Memo fields that are in Report Designer do not stretch even though the "Stretch with overflow" check box is selected in Visual FoxPro 8.0 and earlier versions (248315)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows 5.0
  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows 5.0a
  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows 6.0
  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows 7.0
  • Microsoft Visual FoxPro 8.0
This article was previously published under Q248315

SYMPTOMS

Memo fields in reports created in the Report Designer do not stretch even though the "Stretch with overflow" checkbox is selected in the Report Expression dialog box for the field.

CAUSE

If the report was made to be a multiple column report and the Print Order was changed from vertical to horizontal and then back, this behavior occurs.

RESOLUTION

If you are comfortable with opening the report .frx file as a table, the following steps can be used to fix the report. Assume the report is named Myreport.frx.
  1. Make a backup copy of the .frx and .frt files.
  2. Issue the following commands from the Command window:
    USE myreport.frx
BROWSE
  3. Look for records that have a nine in the objtype field and replace true values in the objtype field with false:
    REPLACE ALL plain WITH .F. FOR objtype=9
  4. Close the Browse window and the .frx file.
  5. Open the report and try previewing it. The memo fields should now stretch.

MORE INFORMATION

Report .frx files are tables (.dbf's) with a different file extension. It is possible to open the .frx file by issuing the following command:

USE myreport.frx

The information in the .frx table can then be viewed by issuing the Browse command. Microsoft does not recommend changing values in the .frx file in this manner unless there is a backup of the .frx and .frt files, and the person making the changes has some idea of the consequences.

For more information on the structure of report .frx files, see the following Visual FoxPro report files in the \Filespec subdirectory of the Visual FoxPro directory in both versions 5 and 6:
  • 60frx1.frx or 50frx1.frx
  • 60frx2.frx or 50frx2.frx
  • 26frx1.frx
  • 26frx2.frx
Example: REPORT form "d:\program files\microsoft visual studio\vfp98\filespec\60frx2.frx" preview
** OR
REPORT form HOME()+"tools\filespec\60frx2.frx" preview
When the Print Order of the report is changed, Visual FoxPro places a .T. in the Plain field of the .frx file for objtypes of 9. According to the 60frx1.frx report, the Plain field is not used by Visual FoxPro.

Steps to Reproduce Behavior

The following steps make use of the sample Employee.dbf table that is included with Visual FoxPro. In Visual FoxPro 5.0, this table is located in the \samples\data subdirectory under the Visual FoxPro directory. With Visual FoxPro 6.0, this table is found in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\MSDN\99OCT\1033\SAMPLES\VFP98\data directory.
  1. Create a new report. Do not use the Report Wizard.
  2. Add the Employee table to the report's data environment.
  3. Drag the Notes field from the employee table in the data environment and into the detail band of the report.
  4. Reduce the width of the Notes field to about two inches. The width can be selected by going to the View menu and choosing the Show Position command. The width along with the other position information shows in the Visual FoxPro status bar if "set status bar on" is true. Keep the field on the left-side of the detail band.
  5. Double-click the field to display the Report Expression dialog box. Select the Stretch with overflow checkbox and click OK.
  6. Preview the report. The memo field should be stretching. Close the Preview window.
  7. Open the Page Setup dialog box from the File menu. Change the number of columns to two. Note that the Print Order is vertical
    • Data prints down the left-side of the report and then it prints down the right-side of the report. Click OK.
  8. Preview the report. The memo field should be stretching. Close the Preview window.
  9. Open Page Setup dialog box from the File menu. Change the Print Order to horizontal. Click OK.
  10. Preview the report. The memo field should not be stretching this time. Close the Preview window.
  11. Go back into Page Setup and change the Print Order back to vertical. Click OK.
  12. Preview the report. The memo field should not be stretching this time either. Close the Preview window.
  13. Open the Report Expression dialog box for the field. Note that Stretch with overflow is still selected.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:2/18/2005
Keywords:kbDesigner kbpending kbprb kbprint kbReportWriter KB248315
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