs e)
{
  if (BeforePrint != null)
    BeforePrint(this, e);
  InvokeEvent(BeforePrintEvent, e);
}

IsHaveToConvert(Object)

Used to get information of the need to convertation if the function returns true, then the GetConvertedObjects function is called

Declaration

public virtual bool IsHaveToConvert(object sender)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.Object	sender	The export or the object, that call this method

Returns

Type	Description
System.Boolean	By default returns false

Remarks

The functions IsHaveToConvert and GetConvertedObjects allow you to convert objects from one to another, for example the export will convert object before adding it to the file and convert recursive, i.e. If the new object has the ability to convert, it will be converted again but limit is 10 times. At the time of export it is called, only on objects inside the band, the child objects of converted object will be returned, and the child objects of old object will be ignored.

OnAfterLoad()

Called after all report objects were loaded.

Declaration

public virtual void OnAfterLoad()

Remarks

Do not call this method directly. You may override it if you are developing a new component for FastReport.

Serialize(FRWriter)

Serializes the object.

Declaration

public virtual void Serialize(FRWriter writer)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
FRWriter	writer	Writer object.

Remarks

Do not call this method directly. You should override it if you are developing a new component for FastReport.

This method is called when the object needs to save the state. It may happen when:

• saving the report to the file or stream;
• saving the report to the designer's undo buffer;
• assigning the object to another object using the Assign(Base) or AssignAll methods;
• saving the object to the designer's clipboard;
• saving the object to the preview (when run a report).

SetFlags(Flags, Boolean)

Set object's flags.

Declaration

public void SetFlags(Flags flags, bool value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Flags	flags	Flag to set.
System.Boolean	value	true to set the flag, false to reset.

SetName(String)

Sets the object's name.

Declaration

public virtual void SetName(string value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
System.String	value	New name.

Remarks

This method is for internal use only. It just sets a new name without any checks (unlike the Name property setter).

See Also

Name

SetParent(Base)

Sets the object's parent.

Declaration

public virtual void SetParent(Base value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Base	value	New parent.

Remarks

This method is for internal use only. You can use it if you are developing a new component for FastReport. Override it to perform some actions when the parent of an object is changing. This method checks that parent can contain a child.

Exceptions

Type	Condition
ParentException	Parent object cannot contain this object.

SetParentCore(Base)

Sets the object's parent.

Declaration

public void SetParentCore(Base value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Base	value	New parent.

Remarks

This method is for internal use only. You can use it if you are developing a new component for FastReport. This method does not perform any checks, it just sets the new parent.

SetProp(Base, Base)

Helper method, helps to set a reference-type value to the property.

Declaration

protected void SetProp(Base prop, Base value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Base	prop	Old property value.
Base	value	New property value.

Remarks

This method is used widely to set a new value to the property that references another FastReport object. Method deals with the Parent property.

Examples

This is example of the DataBand.Header property:

public DataHeaderBand Header
{
  get { return FHeader; }
  set
  {
    SetProp(FHeader, value);
    FHeader = value;
  }
}

SetReport(Report)

Sets the reference to a Report.

Declaration

public void SetReport(Report value)

Parameters

Type	Name	Description
Report	value	Report to set.

Implements

IFRSerializable