Configure Limited Preview and Full Export in Bold Reports
Displaying a limited number of records in Preview mode while including the full dataset in exported reports optimizes performance and usability in Bold Reports. This approach is ideal for generating summary reports for quick review and comprehensive exports for detailed analysis, such as in financial or operational reporting.
Steps to Configure Limited Preview and Full Export in Reports
Step 1: Prepare the Tables
- Create two tables in the Bold Reports Designer using the same dataset.
- Add a column in each table to display row numbers for reference. Alternatively, you can duplicate an existing table to ensure consistency.
Step 2: Configure Table 1 for Limited Preview
- Select Table 1 in the Bold Reports Designer.
- Open the Properties panel, navigate to the Data section, and select Filter Settings.
- Apply a filter using a dataset field (for example,
BusinessEntityID) to limit the number of rows displayed in Preview mode for example, the top 20 rows).
Step 3: Set Visibility for Table 1
- Select Table 1 and open the Properties panel.
- Navigate to the Visibility section and click the expression box next to the Hidden property.
- Choose Expression and enter the following:
=IIF(Globals!RenderFormat.Name = "EXCEL", True, False)
This expression hides Table 1 in the exported file (such as Excel) while displaying the filtered data in Preview mode.
Step 4: Configure Table 2 for Full Export
- Select Table 2 and open the Properties panel.
- Navigate to the Visibility section and set the following expression for the Hidden property.
=IIF(Globals!RenderFormat.Name = "EXCEL", False, True)
This configuration hides Table 2 in Preview mode and displays all dataset records in the exported file.
Step 5: Preview and Export
- In Preview mode, Table 1 displays the limited number of records as configured (for example, 20 rows).
- In the exported file (such as Excel), Table 2 includes the full dataset.
Conclusion
By using two tables with conditional visibility and filters, Bold Reports allows you to display a limited number of records in Preview mode while exporting the complete dataset. This approach improves performance during preview and ensures full data availability for detailed analysis.
Download the sample report here.
