Hide Properties from the End-User Report Designer

• Aug 18, 2023
• 3 minutes to read

Handle the static XtraReport.FilterComponentProperties event to remove items from the Properties tab. Note that you should specify the property name. Avoid any confusion between the name of a property and its display name. The following image shows the BackColor property (property name) displayed as “Background Color” (display name):

The following code snippet hides properties in the End-User Report Designer‘s Properties panel:

Program.cs

using System;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
using DevExpress.XtraReports.UserDesigner;
using System.ComponentModel;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1 {
static class Program {
    [STAThread]
    static void Main() {
        Application.EnableVisualStyles();
        Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);

        // Handle the static FilterComponentProperties event to filter the Property Grid. 
        XtraReport.FilterComponentProperties += XtraReport_FilterComponentProperties;

        Application.Run(new Form1());
    }

    static void XtraReport_FilterComponentProperties(object sender, 
        FilterComponentPropertiesEventArgs e) {

        // Hide the Background Color property for all report elements.
        HideProperty("BackColor", e);

        // Hide the ReportSource and ReportSourceUrl properties for subreports.
        if (e.Component is XRSubreport) {
            HideProperty("ReportSource", e);     
            HideProperty("ReportSourceUrl", e);    
        }  

        // Hide the Name property for a specific label control.
        if (sender is XtraReport1 && e.Component is XRControl && 
            ((XRControl)e.Component).Name == "label1") {
            HideProperty("Name", e);
        }
    }

    static void HideProperty(String propertyName, 
        FilterComponentPropertiesEventArgs filterComponentProperties) {
        PropertyDescriptor oldPropertyDescriptor = 
            filterComponentProperties.Properties[propertyName] as PropertyDescriptor;
        if (oldPropertyDescriptor != null) {
                // Substitute the current property descriptor 
                // with a custom descriptor with the BrowsableAttribute.No attribute.
                filterComponentProperties.Properties[propertyName] = TypeDescriptor.CreateProperty(
                oldPropertyDescriptor.ComponentType,
                oldPropertyDescriptor,
                new Attribute[] { BrowsableAttribute.No });
        }
            else {
            // If the property descriptor cannot be substituted, 
            // remove it from the Properties collection.
            filterComponentProperties.Properties.Remove(propertyName);
            }
        }
    }
}

Program.vb

Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UserDesigner

Namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
    Friend NotInheritable Class Program
        Private Sub New()
        End Sub

        <STAThread>
        Shared Sub Main()
            Application.EnableVisualStyles()
            Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(False)

            ' Handle the static FilterComponentProperties event to filter the Property Grid. 
            AddHandler XtraReport.FilterComponentProperties, AddressOf XtraReport_FilterComponentProperties

            Application.Run(New Form1())
        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub XtraReport_FilterComponentProperties(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As FilterComponentPropertiesEventArgs)

            ' Hide the Background Color property for all report elements.
            HideProperty("BackColor", e)

            ' Hide the ReportSource and ReportSourceUrl properties for subreports.
            If TypeOf e.Component Is XRSubreport Then
                HideProperty("ReportSource", e)
                HideProperty("ReportSourceUrl", e)
            End If

            ' Hide the Name property for a specific label control.
            If TypeOf sender Is XtraReport1 AndAlso TypeOf e.Component Is XRControl AndAlso CType(e.Component, XRControl).Name = "label1" Then
                HideProperty("Name", e)
            End If

        End Sub

        Private Shared Sub HideProperty(ByVal propertyName As String, ByVal filterComponentProperties As FilterComponentPropertiesEventArgs)
            Dim oldPropertyDescriptor As PropertyDescriptor = TryCast(filterComponentProperties.Properties(propertyName), PropertyDescriptor)
            If oldPropertyDescriptor IsNot Nothing Then
                ' Substitute the current property descriptor 
                ' with a custom descriptor with the BrowsableAttribute.No attribute.
                filterComponentProperties.Properties(propertyName) = TypeDescriptor.CreateProperty(oldPropertyDescriptor.ComponentType, oldPropertyDescriptor, New Attribute() {BrowsableAttribute.No})
            Else
                ' If the property descriptor cannot be substituted, 
                ' remove it from the Properties collection.
                filterComponentProperties.Properties.Remove(propertyName)
            End If
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace