Text boxes - formatting numeric and date expressions

Stimulsoft Reports.NET discussion
Post Reply
JHenn
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jun 01, 2018 9:23 pm

Text boxes - formatting numeric and date expressions

Post by JHenn »

This is a simple but frustrating mistake. Two of my colleagues have hit it recently, so I am writing up the solution.

Situation: A user creates an expression in a text box for a numeric or date value. The expression syntax is correct. The user selects an appropriate format from the Format drop-downs.

When the report is executed, the expressions returns the correct value -- but the wrong format. An error is also generated:

1. The format is not specified.
The selected format for the 'Text(x)' component is not specified. (Apply General)


What this is trying to tell the user, is that there is is a character outside of the curly brackets; a space or carriage return / line feed. The selected formatting can't apply to those characters, so the value is returned but the formatting is ignored.

Resolution: If you encounter this situation, examine your expression for leading or trailing spaces or other hidden characters outside of the curly brackets.
Judy Hennessey / PrecisionBI
Lech Kulikowski
Posts: 6163
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2018 5:34 am

Re: Text boxes - formatting numeric and date expressions

Post by Lech Kulikowski »

Hello,

It is the wrong render message, should be - "The text format selected for the '{0}' component cannot be applied, because the result of the expression is already a text string."
We will ix it in the next release build.

Thank you.
Post Reply