Table of Contents

Merging similar cells (VB.Net / netframework)

Note

This demo is available in your FlexCel installation at <FlexCel Install Folder>\samples\vb\VS2022\netframework\20.Reports\935.Merging Similar Cells and also at https:​//​github.​com/​tmssoftware/​TMS-​FlexCel.​NET-​demos/​tree/​master/​vb/​VS2022/​netframework/​Modules/​20.​Reports/​935.​Merging Similar Cells

Overview

This demo is about how to perform a common task: Merging similar cells into one.

Concepts

  • There are 2 ways to merge similar cells in a sheet:

    1. Use a master-detail relationship. This is normally the way to go, just merge the master cells and have the details not merged. You can use as many master-detail levels as you want, and you can see this in the technique used in the first column of this demo.

    2. Use <#Merge Range> tags together with <#DbValue> tags. This can be useful when you want to do the merging in every column and you don't want to define a master and a detail table for each one of them. You need to be careful when using this method to check all the columns at the left (as shown in the "Ship country" column comment), not just the value at the last record.

Files

AssemblyInfo.vb

Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Runtime.CompilerServices

'
' General Information about an assembly is controlled through the following 
' set of attributes. Change these attribute values to modify the information
' associated with an assembly.
'
<Assembly: AssemblyTitle("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyDescription("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyConfiguration("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCompany("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyProduct("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCopyright("(c) 2002 - 2014 TMS Software")>
<Assembly: AssemblyTrademark("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyCulture("")>

'
' Version information for an assembly consists of the following four values:
'
'      Major Version
'      Minor Version 
'      Build Number
'      Revision
'
' You can specify all the values or you can default the Revision and Build Numbers 
' by using the '*' as shown below:

<Assembly: AssemblyVersion("6.2.1.0")>

'
' In order to sign your assembly you must specify a key to use. Refer to the 
' Microsoft .NET Framework documentation for more information on assembly signing.
'
' Use the attributes below to control which key is used for signing. 
'
' Notes: 
'   (*) If no key is specified, the assembly is not signed.
'   (*) KeyName refers to a key that has been installed in the Crypto Service
'       Provider (CSP) on your machine. KeyFile refers to a file which contains
'       a key.
'   (*) If the KeyFile and the KeyName values are both specified, the 
'       following processing occurs:
'       (1) If the KeyName can be found in the CSP, that key is used.
'       (2) If the KeyName does not exist and the KeyFile does exist, the key 
'           in the KeyFile is installed into the CSP and used.
'   (*) In order to create a KeyFile, you can use the sn.exe (Strong Name) utility.
'       When specifying the KeyFile, the location of the KeyFile should be
'       relative to the project output directory which is
'       %Project Directory%\obj\<configuration>. For example, if your KeyFile is
'       located in the project directory, you would specify the AssemblyKeyFile 
'       attribute as [assembly: AssemblyKeyFile("..\\..\\mykey.snk")]
'   (*) Delay Signing is an advanced option - see the Microsoft .NET Framework
'       documentation for more information on this.
'
<Assembly: AssemblyDelaySign(False)>
<Assembly: AssemblyKeyFile("")>
<Assembly: AssemblyKeyName("")>

Form1.Designer.vb

Imports System.Collections
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Resources
Imports FlexCel.Core
Imports FlexCel.XlsAdapter
Imports FlexCel.Report
Imports FlexCel.Demo.SharedData
Namespace MergingSimilarCells
	Partial Public Class mainForm
		Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

		Private WithEvents button1 As System.Windows.Forms.Button
		Private saveFileDialog1 As System.Windows.Forms.SaveFileDialog
		Private label1 As System.Windows.Forms.Label
		Private WithEvents btnCancel As System.Windows.Forms.Button
		''' <summary>
		''' Required designer variable.
		''' </summary>
		Private components As System.ComponentModel.Container = Nothing

		''' <summary>
		''' Clean up any resources being used.
		''' </summary>
		Protected Overrides Sub Dispose(ByVal disposing As Boolean)
			If disposing Then
				If (components IsNot Nothing) Then
					components.Dispose()
				End If
			End If
			MyBase.Dispose(disposing)
		End Sub

