The report window is a visual design surface to which you drag and drop the components you need for your report, then set their properties in the Inspector.

Note: To read about a component, select it with the mouse, and then click the Question Mark button in the toolbar. Or, after a component is on the design surface, select it and press F1 for help in working with that component.

You can change the size and position of the design window either by dragging the edges of the window or, if you need to be precise, by changing the values of the report's height, left, top, and width properties in the Inspector.

By default, a grid appears when you start the Report designer, and objects are constrained to line up along the grid lines (Snap To Grid). Vertical and horizontal rulers will also appear. Additionally, when a table is in use and objects are placed on the design surface, the Report designer displays as many copies of the objects as there are rows in the table, or that will fit on the report page (whichever is less). You may wish to change this setting to allow only one row to display on the design surface.
To change the settings for these default behaviors, choose Properties|Report Designer Properties.

Both the Form and Report designers have the following tools:

Component palette for dragging user-interface elements and data-access objects to the design surface

Field palette for dragging linked fields to the design surface

Inspector for setting properties and writing event handlers and other methods

Format toolbar for formatting Text objects

Alignment toolbar for aligning objects

Layout, Format, and Method menus

Status bar to show you your location on the design surface, show you what object is selected, and to give you instructions and other information

To display a tool window that’s not open, choose View|Tool Windows.

Design and Run modes

You can view reports in Design mode and Run mode.

Use Design mode to design the appearance and behavior of the form or report and the components you put on it.

Use Run mode to see how a form or report looks when running. In Run mode, the components become active. For example, you can enter data into an EntryField control and edit data that’s already there.

To switch between Design and Run modes, click their toolbar buttons, or choose the appropriate command from the View menu.