Provide More Functionality with Intellisense and Split Window Mode in Reports for WinForms

Scripting is essential while designing reports because users can provide more functionality in their reports. There is requirement of executing scripts at runtime, such as formatting a field according to its value, or hiding a section if it has no data in it. ​Usage of Report/Application events help in executing scripts either in the scope of application or report. ​Also, scripts ​​throughout a report definition help to retrieve, calculate, display, group, sort, filter, parameterize, and format the contents of a report. ​2015 v2 release of Reports for WinForms will ​take scripting experience in C1ReportDesigner to a new level. Check out Intellisense and Split Mode features in VBScript Editor, coming soon in the week of July 15, 2015.

Write Scripts More Efficiently With Intellisense

​​1. ​​As a Report user, I want an intuitive way of writing scripts in Reports so I can code some runtime operations and use Intellisense.

Intellisense is a dream f​or script programmers, making language and Report element references easily accessible. Since you don't have to leave the Script Editor window to perform searches on language and report elements, you can find the information from the Intellisense-suggested functions, insert the language/report elements directly into the code, and even have IntelliSense complete the typing. In addition, ​a help window provides extensive VBScript Content with descriptions of the suggested Properties and Methods.​ C1ReportDesigner adds Intellisense to its VB Script Editor in 2015 v2 Release, a user-requested, powerful feature that will significantly increase the productivity of Report users by providing logical code elements that can be selected from a drop-down in Intellisense while coding. It's designed to make Report creation much easier by automatically generating code in the Script Editor. This process can reduce the time you spend typing and help avoid inserting incorrect scripts and syntactical errors in the report. Following are some of the supported features.

• Intellisense is designed for auto code completion of the scripts written in VBScript Editor.
• The feature is modeled after the Intellisense feature of Visual Studio.
• The Intellisense window opens up using any of the following keys:
  • [ key: On pressing this key, list of available db fields are shown in the Intellisense
  • . key (after a Report, Field or Section): On pressing this key, if the preceding word is "Report" or the name of a Field or Section, Intellisense shows .NET properties available on that object (Report, Field or Section)
  • Ctrl+J, Ctrl+Space: On pressing these keys, the list of available VBScript functions, keywords etc. are shown in the Intellisense, depending on context.
• ​In addition to showing context-dependent list of available words, Intellisense also shows a small tooltip/help window. It shows detailed help on VBScript ​functions/keywords, and some info on other entries. The bottom line of the help window shows (in italic font) the category to which the current item belongs (such as "VBScript function," "C1Report aggregate script function," and so on).

• The Icons in Intellisense indicate the type of the entry. Icons' color palette is different for VBScript, Report built-in stuff, and DataSource.Filter.
• Typing while the Intellisense window is open filters the list according to the typed characters. For example, typing "w" only shows words that have "w" in them, typing "wi" will narrow that to words that contain "wi," and so on. Backspace undos the last filter.​

Compare Two Scripts in Split Window Mode

2. ​As a Report user, I want to view two scripts in Script Editor so I can compare both scripts while still coding.

With Reports involving multiple scripts, it becomes difficult to reference other scripts while you're still coding in the Script editor. We've fulfilled this requirement with Split Window Mode in Script Editor, available in the C1ReportDesigner's VBScript Editor in 2015 v2. This mode makes it easy to compare two of the same or different scripts together, using keyboard shortcuts to switch between the ​views.​​ Following are some features of the Split Window Mode supported in VBScript Editor:

• In the top right corner (just above the editor area) you'll find the split window icon. If dragged down, it opens a second window above the first one.

• In Split Window Mode, the top right corner of the top window shows an X, which closes the top window, zooming and bringing the bottom script into focus.

• Alternatively, the Split icon can be dragged up and if dragged high enough, the top window closes.
• Two windows in VBScript Editor can show two different scripts.
• You can switch between the two windows by pressing F6.
• The state of Ribbon at the top of the two split windows depends on which window is active. The active window is indicated with a light green caption bar.

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All four chart types will be available when we ship 2015 v2, due out the week of July 15. If you're already an account member, you'll see the announcement soon. If you are not, create an account today to keep apprised of our 2015 releases! Send me news! >> **See more 2015 v2 features >>**