Create a Custom Numeric Label

• Aug 03, 2020
• 3 minutes to read

This tutorial provides an example of creating a custom report control (XRNumericLabel). This control is inherited from the XRLabel (so, it supports all functionality provided by a standard label), but accepts only numeric text to be displayed within it.

Tip

Online Example: How to create custom report controls

To create a numeric label control, do the following.

1. To create a new Class Library project, run the Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 or 2017, choose “File | New | Project…” menu item. Then in the New Project dialog, select the template for the “Class Library”, type the “CustomControls” name for the new project, and click OK.
2. Rename the newly added class from Class1 to XRNumericLabel.

3. Add the following assemblies to the References list of your project:

   • System.Drawing;

   • System.Windows.Forms;

   • DevExpress.Data.v18.2;

   • DevExpress.Utils.v18.2;

   • DevExpress.XtraPrinting.v18.2

   • DevExpress.XtraReports.v18.2.

4. To define a custom control icon, displayed in the Toolbox and Report Explorer, create a custom bitmap file (24x24 pixels) and add it to the project.

   When adding an image file to the project, please make certain that its name matches the class name, and the Build Action property is set to Embedded Resource.

   

5. The code below demonstrates how to inherit the XRNumericLabel class from the XRLabel class, introduce the Number property, and override the Text property to hide it.

   C#

   using System;
   using System.Drawing;
   using System.ComponentModel;
   using System.Windows.Forms;
   using DevExpress.XtraReports;
   using DevExpress.XtraReports.UI;
   using DevExpress.XtraReports.Localization;
   //...
   
   namespace CustomControls {
       [DefaultBindableProperty("Number"),
       ToolboxBitmap24Attribute(@"WindowsFormsApplication1.Icon24x24.png,WindowsFormsApplication1")
       ]
       public class XRNumericLabel : XRLabel {
           private int number;
   
           [SRCategory(ReportStringId.CatData), DefaultValue(0), Bindable(true)]
           public virtual int Number {
               get { return number; }
               set { number = value; }
           }
   
           [Browsable(false), EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never), Bindable(false)]
           public override string Text {
               get { return number.ToString(); }
               set {
                   int i;
   
                   if (int.TryParse(value, out i)) {
                          number = i;
                   }
                   else {
                       throw new ArgumentException("This text can't be converted to a number!");
                   }
               }
           }
       }
   }
   

   VB.NET

   Imports System
   Imports System.Drawing
   Imports System.ComponentModel
   Imports System.Windows.Forms
   Imports DevExpress.XtraReports
   Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.UI
   Imports DevExpress.XtraReports.Localization
   '...
   
   Namespace CustomControls
       <DefaultBindableProperty("Number"), _
       ToolboxBitmap24Attribute("WindowsFormsApplication1.Icon24x24.png,WindowsFormsApplication1")> _
       Public Class XRNumericLabel
           Inherits XRLabel
           Private myNumber As Integer
   
           <SRCategory(ReportStringId.CatData), DefaultValue(0), Bindable(True)> _
           Public Overridable Property Number() As Integer
               Get
                   Return myNumber
               End Get
               Set(ByVal value As Integer)
                   myNumber = Value
               End Set
           End Property
   
           <Browsable(False), EditorBrowsable(EditorBrowsableState.Never), Bindable(False)> _
           Public Overrides Property Text() As String
               Get
                   Return myNumber.ToString()
               End Get
               Set(ByVal value As String)
                   Dim i As Integer
   
                   If Integer.TryParse(Value, i) Then
                       myNumber = i
                   Else
                       Throw New ArgumentException("This text can't be converted to a number!")
                   End If
               End Set
           End Property
       End Class
   End Namespace
   

6. Rebuild the project. After building a solution, a CustomControls.dll containing the Numeric Label control will appear in the ‘\Bin\Debug” directory of the project.

The XRNumericLabel control is now ready to be used in your reporting applications.