Microsoft KB Archive/197595

= ACC2000: How to Create a Line That Can Shrink and Grow in a Report =

Article ID: 197595

Article Last Modified on 10/11/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Access 2000 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q197595



Advanced: Requires expert coding, interoperability, and multiuser skills.



SUMMARY
The detail section of a report can grow and shrink vertically if you set its CanGrow and CanShrink properties to Yes. However, line controls do not have these properties and cannot grow or shrink as the detail section does. This article demonstrates how to use the Line method to draw a line that can grow and shrink as the detail section does.

Microsoft provides programming examples for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied. This includes, but is not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. This article assumes that you are familiar with the programming language that is being demonstrated and with the tools that are used to create and to debug procedures. Microsoft support engineers can help explain the functionality of a particular procedure, but they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality or construct procedures to meet your specific requirements.



MORE INFORMATION
The Line method accepts two sets of coordinates. The first set (X1,Y1) determines the top left position, which is the starting point of the line. The second set (X2,Y2) determines the bottom right position, which is the end point of the line. The X1 and X2 arguments for a vertical line always have the same value, because these arguments specify how far from the left margin the line is printed. However, the values of the Y1 and Y2 arguments of a vertical line differ, and that difference specifies the height of the line.

Because the detail section of a report can grow or shrink to varying sizes, you can set the Y2 argument to a value that is greater than the expected maximum height of the detail section. Thus, the line is never shorter than the height of the detail section.

NOTE: Microsoft Access has a limitation of 22 inches for the height of a control or section. You will receive an overflow error if you try to set the Y2 argument to a value greater than 22 inches. If your detail section grows in excess of 22 inches, Microsoft Access will not be able to draw the line for the remainder of the section.

The following steps demonstrate how to use the Line method to programmatically draw a line in the detail section of a report and make it the same height as the section.  Open the sample database Northwind.mdb and create a blank new report based on the Employees table. Set the Width property of the report to 5 in. On the View menu, click Sorting and Grouping. Enter the following in the Sorting and Grouping dialog box, and then close it:

Field/Expression: EmployeeID

Sort Order: Ascending

Group Header: Yes

 If the field list is not displayed, click the Field List on the View menu to display it, and then drag the Notes field from the field list to the detail section of the report. Delete the label of the Notes text box by selecting the label, and then pressing the DELETE key. Set the properties of Notes text box as follows:

Name: Notes

ControlSource: Notes

CanGrow: Yes

CanShrink: Yes

Left: 0.2 in

Top: 0.166

Width: 4.6042 in

Height: 0.166 in

</li> Select the horizontal detail bar to select the detail section of the report. Set the following properties for the detail section:

CanGrow: Yes

CanShrink: Yes

Height: 0.5 in.

</li>  Set the OnPrint property of the detail section to the following event procedure: Private Sub Detail_Print(Cancel As Integer, PrintCount As Integer) Dim X1 As Single, Y1 As Single Dim X2 As Single, Y2 As Single Dim Color As Long

' Specify unit of measurement for coordinates on a page...  Me.ScaleMode = 5 ' Specify that measurement occur in inches.

' Set line to print 5 inches from the left margin. X1 = 5 X2 = 5

' Set line to print from the top of the detail section ' to a maximum height of 22 inches. Y1 = 0 Y2 = 22 Me.DrawWidth = 25 ' Width of the line (in pixels). Color = RGB(0, 0, 0) ' Use black line color.

' Draw the line with the Line method. Me.Line (X1, Y1)-(X2, Y2), Color End Sub </li> Preview the report. Note that the height of the vertical line to the right of the Notes field is the same as the height of the detail section.</li></ol>

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