Question

I would like to layout my report in multiple columns. This is possible. But now i want to create a box around each group and the box should span both columns.

So I would like to create this:

||===============================================||
||GROUP HEADER A                                 ||
||-----------------------------------------------||
||column 1:                column 2:             ||
||-----------------------||----------------------||
||question_1   answer_1  || question_4  answer_4 ||
||question_2   answer_2  || question_5  answer_5 ||
||question_3   answer_3  || question_6  answer_6 ||
||===============================================||

||===============================================||
||GROUP HEADER B                                 ||
||-----------------------------------------------||
||column 1:                column 2:             ||
||-----------------------||----------------------||
||question_1   answer_1  || question_2  answer_2 ||
||question_3   answer_3  || question_4  answer_4 ||
||question_5   answer_5  || question_6  answer_6 ||
||===============================================||

Is this possible? If yes how? Multiple column layout in section experts just see two columns as narrow pages. Using the pageheader as groupheader is no option.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I know this answer is way late, but I was experimenting with something similar, and ended up using a series of lines instead of boxes, as follows:

• In each Detail section, have a vertical line on the left side of Question 1, and the right side of Answer 1. Right-click the line, and select “Format Line”, and check the “Extend to Bottom of Section when Printing” option.
• At the top of the Group Footer, draw a horizontal line so that its endpoints touch the vertical lines in the Detail Section.
• At the bottom of the Group Header, draw a horizontal line so that its endpoints touch the vertical lines in the Detail section.

At this point you’ve essentially created your inner boxes around your questions and answers.

• While the vertical lines in the Detail Section will be copied over to the second column, the horizontal lines and column headers won’t be. Copy the column headers and horizontal bars over to the second column.

• Draw vertical bars from the top of the Group Header down to the bottom of the Group footer on the far left and right sides; these will be your outer borders.

The only downside to all this I have seen is that if you have no questions in the second column, you’ll still get the “Column 2” caption, and both the Group Header and Group Footer horizontal lines, but there won’t be any Detail vertical lines (since there is no content in the Detail section), like this:

||===============================================||
||GROUP HEADER B                                 ||
||-----------------------------------------------||
||column 1:                column 2:             ||
||-----------------------||----------------------||
||question_1   answer_1  |                        |
||question_3   answer_3  |                        |
||question_5   answer_5  |                        |
||================================================|