Reporting Services and check boxes

Most of the reports I make are created using a slimmed-down version of Active Reports, which has been integrated into Shelby Systems v.5 software as part of the ShelbyQUERY tool. Active Reports has a "checkbox" control object, which displays a checkmark in a box when the value of the field is anything other than "false," or an empty box when the value is "false." This can come in handy for reports with lots of Boolean (true/false) values.

Interestingly, even though SQL Server Reporting Services is much superior to Active Reports in many respects, it is lacking in a "checkbox" object. This seems to me to be a significant oversight, but it not completely insurmountable.

Although there is no "checkbox" object in Reporting Services, you can emulate one using a TextBox, if you are willing to have an "X" instead of an actual check mark in the box. Just do the following.

Create a new text box, put an "X" in it, and change the following properties to the listed values:

• BorderStyle: Solid
  
• Color: = IIf (Fields!MyField.Value, "Black", "White")
  
• Size: .175in, .175in (this fits a 10pt font; make it larger for a bigger font)
  

With these setting the box will have an "X" in it for true values and be empty for false values. I haven't tried it yet, but I suspect it might even be possible to use a font like Wingdings and actually print a checkmark in the box instead of just an X.