RDLC Report + shipping labels - visual-studio-2012

I am having some tremendous trouble with formatting shipping labels using RDLC. The conundrum entails formatting the HEIGHT of my report so that the report will grow as needed (for detail items), but it will only grow within the remaining space of a 4"x3.33" shipping label (3.33" is the height).
The shipping labels I am creating are grouped on a main grouping (the recipient), with a detail of the items going to the recipient as a list of items. In this case, the "recipient" is a piece of heavy machinery, and the detail is a list of maintenance parts for that particular machine.
The data set consists of rows of data, where each row is a part, and contains the machine's name. I group on the machine's name, and in the detail, the parts are listed. There is no problem in this regard, and I have made similar reports (such as a packing list type of report), with these groupings, with no problems at all.
The problem I am having is that I can't seem to force the size of the table to max out at 3.33" tall. If the label is less than that, the next instance (the next machine) begins printing immediately after, without skipping down to where the next label is on the sheet. If I put in a gap, the gap is repeated for each detail item...
What I need is to know how to "wrap" the entire tablix table, such that it has a MAXIMUM height of 3.33", a MINIMUM height of 3.33", but within those boundaries, the detail list will grow or shrink to display all of the detail items.
I have split the overall report to match the specifications of the labels I am using (standard 4x3.33 shipping labels)
Margins: 0.15625in, 0.15625in, 0.5in, 0.5in
Columns: 2, with a 0.1875in spacer
Total page size: 8.5in x 11in
Here is what I have in the designer (very basic)
And here is what the result of that is...
Note that there is no 2nd column for some reason... and each instance is butted up against each other vertically even though there is a 3.33" "play area" in the designer.
How do I make this thing give me what I need?

I was able to solve the problem by separating the data in to "all those machines that have orders in this orderID", and using that to create a simple list that is defined as 3.33" high for each item. Within that, I had to create a subreport, pass in the parameter of the MachineID, generate the data of all parts for that OrderID under that MachineID, and list them.
This is the final result:

Related

How to create a simple map showing the number of customers in each state

I have a table of data with two colums, state and count. The state column contains the names of the 50 US states. The count column contains the number of customers my company has in each state.
I want to dynamically generate a map that can be embedded in a website that will show, as a number, the number of customers in each state superimposed on top of that state.
I just want to show the actual number from the count column superimposed onto the map on top of the state in the state column. So, if California’s count is 1433, then I want to see the number 1433 superimposed on the state of California on the map, and so on for all states. I do not need any fancy visualizations.
I’ve tried Excel’s built-in map charts but instead of showing the count as a number, they shade each state with a color scale (darker = higher count) and you need a legend to approximate the count. I’ve tried PowerBI but they indicate the count with the size of a “bubble” being larger or smaller. I’ve tried Google Maps but I just get a single “pin” on each state that you must hover over to see the count. I don’t need anything fancy like that. In each of the above examples, you can only see the count by mousing over, hovering or clicking to see a "tooltip". I need the actual number displayed.
Note, it must be actually displayed permanently, and not “revealed” on a tooltip when you mouse over.
I’ve searched extensively and I can’t find something that is this simple. Everything I’ve tried wants to show the data with some sort of abstract visualization. I just want to see the numbers on the map!
This is currently as close as you can get using latitude and longitude and a calculated column like the following in the location field (category labels on):
Country - Number = 'Table'[Country] & " - " & 'Table'[Number]

Search formula for best text match among two excel lists

I have a long list of products (+20,000 items) of surgical instruments. Sometimes I receive requests for different names of these products which is impossible to manually match in my list.
I was thinking of a formula to find or suggest the closest result of match for the common words in each cell.
I have created this formula:
=INDEX('Products'!G:G,MATCH((("*"&LEFT(A2,5),'Products'!G:G,0))
(where Products G:G refers to my long list.
it gave some results correctly but more than 80% of the result came back with false results.
please see the attached image to show you the result.
is there is a way I can get more accurate result?
or I was thinking of finding major category of each item such as:
Category 1: Scissors, Retractors, Knives, etc.
Category 2: Straight, Curved, Angeled, etc.
Category 3: Sharp, Blunt, etc.
Category 4: 10mm, 130mm, 24cm, etc. (size)
which is easy for me to do it.
then use the same formula but with referring to the common words..
something like:
=INDEX(Products!G:G,MATCH("*"&LEFT(E2,5)&"*"&F2&"*"&G2&"*",Products!G:G,0))
where E2, F2, G2 refers to the categories..
I tried but it gave false results as well.
I urge you in the strongest sense of the word to spend some time creating a good quality master table and then spinning off 1 table for each category.
make use of clean(), trim(), proper(), heck, if you need to copy the data in notepad++ and enable view all symbols then switch between ansi utf utf8 wtf omgwtf or any other encoding to ensure you dont have any hidden special characters than do it.
you have 4 categories, so that's 4 1 column tables. name them. no duplicates. no trash. no junk. sort your data. nice clean names/words/whatever you categorize by. if you absolutely must add an index or key column then go ahead but do yourself a favor and stop there. use a different table to deepen your relationships.
next step is to to create comboboxes. i'm not sure why but the combobox in excel is not the same combobox in the vba editor. you want the one in the editor. you can make a fancy user form or you can make a minimalist text box design. whatever you fancy. just make sure the combobox has a field for RowSource in the properties. for whatever reason i don't get that option if i am not in the vba editor when i create the box.
you're almost gauratneed to want drawmodal = false on every user form you make for these boxes
you probably really don't need more than 4 boxes but it depends what you're doing so that's up to you. name your combo boxes.
verify each box has: matchentry = 1-fmMatchEntryComplete
i recommend: style = 0 - fmStyleDropDownCombo
this will allow you to begin typing and autocomplete the first match and also let you select from a drop down list, starting with the the first match of the name you've typed.
you can set the number of elements in the list. default is 8. if you have a slow computer than i wouldn't push it much. if you have a best then give it a shot.
you can also change fonts for easier reading and a bunch of other format changes.
now the this is the most important part - RowSource will be one of those 4 tables
now that i've given instructions, let me explain why. some businesses don't have the best practices and i'm currently with one that's using an oracle erp solution for data management but the front end isn't used. data entry is done in excel and loaded into oracle using batches. lookups in oracle continue to be a psychological barrier for the ap/ar teams so i did exactly what i suggested here but took it a few steps farther.
i pulled the vendor master and i pulled teh customer master
i cleaned the data and compiles simple pure clean 1 column tables
then i created a form for the comboboxes
first came ap with vendor name
then vendor number
then vendor remittance location
our orderering facility number
selecting a vendor name populates the vendor number box with the possible vendor numbers. same for remittance location and ordering facility
i pulled a year's worth of transaction data and created a gl table. some vendors have only ever used 1 gl acount. some several. there's a % number next to each gl. that represents the value of transactions posted from that vendor to that gl for the last year.
next up a date picker and text boxes for invoice fields.
get it nice and tight on a form, set the tab stops, add a commit button and all of a sudden we have a front end excel platform that performs better than oracle - because people use
i haven't finished the ar side but it'll get done and i'll the angels will be rejoicing and singing my name for years to come.
1:1 matching with autofill and drop down functionality you can't beat it. that's what you get with my suggestion.
best of luck!

