bad page break within grid

Using BIRT 2.6.0 and PDF output, I have a report which occasionally results in a bad page break within a grid. It does not happen all the time and is dependent on the size of data being processed elsewhere within the report. The attached PDF shows the issue at the bottom of the page. There's a checkbox on a line all by itself and the associated label, which is in the same design grid row as the checkbox but different column, is rendered on the next page.

Any suggestions for avoiding this page break? I've tried changing the page break options on the grid and grid rows with little success.

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mwilliams

You've set the page break inside to "avoid" on your grid rows and data/text elements? Are you bound to version 2.6.0? Could you try it in the newest version, 3.7.0?

dbh03079

Yes, I've tried doing "avoid". In this particular instance, setting all the grid rows to "avoid" causes the inner grid (which contains the checkboxes and labels) to be displayed on it's own page. Setting "avoid" on the checkbox and label data elements didn't seem to have any effect.

I tried V2.6.2 and the same thing happens. I also tried 3.7 but there's apparently some differences in font spacing between lines (eg, in 2.6 the full PDF is 14 pages and in 3.7 it was only 11 pages due to everything being slightly more squished together) so the problem didn't happen with this particular report/data combination.

dbh03079

The problem can be reproduced in 2.6 and 3.7 using the attached rptdesign file. Note, it needs a non-standard font (DejaVu Sans) to display the checkbox character.

mwilliams

There are a couple different options to keep this from happening in the report you attached. If you select the most outer grid inside the table, select each row, and set the page break inside property to "avoid", the issue doesn't happen, but you have some checkboxes on one page and a break in between and then more check boxes.

If you select the rows of the outer table and change the page break inside to "avoid", the related check boxes are always grouped nicely together. Let me know if you have questions.

dbh03079

Thanks for the suggestions, Michael. Unfortunately, setting the pageBreakInside to avoid actually causes extra page breaks in places that I don't want. One of the other requirements I need to satisfy is that there be little to no extra whitespace in the resulting report...things should just flow sequentially one item to the next. Using "auto" for the page break settings appears to work the best for most of the reports I have but then I'm stuck with the weird case as originally reported.

mwilliams

Not if you just set it on the rows of the grid. Look at the attached report.

dbh03079

I get the extra page breaks if the last row (the one with the "Notes") of the first internal grid has pageBreakInside set to "avoid". It works as you describe if this row is set to "auto".

I guess my point is that there seems to be some weirdness with the way page breaks are handled when going to PDF. The settings don't always seem to work as expected so it's hard to tell what should be set. Also, what works for one report may not work for another report depending on the layout and data that is being used.

I appreciate the suggestions and help. Thanks again.

mwilliams

Definitely the layout and the expected result would determine what row you'd set to avoid page break on. I do agree that it is odd that one part of a row would stay on a line and the rest of the same line would go to the next on the next page. You're welcome for the help. Let us know whenever you have questions!