Fixing Right-Aligned labels in VFP9 reports (with or without FoxyPreviewer) - Updated!

Hi folks,

It’s been a while since my last post! I’m still actively working with Visual FoxPro 9 (VFP9), especially in the reports area, but as many of you know, developing and maintaining www.foxypreviewer.com has been taking up most of my free time.

In the meantime, I’ve discovered some neat tricks in VFP reporting—many of which are now baked into the newer versions of FoxyPreviewer. While I haven’t been posting as frequently, I’ve definitely been busy behind the scenes.

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What's This About?

One issue that keeps coming up from FoxyPreviewer users is a misalignment between Group Header labels and Detail band fields—especially when labels are right-aligned. This behavior can be frustrating, but it’s actually related to how VFP9 handles reports under REPORTBEHAVIOR 90.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, I highly recommend checking out this very detailed blog post from Colin Nicholls:
🔗 Observations on Right-aligned labels in VFP9 Reports – by Colin Nicholls (April 2006)

In short, Colin explains:

"In Visual FoxPro 9.0, there is a new report engine that uses GDI+ to render output. The older, backward-compatible engine is still supported. You can switch between the two engines using the SET REPORTBEHAVIOR command."

To illustrate, here's what a report might look like:

• Under SET REPORTBEHAVIOR 80: (everything looks fine)

• Under SET REPORTBEHAVIOR 90: (right-alignment breaks)

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A Word of Thanks

By the way, Colin and Lisa Nicholls' blogs at https://spacefold.com are absolute goldmines for VFP report tips. I often find myself thinking, "Let’s see what Lisa and Colin have to say about this"—and I always walk away with new insights.

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So... What's the Fix?

The ideal solution is to replace Group Header labels with right-aligned fields that match the size and alignment of the Detail band fields. This not only solves the alignment issue but also improves the quality of exported Excel files (XLS/XLSX) when using FoxyPreviewer.

However, that’s often not realistic—many users have hundreds (if not thousands) of reports to deal with.

That’s why I created a simple script to automate the fix:

What It Does:

• Analyzes your .FRX/.FRT files

• Matches Group Header labels to right-aligned Detail fields

• Creates two modified versions of the report:

  1. One replacing right-aligned labels with fields

  2. Another adjusting label size and position to align properly

The modified reports are saved in the same folder with a random suffix added to the filename.

The script is intentionally kept as simple as possible so you can adapt and understand it easily. It has been tested successfully on many reports, but there may still be edge cases—please let me know if you encounter any!

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Next Steps: Automating with FoxyPreviewer?

Yes, I’ve been considering adding this logic directly into FoxyPreviewer as an optional automatic fix. It wouldn’t be hard to implement—but I still believe developers should review and validate any automated changes to their reports.

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Download the Script

You can save the script as FRX_RIGHTALIGNLABELS.PRG, or download it directly here.

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Thanks for reading! If you're working with VFP9 reports and run into this alignment issue, I hope this helps smooth things out.

Let me know your feedback—and as always, happy coding!

* File: FRX_RightAlignLabels.prg
* Creates 2 new report copies having its labels right-aligned

* Why? To avoid the known issue explained by Colin Nicholls in his blog
* Article: "Observations on Right-aligned labels in VFP9 Reports" by Colin Nicholls (April 2006)
* https://spacefold.com/colin/archive/articles/vfp9reporting/rightalign/monofonts.html

* The alignment issue is known, and comes from VFP9, not FoxyPreviewer.
* If you run any of your reports with SET REPORTBEHAVIOR 90 without FoxyPreviewer you'll see the issue there as well!

