ActiveReports

ActiveReports Server

ActiveReports Server is a scalable server platform with built in load balancing. It provides a secure and extensible report server to publish reports designed in ActiveReports. A comprehensive RESTful API enables integration of the responsive HTML5 Report Portal for end users to view, schedule and export reports.

Features new to version 11

Optimized rendering for two times faster first page load times, 1.5 times faster PDF export file generation and 60% smaller peak memory footprint.

Added composite charts to RDL and Page reports to enable merging of line, bar, and area plots on the same chart with multiple Y axes.

Added JSON data provider that allows reports to consume data from JSON files, web services and REST API.

Added CSV data provider that allows reports to consume data from comma separated, tab separated, and other plain text files.

Improved the XML data provider with an XML Query Designer with a tree view of the data.

Added an Excel import wizard that can also be an intermediary for importing layouts from other reporting tools.

Added PDF printing pre-sets and optimized the PDF export for shorter export times and smaller output files.

Added galley mode to the HTML5 viewer so that wide and long reports can be viewed as a single, scrollable sheet.

Added new properties to the API: PageReportDesignerActions (End User Designer), OverwriteOutputFile (rendering extensions), and OptimizeStatic (PDF).

Added the Micro QR Code symbology to the barcode control.

Features new to version 10

Replaced the Matrix with the new Tablix data region to allow users to create stepped matrices, merge cells vertically, and use multiple adjacent row and column groupings.

Added the Word rendering extension for DOCX format exports.

Added style sheets for RDL and Page reports.

Improved integration between ActiveReports Server and the developer version of ActiveReports so that developers can execute reports on the server and use shared data sets.

Created a new lighter layout engine for faster rendering and fewer formatting and layout challenges.

Features new to version 9

Added Layers, groups of controls that you can lock or unlock, add or remove, show or hide for complex layouts.

Added the Visual Query Designer, a graphical interface that allows users to interactively build queries and view the results.

Added the Table of Contents control to display an organized hierarchy of report headings and labels along with their page numbers in the body of a report.

Improved Excel Rendering Engine for better exporting performance and precise layout accuracy.

Added independent rounded corners for Shape and CrossSectionBox controls in Section Reports.

Added support for mouse-controlled resize handlers for overflow areas in Page Reports.

Improved reporting engine for better performance and smaller memory footprints.

Features new to version 8

Added touch support for the Windows and WPF Viewer.

Added the Maps report item for spatial and analytical geographical representation of data with support for views, projections, vector layers, and Virtual Earth tile layers from the Microsoft Bing service.

Added the HTML5 viewer with touch and gesture support.

Updated reporting engine optimized for speed.

Expanded barcode support for GS1 Composite symbology including RSS14Stacked and RSSLimited barcode styles, and added MicroPDF417 options to control compaction and segments.

Added ActiveReports Server as an optional add-on that supports multi-tenant reporting, security extensibility, data caching, and report optimization features.

Features new to version 7, service pack 1

Added a WPF Report Viewer.

Added a PDF/A export option for report archiving.

Features new to version 7

Added Page-Based Reports with advanced data regions including charts, tables, and crosstabs that can be mixed within the same report section, eliminating the need to use subreports in most instances.

Table Control

Matrix Control

Support for Visual Studio 2012

Advanced Printing Support: Scale pages, add page watermarks, print multiple report pages on a single sheet (N-up).

Persistent Licensing makes the installed system remain licensed until the license is manually deactivated, making upgrade to maintenance releases easier.

Features new to version 6

Latest Service Releases

Microsoft Silverlight Report Viewer

Windows Azure reporting in partial trust and full trust modes

ASP.NET medium trust support

Support for Visual Studio 2010

Support for .NET Framework 4.0 Client profile

Utility to convert from Crystal Reports (2005 and 2008) to ActiveReports

Standard Edition

Cross-section box and line controls that span report sections

Quality and performance improvements

New Reduced Space Symbology (RSS) barcode styles

External style sheets

Designer snap lines

Granular control over text boxes and labels

64 bit support

also support for various things

Features new to version 3

ActiveReports Designer

Design-time preview tab

Component tray for design-time work with .NET data providers

Report Explorer support for parameters and calculated fields

Design-time support for custom parameters

Design-time unbound fields

Windows Forms Viewer

Users can add annotations

Linked reports open in tabbed pages

Web links open within the viewer

Reporting Engine

Chart control supports seven new chart types

Funnel

Pyramid

Gantt

Kagi

Point and figure

Renko

Three line break

ReportInfo control for page N of M or report run dates

Professional Edition

Includes all of the Standard Edition features, and adds the following:.