		#region "Windows Form Designer generated code"
		''' <summary>
		''' Required method for Designer support - do not modify
		''' the contents of this method with the code editor.
		''' </summary>
		Private Sub InitializeComponent()
			Me.button1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Button()
			Me.saveFileDialog1 = New System.Windows.Forms.SaveFileDialog()
			Me.label1 = New System.Windows.Forms.Label()
			Me.btnCancel = New System.Windows.Forms.Button()
			Me.SuspendLayout()
			' 
			' button1
			' 
			Me.button1.Anchor = (CType((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top Or System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right), System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles))
			Me.button1.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.Green
			Me.button1.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
			Me.button1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(152, 88)
			Me.button1.Name = "button1"
			Me.button1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(112, 23)
			Me.button1.TabIndex = 0
			Me.button1.Text = "GO!"
			Me.button1.UseVisualStyleBackColor = False
'			Me.button1.Click += New System.EventHandler(Me.button1_Click)
			' 
			' saveFileDialog1
			' 
			Me.saveFileDialog1.Filter = "Excel Files|*.xls;*.xlsx;*.xlsm|Excel 97/2003|*.xls|Excel 2007|*.xlsx;*.xlsm|All files|*.*"
			Me.saveFileDialog1.RestoreDirectory = True
			' 
			' label1
			' 
			Me.label1.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(24, 24)
			Me.label1.Name = "label1"
			Me.label1.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(352, 24)
			Me.label1.TabIndex = 2
			Me.label1.Text = "A demo on how to merge similar cells when creating a report"
			' 
			' btnCancel
			' 
			Me.btnCancel.Anchor = (CType((System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Top Or System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles.Right), System.Windows.Forms.AnchorStyles))
			Me.btnCancel.BackColor = System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb((CInt((CByte(192)))), (CInt((CByte(0)))), (CInt((CByte(0)))))
			Me.btnCancel.DialogResult = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Cancel
			Me.btnCancel.ForeColor = System.Drawing.Color.White
			Me.btnCancel.Location = New System.Drawing.Point(272, 88)
			Me.btnCancel.Name = "btnCancel"
			Me.btnCancel.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(112, 23)
			Me.btnCancel.TabIndex = 3
			Me.btnCancel.Text = "Cancel"
			Me.btnCancel.UseVisualStyleBackColor = False
'			Me.btnCancel.Click += New System.EventHandler(Me.btnCancel_Click)
			' 
			' mainForm
			' 
			Me.AutoScaleDimensions = New System.Drawing.SizeF(6F, 13F)
			Me.AutoScaleMode = System.Windows.Forms.AutoScaleMode.Font
			Me.ClientSize = New System.Drawing.Size(416, 133)
			Me.Controls.Add(Me.btnCancel)
			Me.Controls.Add(Me.label1)
			Me.Controls.Add(Me.button1)
			Me.Name = "mainForm"
			Me.Text = "Merging similar cells"
			Me.ResumeLayout(False)

		End Sub
		#End Region

	End Class
End Namespace

Form1.vb

Imports System.Collections
Imports System.ComponentModel
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Reflection
Imports System.Resources
Imports FlexCel.Core
Imports FlexCel.XlsAdapter
Imports FlexCel.Report
Imports FlexCel.Demo.SharedData

Namespace MergingSimilarCells
	Partial Public Class mainForm
		Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Form

		Public Sub New()
			InitializeComponent()
		End Sub

		Private Sub button1_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles button1.Click
			AutoRun()
		End Sub

		Public Sub AutoRun()
			Using ordersReport As FlexCelReport = SharedData.CreateReport()

				Dim DataPath As String = Path.Combine(Path.Combine(Path.GetDirectoryName(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location), ".."), "..") & Path.DirectorySeparatorChar

				If saveFileDialog1.ShowDialog() = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
					ordersReport.Run(DataPath & "Merging Similar Cells.template.xls", saveFileDialog1.FileName)

					If MessageBox.Show("Do you want to open the generated file?", "Confirm", MessageBoxButtons.YesNo) = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.Yes Then
						Process.Start(saveFileDialog1.FileName)
					End If
				End If
			End Using
		End Sub

		Private Sub btnCancel_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnCancel.Click
			Close()
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace

Program.vb

Namespace MergingSimilarCells
	Friend NotInheritable Class Program

		Private Sub New()
		End Sub

		''' <summary>
		''' The main entry point for the application.
		''' </summary>
		<STAThread> _
		Shared Sub Main()
			Application.EnableVisualStyles()
			Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(False)
			Application.Run(New mainForm())
		End Sub
	End Class
End Namespace