Header and Footer Behavior in Bold Reports

In Bold Reports, headers and footers maintain consistent space across all pages in Print Layout and PDF Export modes, even when they are not visible on certain pages. This article explains the underlying behavior, relevant properties, layout differences, and how this aligns with SSRS standards.

Core Behavior of Headers and Footers

Default Rendering

• Headers and footers are designed to appear on every page unless explicitly suppressed.
• The following properties control their visibility:
  • PrintOnFirstPage determines whether the header or footer appears on the first page.
  • PrintOnLastPage determines whether the header or footer appears on the last page.
• These properties affect content visibility only, not the reserved space.

Space Allocation Rules

• Reserved Space
  Even when a header or footer is hidden on a page (via PrintOnFirstPage = False or PrintOnLastPage = False), the space defined by its Height property is still reserved in the page layout.

• Consistent Page Layout
  If a header or footer exists anywhere in the report, meaning its Height is greater than 0, the effective body area and overall page geometry remain identical across all pages. This guarantees uniform pagination, prevents content reflow, and ensures professional, predictable output. This is especially important for PDF exports and printed reports.

• Design Rationale
  This is intentional behavior and mirrors Microsoft SSRS / Report Builder. It prioritizes layout stability over dynamic space reclamation, avoiding issues like shifting content, orphaned lines, or inconsistent page counts.

Layout Mode Differences

Note: In Print Layout and PDF Export, the usable body area is calculated as:
Usable height = Page Height – (Top Margin + Bottom Margin + Header Height + Footer Height)

The ConsumeContainerWhitespace Property

• Purpose
  ConsumeContainerWhitespace found in Report Properties, removes excess white space inside containers such as Tablix, Rectangle, and List during rendering and export.

• Key Characteristics

  • Optimizes internal container layout for compactness and better readability.
  • Does NOT affect page header or footer reserved space.
  • Does NOT collapse header or footer height when content is hidden.
  • Most effective when set to True in reports with large empty areas inside data regions.

Recommendations & Workarounds

• To minimize or eliminate unwanted header or footer space:

  1. Set the header or footer Height to 0, which effectively removes the section.
  2. Move conditionally displayed content, such as first-page-only or last-page-only content, into the report body, using visibility expressions based on Globals!PageNumber.
  3. Use rectangles in the body with page-break properties to achieve section-like behavior without reserving page-level space.

• For dynamic first-page-only content:
  Place the content at the top of the body and use a visibility expression such as: =Globals!PageNumber > 1. This approach provides more flexibility than relying on page headers or footers.

Summary

Bold Reports, like SSRS, reserves header and footer space on all pages in hard-page rendering modes (Print Layout & PDF Export) to maintain layout consistency and prevent reflow issues. Visibility toggles (PrintOnFirstPage, PrintOnLastPage) control content display only—not space allocation.

Use consumeContainerWhitespace = True to reduce excess spacing inside containers. For dynamic, page-specific layouts, rely on body-based design patterns. Normal Layout offers more flexibility for interactive viewing.

If this behavior creates significant challenges for your use case, consider providing feedback to the Bold Reports team for potential future enhancements.