An object may be anchored to only one other object.
Matrix objects, anchors, and the margin cannot be anchored to anything (that is, they may not be the parent or child object for an anchor).
A repeating frame that is the vertical or horizontal repeating frame for a matrix cannot be anchored to another object, but other objects may be anchored to it (that is, it can be the parent but not the child object for an anchor).
Nothing can be anchored to a hidden object (an object with Visible set to No).
Moving an anchor also causes the two objects it anchors together to move.
Objects
cannot be anchored together in such a way that they have a circular dependency.
For example:
Assume that frame A contains field B and field B is above frame A in
the Paper Layout. Furthermore, frame A is anchored to field C, which is
not inside of frame A, and field C is the parent. Field C cannot be the
parent for an anchor to field B. Because it is inside of frame A, field
B cannot be anchored to field C, if field C is the parent.
Note that the circular dependency in this example results from frame
A being the implicit parent of field B.
To copy an anchor, you must select the anchor and the two objects it anchors together. If you select the anchor by itself, nothing will be copied to the paste buffer. If you select the anchor and one of the objects, only the object is placed in the clipboard.
An anchor cannot be resized.
An anchor must always be on top of the objects it anchors together (that is, it must be one or more layers above the parent and child objects). Reports Builder prevents you from moving the anchor to a layer below its parent and child objects.
You cannot use Align, Align Objects, or Size Objects on anchors.
Suppose you want to horizontally center a field within a repeating frame that has its Horizontal Elasticity set to Variable. You also want the field to be a fixed distance from the top edge of the repeating frame. Since you don't know how large or small the formatted repeating frame will be, you need to use anchors to center the field.
To center the field horizontally within the repeating frame do the following:
Place the field inside the repeating frame such that the x coordinate of the center of the top of the field is the same as the x coordinate of the center of the top of the repeating frame. See the figure below.
Draw an anchor from the center of the top of the field to the center of the top of the repeating frame. In positioning an anchor on an object's edge, you can shift-click to move along the edge in increments of 25%.
The field will now be centered vertically within the repeating frame.
Suppose you want to vertically center a field within a repeating frame that has its Vertical Elasticity set to Variable. You also want the field to be a fixed distance from the top edge of the repeating frame. Since you don't know how large or small the formatted repeating frame will be, you need to use anchors to center the field.
To center the field vertically within the repeating frame, draw an anchor from the center of the left edge of the field to the center of the left edge of the repeating frame. In positioning an anchor on an object's edge, you can shift-click to move along the edge in increments of 25%.
The field will now be centered vertically within the repeating frame.
Suppose that you have anchored Field B to Field A, and you want Field B to move both vertically and horizontally into the space where Field A would have printed on the logical page. Do the following:
On the first logical page of the report, Field A prints and takes up so much room that Field B cannot fit on the logical page. Therefore, Field B prints on the second logical page, where Field A does not appear. The anchor collapses and Field B moves into the position that Field A would have appeared in had it appeared on the logical page as painted.
When Fields A and B do print on the same logical page, the anchor does not collapse and the fields maintain their relative position to one another.
Note: the settings for the Parent Edge Percent property and Child Edge Percent property for the anchor must be the same in order for the child to be positioned at the same place horizontally in the example above.
Suppose that you have anchored Field B to Field A and Collapse Vertically is set to Yes.
Assume that on the first logical page of the report, Field A prints and takes up so much room that Field B cannot fit on the logical page. Therefore, Field B prints on the second logical page, where Field A does not appear. Since Collapse Vertically is set to Yes, the anchor collapses in the y direction. Field B maintains its relative positioning to Field A in the x direction even though Field A does not actually appear on the logical page.
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