* The main idea is to identify the labels that correspond to Right-Aligned numeric fields in the 'Detail' band,
* and reposition the labels to match the right edge of the field

Local lmMatch

CLEAR
CLOSE ALL


LOCAL lcMyReport
m.lcMyReport = GETFILE("FRX")
IF EMPTY(m.lcMyReport)
	RETURN .F.
ENDIF



* Step 1: Load the FRX file into a ReadWrite cursor
* To ease the manipulation an understanding convert the dimensions o Pixels and store in new fields
USE (m.lcMyReport) ALIAS frx0 SHARED
SELECT 000 AS nRec, 000 AS Match, 00000 AS x, 00000 as y, 00000 as w, 00000 as h, 00000 as R, * FROM FRX0 INTO CURSOR FRX READWRITE

REPLACE ALL y WITH FLOOR(vPos * .0096), H WITH FLOOR(Height * .0096), ;
	x WITH FLOOR(hPos * .0096), W WITH FLOOR(Width * .0096), ;
	nRec WITH RECNO(), R WITH (x + w) ;
	FOR INLIST(OBJTYPE, 5, 6, 8, 9) IN Frx


* Step 2: Capture full band vertical positions (TOP + HEIGHT)
LOCAL lnTitle, lnMainHeader, lnColHeader, lnGrpHeader, lnDetail
STORE 0 TO m.lnMainHeader, m.lnGrpHeader, m.lnTitle, m.lnColHeader, m.lnDetail
SELECT frx



LOCAL llHasHeader, llHasGrpHeader, llHasDetail
SCAN FOR OBJTYPE = 9 AND h > 0 && AND INLIST(OBJCODE, 1, 2, 3, 9, 4)
	DO CASE

		CASE Objcode = 0
			m.lnTitle  = h + 20

		CASE Objcode = 1
			m.lnMainHeader = h + 20
			m.llHasHeader = .T.

		CASE Objcode = 2
			m.lnColHeader = h + 20

		CASE Objcode = 3
			m.lnGrpHeader = h + 20
			m.llHasGrpHeader = .T.

		CASE Objcode = 4
			m.lnDetail = h + 20
			m.llHasDetail = .T.

		OTHERWISE

	ENDCASE
ENDSCAN


* Step 3: Determine the starting and ending of each band
LOCAL lnTitle0, lnTitle1
LOCAL lnMainHeader0, lnMainHeader1
LOCAL lnColHeader0, lnColHeader1
LOCAL lnGrpHeader0, lnGrpHeader1
LOCAL lnDetail0, lnDetail1

m.lnTitle0 = 0
m.lnTitle1 = m.lnTitle

m.lnMainHeader0 = m.lnTitle1
m.lnMainHeader1 = m.lnMainHeader0 + m.lnMainHeader

m.lnColHeader0 = m.lnMainHeader1
m.lnColHeader1 = m.lnColHeader0 + m.lnColHeader

m.lnGrpHeader0 = m.lnColHeader1
m.lnGrpHeader1 = m.lnGrpHeader0 + m.lnGrpHeader

m.lnDetail0 = m.lnGrpHeader1
m.lnDetail1 = m.lnDetail0 + m.lnDetail


*  Step 5: Assign each field to its Band type
LOCAL lcBand, lcBandIndex
SELECT frx
SCAN FOR INLIST(OBJTYPE, 5, 8)
	DO CASE

		CASE Frx.y >= m.lnGrpHeader1 AND Frx.y <= m.lnDetail1 AND Frx.OBJTYPE = 8 AND Frx.FILLCHAR = "N" AND Frx.OFFSET = 1 && Only the numeric fields, and right aligned
			m.lcBand = "Detail"
			m.lcBandIndex = "4"

		CASE Frx.y < m.lnTitle1 AND Frx.OBJTYPE = 5
			m.lcBand = "Title"
			m.lcBandIndex = "0"

		CASE Frx.y < m.lnMainHeader1 AND m.llHasDetail = .F. AND Frx.OBJTYPE = 8
			m.lcBand = "Header"
			m.lcBandIndex = "1"

		CASE Frx.y < m.lnMainHeader1 AND Frx.OBJTYPE = 5
			m.lcBand = "Header"
			m.lcBandIndex = "1"

		CASE Frx.y < m.lnColHeader1 AND Frx.OBJTYPE = 5
			m.lcBand = "ColHeader"
			m.lcBandIndex = "2"

		CASE Frx.y < m.lnGrpHeader1 AND Frx.OBJTYPE = 5
			m.lcBand = "GrpHeader"
			m.lcBandIndex = "3"

		OTHERWISE
			m.lcBand = ""

