17. The memo field explained

The memo field can be used to create constant text in the report and at the same time adding text style in a very easy way using the memo text editor.

Even if most of the text will be constant, it is possible to add variable data using the placeholders ($1 to $5) as explained in the previous section. Note the Variables tab where you define the Xpath for the place holders.

The HelloWorldMemo.xre report is a very simple example that shows how to use the memo field. Open the memo field editor by clicking on Memo text property

The editor will open up and the input area will be as wide as the field in the report.

The editor is very intuitive however there are a couple of attention points:
1. Use the Edit - Font menu item to define the default working font. The  default is Times New Roman 12.
2. If you need to change the font or style of the text, you select a range of text and then use the tool bar to set  color, style and font size
3. Use File – Save and exit to save your changes

Note while being very powerful, memo fields generate a large amount of output code, therefore it is not advisable to used them as a replacement for constant text labels. Use them only if you have a long text and you need to change the style of the words within the text.


Finally, in the variables tab you can see the assignment of the placeholders to the XML elements

the output will be: