This is not a question but a technique I want to share so it is searchable for others in the future....
We had the need to add bitmaps to show status to a grid datawindow. We used a dummy column and then set its visible expression to 0 (this means the grid column displays at run time but the actual column object does not show). We then added multiple bitmaps that hide and show based on the row status. We found that resizing the column containing these bitmaps caused the bitmaps to scale up and looked very ugly. I fooled around for a while with this and have come up with a solution to stop the bitmaps from scaling when you widen the column.
1) Force the bitmap width using the width expression.
Width of RMA bitmap is forced to 142
2) If you have multiple bitmaps make sure they do not overlap - again you can do this by putting the bitmaps below each other and then forcing their y coordinate using the y expression.
The envelope y expression is set to 8 so it is in the correct position. Note that the detail band is expanded to show these additional bitmaps.
Initial Grid datawindow:
Grid datwindow first column is resized if my technique is not used:
Grid datawindow first column is resized if datawindow is setup using my technique:
If you have any questions about the technique feel free to ask on this thread...
Mark Jones