/*DataFlex Reports 2026: More control from design to export*/

Features in DataFlex Reports 2026

More control over reports exports

Configure individual export options directly from your application.

DataFlex Reports 2026 changes how export settings are exposed through the OCX. Instead of passing groups of settings through the previous export-option properties, developers can now work with individual properties for CSV, HTML, image, PDF, RTF and XLS exports.

This provides more granular control when configuring report exports programmatically. Options include page selection, PDF settings, CSV delimiters, image export settings and Excel behavior, making it easier to configure the exact output an application requires.

The change also means developers upgrading existing integrations should review code that uses the previous export-option properties.

A previewer that fits modern WebApps

Make report previews feel more at home in today’s application interfaces.

The web previewer receives several improvements in DataFlex Reports 2026. Dark theme support has been added to previewercommon.css, allowing the previewer to better match DataFlex web applications that use a dark interface.

The previewer implementation has also been updated as part of this release, replacing its previous iFrame-based approach.

Together, these changes provide a stronger foundation for integrating report previews into modern DataFlex WebApps.

Smoother report navigation

Move through multi-page reports without navigating page by page.

For developers and users working with reports in the Windows previewer, DataFlex Reports 2026 adds an option for continuous scrolling.

The option can be enabled in the DataFlex Reports Studio settings. It is disabled by default, preserving the existing behavior unless you choose to use it.

It is a small change with a very practical result: reviewing longer reports can feel more natural and require less page-by-page navigation.

More reliable date handling

Handle database-specific placeholder dates without hard-coding values into your reports.

Dates can become complicated when DataFlex data is moved to databases such as Microsoft SQL Server. A zero date in the DataFlex embedded database may need to be represented by a different value in the target database.

DataFlex Reports 2026 introduces the IsDummyZeroDate function to address this. The function is implemented per database driver and identifies the value treated as the dummy zero date for a column.

That means report logic can identify and suppress these placeholder dates without relying on hard-coded, database-specific minimum values, helping make report logic more portable and easier to maintain. 

Better handling of RDS data

Reduce filtering surprises caused by trailing spaces in runtime data.

Filtering RDS data previously required string values and filters to match exactly, including trailing spaces.

The new pbIgnoreTrailingSpaces property can trim data as it is placed into the in-memory SQLite table. The property is enabled by default.

For applications supplying report data through RDS, this makes string filtering less sensitive to formatting differences in the supplied data.

Better output in PDF and Excel

Preserve more of the information and formatting users expect when reports leave the previewer.

DataFlex Reports 2026 includes several export improvements. Hyperlinks used in HTML-formatted report text can now be preserved in PDF output when the export image quality is set to High.

Excel export also receives multiple fixes and refinements, including improvements for overlapping columns, merged-cell borders, charts, section colors and a memory leak in Excel export.

These improvements help exported reports more closely reflect the report developers designed and the information users expect to receive. 

More refinements throughout DataFlex Reports

The release includes additional improvements throughout the development experience, including function renaming through Field Explorer, a Hide Duplicate option, improvements to crosstab behavior and column indicators, updated libraries, additional OCX error numbers and OCX hardening.

The DataFlex Reports documentation is also now available online, making it easier to explore features and technical details directly from the browser. 

Start building with DataFlex Reports 2026

Download DataFlex Reports 2026, update your reporting projects and explore the new capabilities in your own applications. Developers upgrading existing integrations should pay particular attention to the changes to the export option structure.

For the complete technical overview, explore the DataFlex Reports 2026 What’s New documentation.