Generating a unique identifier list with multiple tables & criteria

I'm not a coder, just someone who uses excel for basic estimating functions at work. However I've found myself in need of a complex list or index system.
Background/Intent: (Skip below if doesn't matter.) In an apartment building construction they build buildings like opened books - mirror images of 2 bed 2 bath apartments, for example. There is a standard "typical" unit and then the mirror image across the hall, the "reverse" unit. The door swings are all opposite from one to the other. My job is to figure out how to give each door a unique identifier code based on: Bldg No., Unit Type, Door No., Door Swing (left or right.) The raw data tables are provided below.
I've attempted to clean this up as much as possible, but there are two steps (I think) to this process.
Step 1:
The raw data table is on the left. My output field is on the right. I want to be able to select a drag down box, like data validation list, and select the building. Then a formula (which one?) spits out a list of every unit type per building. For example, Bldg 5 has 2 each of "A1 Typ." How do I get the formula to recognize that if there are 2 of them, to produce 2 separate lines for "A1 Typ." And so on and so forth until all 41 occurences/units have been accounted for and labeled appropriately. Some occur once, some multiple times, and some zero.
Step 1
From there, Step 2.
I want to use this output field again to automate another sequence, this time pulling from a different table, see picture. Now, depending on the unit type under the "type" column, I want it to expand each unit type showing each indivudual door number (1,2,3 etc through 12) and if it's an L (LH) or R (RH), and if there is more than one, to list out each occurence. (what formula?)
Then the decriptor text that will pop up under "DOOR LABEL" column would just be a joining of several fields to give a unique identifier. (suggestions?)
Step 2.
Easy right? Is this too much for excel, or can this be done?
Thanks so much for considering helping me out!

Text alignment in Crystal Reports

I am developing a crystal report and data is also coming fine but I am unable to format the fields in the same, just like a comment field must be multiline but when I select the "can Grow" in Format object section, the display is vague.
Can Grow with a value zero stands for the display will grow to multiple lines till it is displayed fully.
As the grow can happen multiple lines, you can adjust the width of the item so that it will not overlap with other item.
What should You do:
Set can grow property to zero
Resize the item (for which you set cangrow 0) so that it will not overlap the item of the next column.

Crystal Reports - my formula works, but when repeated in more than 1 subreport, all records disappear

I'm not a developer but I'm supposed to create a report by C.R., so excuse me in advance if it is an obvious question for you, and please keep in mind that I'm a real beginner.
I have a job composed of 3 different workings (3 out of 5, which is the maximum workings I can have for a job).
In my SQL database, the table.field corresponding to those workings is job.phase, so when I put, in my report details, the field "job.phase", I get 3 rows for that job.
The point is that my report printout always has to show 5 different text objects (one below the other), corresponding to the descriptions of all the 5 possible table.field-records, and a 'X' should appear next to text objects when each one of the workings listed there is a part of my job (otherwise nothing should appear).
What I have done is the following:
- created a subreport containing the "job.phase" field
- put it near my first text object
- specified in my subreport the following "show string" formula:
if job.phase = 'working1' then 'X' else ''
and it works: a X appears if working1 is part of my job, nothing appears if working1 is not part of my job.
Then I have created 4 subreports more, equal to the first one, and specified the same for job.phase = working2, working3, working4 and working5, BUT, after doing that, no X is shown (even though working 1, 2 and 3 are part of my job)...
Is there anybody who can help me, please? It's so frustrating...
Using subreports for something like this is overkill for what you're trying to do and could be causing any number of things to behave badly. I'd recommend you abandon that idea. Here's how I would do it:
The first thing you'll want to do is group by job (if more than one will appear in your report, which I'll assume it will). The Group Footer section is where you can display the labels and Xs. You'll need to create 5 formulas as you did before if {job.phase} = "working1" then "X", one for each of the phases/workings. Drop all 5 of those formulas into the Details section of the report and then suppress that entire section so that it doesn't display.
To show the Xs, you can use a Maximum summary in the Group Footer for each of the five formulas you created. To do this, right-click each of the formulas in turn, select Insert -> Summary. Choose Maximum as the summary, and "Group 1" (Your job ID or whatever field you are using to group the job) as the Location. That will insert a field into the Group Footer that will display an X when that particular working is specified for the job, otherwise it won't display anything. Move them to display next to the appropriate label/text field and you're done.

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