	ENDCASE

	IF NOT EMPTY(m.lcBand)
		* Reuse the 'Platform' and 'BoxChar' fields to store in which band each field resides
		REPLACE Frx.Platform WITH m.lcBand, Frx.BOXCHAR WITH m.lcBandIndex IN Frx
	ENDIF
ENDSCAN


* If the FRX does not have a 'GroupHeader-3' band, then we pick the labels from the 'Title-1' band
DO CASE

	CASE NOT m.llHasDetail && No detail band, so we work only at the Title
		SELECT * FROM FRX WHERE BOXCHAR = "1" AND OBJTYPE = 5 INTO CURSOR "FrxLabels" READWRITE

	CASE m.llHasGrpHeader
		SELECT * FROM FRX WHERE BOXCHAR = "3" AND OBJTYPE = 5 INTO CURSOR "FrxLabels" READWRITE

	CASE m.llHasHeader
		* BROWSE FOR INLIST(BOXCHAR, "1", "4")
		SELECT * FROM FRX WHERE BOXCHAR = "1" INTO CURSOR "FrxLabels" READWRITE

	OTHERWISE
		CLOSE ALL
		MESSAGEBOX("Unable to create the new report", 48)
		RETURN

ENDCASE


* Step 6: Find the matching Labels and Fields
LOCAL laLabels(1, 2), lnLabels, loField, lnNewRight, lnRight
m.lnLabels = 0

SELECT FRX
* Let's find the matches
LOCAL lcDetailChar
IF m.llHasDetail
	m.lcDetailChar = "4"
ELSE
	m.lcDetailChar = "1"
ENDIF



* Scan through all labels and find if there are matching fields for them
LOCAL laMatches(1), lnMatches, lnMatch
m.lnMatches = 0
m.lmMatch = 0

SELECT FrxLabels
SCAN
	m.lnRight = FrxLabels.R
	SELECT FRX
	LOCATE FOR Frx.BOXCHAR = m.lcDetailChar AND OBJTYPE = 8 AND BETWEEN(FRX.R, m.lnRight - 2, m.lnRight + 2)

	IF NOT EOF()
		m.lnMatch = Frx.nRec
		REPLACE FRXLabels.Match WITH m.lnMatch IN FrxLabels
		m.lnLabels = m.lnLabels + 1
		DIMENSION m.laLabels(m.lnLabels, 2)
		m.laLabels(m.lnLabels, 1) = FrxLabels.nRec
		SCATTER NAME m.loField MEMO
		m.laLabels(m.lnLabels, 2) = m.loField
	ENDIF
	SELECT FrxLabels
ENDSCAN



LOCAL laMatches(1), lnMatches, lnMatch
m.lnMatches = 0
m.lmMatch = 0
SCAN FOR BOXCHAR = m.lcDetailChar AND OBJTYPE = 8 && Detail Numeric and right aligned fields
	m.lnRight = FRX.R
	SELECT FrxLabels
	LOCATE FOR BETWEEN(FRXLabels.R, m.lnRight - 2, m.lnRight + 2)
	IF NOT EOF()
		m.lnMatch = FrxLabels.nRec

		IF ASCAN(m.laMatches, m.lnMatch) = 0
			m.lnMatches = m.lnMatches + 1
			DIMENSION m.laMatches(m.lnMatches)
			m.laMatches(m.lnMatches) = m.lnMatch
			REPLACE FRX.Match WITH m.lnMatch IN FRX


			m.lnLabels = m.lnLabels + 1
			DIMENSION m.laLabels(m.lnLabels, 2)
			m.laLabels(m.lnLabels, 1) = FrxLabels.nRec
			SELECT Frx
			SCATTER NAME m.loField MEMO
			m.laLabels(m.lnLabels, 2) = m.loField

		ENDIF
	ENDIF
	SELECT Frx
ENDSCAN
SELECT Frx



IF VARTYPE(m.laLabels(1, 1)) = "L"
	MESSAGEBOX("No changes to apply", 32)
	CLOSE ALL
	RETURN
ENDIF



* Now we are ready to create our new report copies
LOCAL lnField, n

* Step 7: Create a new Report Copy with a replaced field instead of the original label

