RDLC Report + shipping labels

Question

I am having some tremendous trouble with formatting shipping labels using RDLC. The conundrum entails formatting the HEIGHT of my report so that the report will grow as needed (for detail items), but it will only grow within the remaining space of a 4"x3.33" shipping label (3.33" is the height).

The shipping labels I am creating are grouped on a main grouping (the recipient), with a detail of the items going to the recipient as a list of items. In this case, the "recipient" is a piece of heavy machinery, and the detail is a list of maintenance parts for that particular machine.

The data set consists of rows of data, where each row is a part, and contains the machine's name. I group on the machine's name, and in the detail, the parts are listed. There is no problem in this regard, and I have made similar reports (such as a packing list type of report), with these groupings, with no problems at all.

The problem I am having is that I can't seem to force the size of the table to max out at 3.33" tall. If the label is less than that, the next instance (the next machine) begins printing immediately after, without skipping down to where the next label is on the sheet. If I put in a gap, the gap is repeated for each detail item...

What I need is to know how to "wrap" the entire tablix table, such that it has a MAXIMUM height of 3.33", a MINIMUM height of 3.33", but within those boundaries, the detail list will grow or shrink to display all of the detail items.

I have split the overall report to match the specifications of the labels I am using (standard 4x3.33 shipping labels)

Margins: 0.15625in, 0.15625in, 0.5in, 0.5in Columns: 2, with a 0.1875in spacer Total page size: 8.5in x 11in

Here is what I have in the designer (very basic)

And here is what the result of that is...

Note that there is no 2nd column for some reason... and each instance is butted up against each other vertically even though there is a 3.33" "play area" in the designer.

How do I make this thing give me what I need?

Answer 1

I was able to solve the problem by separating the data in to "all those machines that have orders in this orderID", and using that to create a simple list that is defined as 3.33" high for each item. Within that, I had to create a subreport, pass in the parameter of the MachineID, generate the data of all parts for that OrderID under that MachineID, and list them.

This is the final result: