In general, QuickReportz creates report columns automatically, but sometimes it is necessary to customize what is automatically created.


The "external link" report column type is used to create a link colum.


In the following example we are creating a list of authors with birth dates and links to search bing.



For reference, this is the query used to generate the above report grid.



To create a link column choose "External Link" in the report editor and click "Add"



And define the parameters in the column detail popup:




  • Datasource Field Name
    • The column name defined in the data source query in which you want to customize
    • In the example we want to customize the "BingSearchLink" column as defined in the query
  • Friendly Name
    • Change the column header name to the supplied value (of course you could also just change it in the data source query)
    • In the example we want to change the column name to "Search Bing"
  • Is Visible
    • Determines whether the column is visible (sometimes you may choose to make a column invisible but still use it in a calculation)
  • Data Format String
    • Allows an almost infinite list of formatting possibilities.  The formatting syntax is built on Microsoft string formatter and can be used as reference.
    • In this example no special formatting is supplied
  • Link Name
    • Defines what the link text will be.  It is possible to add column values into the link text using the "#= columnname#" format
    • In this example we want to the link to say "Search on Bing for " and then add the FirstName and LastName column data values for the row
      • Here is definition for this example field: Search on Bing For #=FirstName# #=LastName#
  • Link Href
    • Defines the link href where the user will be directed when clicked.  It also possible to use the "#= columnname#" format to use column values in the link href
    • In this example we want to link to the Bing website and pass the first name and last name fields in the query string
    • You could also build the entire link in SQL and then just use the DataSourceField name only in the Link Href text box
      • For example, if the search bing link, as shown in the example, was entirely built in SQL (instead of parameterized as demonstrated) you would only insert #=BingSearchLink# in the Link Href text box to render the text as a link.