CODEWITHSUNDEEP
reporting-servicesformattingssrs-2008
Elias
Elias

Reputation: 2632

Textbox Formatting In SSRS 2008 - Break Line

So, say I have the following string

THIS IS STUFF (MORE STUFF)

How would I get the string to format as such in a textbox in SSRS?

THIS IS STUFF
(MORE STUFF)

This data is pulled from a single field in a query and I will not be able to manually inject a break line.

Also, sometimes the (More Stuff) is not in the field.

Extra examples:

  • STUFF AND THINGS
  • THINGS (STUFF)
  • THINGS AND STUFF (MORE STUFF)

    • Upvotes: 5

    Views: 17126

    Answers (2)

    LittleBirdy
    LittleBirdy

    Reputation: 499

    I came across this issue while doing my project. And I would like to share my steps for this. Create individual placehloders within the textbox by selecting the expression and format each as you desired. You can easily add extra line by just moving the another item(another placeholder) to next line(by pressing enter-on the keyboard) Here I created individual placeholders inside the list, gave the names and format just as I want. enter image description here

    Upvotes: 0

    Ian Preston
    Ian Preston

    Reputation: 39586

    You need to insert a line break into the string, i.e. set the textbox expression as something like:

    ="THIS IS STUFF" & vbcrlf & "(MORE STUFF)"

    So the expression in a single textbox:

    enter image description here

    Will render as:

    enter image description here

    You can see there is a line break even though the string could fit on one line.

    Edit after comment

    OK, we need to handle various existing strings at the report level.

    To do this, I would suggest using Custom Code, i.e. a function like:

    Function SplitString (fieldValue As String) As String
  If IsDBNull(fieldValue) OrElse IsNothing(fieldValue) Then
    SplitString = ""
  Else If InStr(fieldValue, "(") > 0
    SplitString = RTrim(Left(fieldValue, InStr(fieldValue, "(") - 1)) & _
      vbcrlf & Right(fieldValue, Len(fieldValue) - InStr(fieldValue, "(") + 1)
  Else
    SplitString = fieldValue
  End If
End Function

    I'm suggesting this as SSRS expression are notoriously brittle, and the lack of short circuiting means that what works for one string might display #Error on another. You could get around this with numerous IIf statements but Custom Code is much neater and easier to understand.

    You can call the function with an expression like:

    =Code.SplitString(Fields!MYFIELD.Value)

    Either in a textbox expression or as a Calculated Field in the Dataset. The above works for me on your data:

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

    Upvotes: 6

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