End-User Report Designer with a Ribbon Toolbar

• Feb 17, 2026
• 2 minutes to read

The Ribbon Report Designer includes the following elements:

1. Ribbon Contains the main tabs: Home, Layout, Page, and View, and contextual tabs specific to the currently selected report control. The Ribbon control allows you to switch between Designer and Preview, and open the Scripts editor.2. Design Surface An area where you can add report controls and edit a report layout.3. Toolbox Lists all available report controls. You can drag a control from the toolbox and drop it onto a report design surface.4. Report Explorer Displays a tree-like hierarchy of report elements, data sources, and other components, and allows you to manage a collection of visual styles.5. Field List Displays the data source schema and allows you to manage calculated fields and parameters. Use the UserDesignerOptions.FieldListMaxExpandLevelOnSearch property to limit the level of the search-as-you-type feature for nested fields in the search box.6. Report Gallery Allows you to store and reuse report controls, styles, data sources, and entire report layouts.7. Properties Window Allows you to view and modify report settings and report element properties.8. Group and Sort Panel Allows you to group and sort data in a report.9. Report Design Analyzer Displays errors, warnings, and information messages that help users create or enhance a report layout.10. Status Bar Displays information about the selected report element. Contains a bell icon that displays the error count. Double-click this icon to invoke the Report Design Analyzer. The Status Bar contains a slider to change the zoom factor for the design surface.