End-User Report Designer

Allows developers to host the designer in Windows Forms applications

Provides end-user report editing capabilities

Provides easy access for saving and loading report layouts

Allows developers to monitor and control the end user's design environment

Allows developers to customize the designer to the needs of end users

ASP.NET

WebViewer control with Flash, HTML and PDF viewer types can be used on ASP.NET pages

Allows quick viewing of ActiveReports on the web

Provides printing capability with the Flash viewer and Acrobat Reader

Provides an RPX HTTP Handler so that reports on the web server are available via hyperlink and are run and displayed in HTML or PDF

Provides a Compiled Report HTTP Handler so that reports compiled in an assembly on the server are available via hyperlink

Supported document formats

Adobe Portable Document Format (*.pdf);

HTML Web Page (*.html);

MHTML Single-File Web Page (*.mht);

Rich Text Format (*.rtf);

Microsoft Excel Workbook (*.xls);

Plain Text (*.txt);

Comma-Separated Values (*.csv);

Image formats: (*.bmp, *.jpeg, *.gif, *.tiff, *.png, *.emf).

Included report items

SubReport

Chart

Text Box

Label

Line

Picture

Check Box

Page Break

Report Information

Rich Text Box

Shape

Bar Code

Cross Section Line

Cross Section Box

OLE Object

3rd party controls (charts, grids, calendars, etc.)

Matrix

Table

Banded List

Bullet

Calendar

Container

Formatted Text

Map

Overflow Placeholder

Sparkline

Table of Contents

Awards and recognitions

May 15, 2015 - SD Times 100 GrapeCity wins Best In Show in the User Experience category

February 27, 2015 - Ranked #6 in the ComponentSource Bestselling Product Awards for 2014-2015

May 15, 2014 - SD Times 100 GrapeCity (dba ComponentOne) wins Best In Show in the User Experience category

February 28, 2014 - Ranked #5 in the ComponentSource Bestselling Product Awards for 2013-2014

October 15, 2013 - Other Hot Products recognition in Best Microsoft Windows Development Printing/Reporting Tool of 2013

May 15, 2013 - SD Times 100 GrapeCity wins Best In Show in the User Experience category

May 15, 2013 - SD Times 100 GrapeCity wins Best In Show in the APIs, Libraries & Frameworks category

February 27, 2013 - Ranked #4 in the ComponentSource Bestselling Product Awards for 2012-2013

May 15, 2012 - SD Times 100 GrapeCity wins Best In Show in the Libraries & Frameworks category

April 30, 2012 - Ranked #11 in the ComponentSource Bestselling Product Awards for 2011-2012

May 15, 2011 - SD Times 100 GrapeCity wins Best In Show in the Components category

February 28, 2011 - Ranked #6 in the ComponentSource Bestselling Product Awards for 2010-2011

November 29, 2010 - Finalist in the 2010 Best of Connections Awards: Visual Studio Developer Products

May 15, 2010 - SD Times 100 GrapeCity wins Best In Show in the Components & Libraries category

March 26, 2010 - Ranked #7 in the ComponentSource Bestselling Product Awards for 2009-2010

May 7, 2009 - Finalist in the 2009 asp.netPRO Readers' Choice Awards

March 13, 2009 - Ranked #4 and #5 in the 2008 ComponentSource Bestselling Publishers List

March 13, 2009 - Ranked #2 in the 2008 ComponentSource Bestselling Products List

February 9, 2009 - ActiveReports Customers Give .NET Reporting and BI Tools High Ratings

June 2, 2008 - SD Times 100 Finalist in the Components category

May 15, 2007 - SD Times 100 Finalist in the Components category

February 9, 2007 - 2006 ComponentSource Bestselling Publisher

February 9, 2007 - 2006 ComponentSource Bestselling Product

May 15, 2006 - SD Times 100 Winner in the Components category

Known Issues

In the past, ActiveReports was known to be unable to handle large reports. This issue was ongoing across years and versions. Since that time, development efforts have focused on improving large report handling in every release.

ActiveReports can be used in many ways, so each project can have a number of reasons for consuming memory. In newer versions, CacheToDisk and CacheToDiskLocation properties were added for PDF exports. Some other considerations that may cause too much memory use in section reports include:

Large or repeated images on every page

Subreports in repeating sections instantiated in the wrong event so that many new instances are created instead of one

Summaries in header sections that delay rendering

Report and Document object instances not released from memory