* Replace the Label with a Field object, right aligned and resized
LOCAL lcNewReport8  && OBJTYPE 8 = Field
m.lcNewReport8 = ADDBS(JUSTPATH(m.lcMyReport)) + JUSTSTEM(m.lcMyReport) + "_8" + SYS(2015) + ".frx"
SELECT * FROM FRX0 INTO TABLE (m.lcNewReport8)
USE (m.lcNewReport8) ALIAS frxNew8 SHARED
SELECT FrxNew8

FOR m.n = 1 TO m.lnLabels
	* Change the label to field
	m.lnField = m.lalabels(m.n, 1)
	m.loField = m.lalabels(m.n, 2)
	GO (m.lnField)

	LOCAL lnOldLeft, lnOldWidth, lnNewLeft, lnNewWidth
	m.lnOldLeft  = FrxNew8.hPos
	m.lnOldWidth = FrxNew8.Width

	IF (m.lnOldWidth + 500) > m.loField.Width
		m.lnNewWidth = m.lnOldWidth + 1000
		m.lnNewRight = FrxNew8.hPos + FrxNew8.Width
		m.lnNewLeft  = m.lnNewRight - m.lnNewWidth
	ELSE
		m.lnNewWidth = m.loField.Width
		m.lnNewLeft  = m.loField.hPos
	ENDIF

	REPLACE OBJTYPE WITH 8, Width WITH m.lnNewWidth, height WITH m.loField.Height, hPos WITH m.lnNewLeft, FILLCHAR WITH "C", OFFSET WITH 1 STRETCH WITH .T. IN FrxNew8
ENDFOR


* Step 8: Create a new Report Copy with a a Right aligned label instead of the original

* Enlarge the label
* Reposition to the right-most position aligned to the relative field
* Ensure right aligned
LOCAL lcNewReport5  && OBJTYPE 5 = Label
m.lcNewReport5 = ADDBS(JUSTPATH(m.lcMyReport)) + JUSTSTEM(m.lcMyReport) + "_5" + SYS(2015) + ".frx"
SELECT * FROM FRX0 INTO TABLE (m.lcNewReport5)
USE (m.lcNewReport5) ALIAS frxNew5 SHARED
SELECT FrxNew5

FOR m.n = 1 TO m.lnLabels
	* Change the label to field
	m.lnField = m.lalabels(m.n, 1)
	m.loField = m.lalabels(m.n, 2)
	GO (m.lnField)

	LOCAL lnOldLeft, lnOldWidth, lnNewLeft, lnNewWidth
	m.lnOldLeft  = FrxNew5.hPos
	m.lnOldWidth = FrxNew5.Width

	IF (m.lnOldWidth + 500) > m.loField.Width
		m.lnNewWidth = m.lnOldWidth + 1000
		m.lnNewRight = FrxNew5.hPos + FrxNew5.Width
		m.lnNewLeft  = m.lnNewRight - m.lnNewWidth
	ELSE
		m.lnNewWidth = m.loField.Width
		m.lnNewLeft  = m.loField.hPos
	ENDIF

	* Picture field
	* For Report Labels, this field is empty for left justified (default), contains @I for centered or contains @J for right justified.
	REPLACE Width WITH m.lnNewWidth, hPos WITH m.lnNewLeft, PICTURE WITH ["@J"] IN FrxNew5
ENDFOR


* Step 9: Close
USE IN SELECT("frx")
USE IN SELECT("frx0")
USE IN SELECT("FrxLabels")
USE IN SELECT("frxNew5") && Labels
USE IN SELECT("frxNew8") && Fields


MESSAGEBOX("A report copy was created having " + TRANSFORM(m.lnLabels) + ;
	  " label(s) replaced as fields under the file name:" + CHR(13) + CHR(13) + m.lcNewReport8, 64)

MESSAGEBOX("A report copy was created having " + TRANSFORM(m.lnLabels) + ;
	  " label(s) repositioned under the file name:" + CHR(13) + CHR(13) + m.lcNewReport5, 64)


* Show the original Report, and then, the 2 new versions
MODIFY REPORT (m.lcMyReport)
MODIFY REPORT (m.lcNewReport5)
MODIFY REPORT (m.lcNewReport8)

RETURN