I have just recently begun using JasperSoft studio for a project I am on with very tight deadlines. Due to these constraints I was not able to spend my time researching the "correct" way to lay out a jasper report. Now I am stuck with really large bands that contain tables which tend to overlap the other content in said band.
So my question is this, what is the best way to create/modify these tables so that when the dataset in them expands that they don't overflow ontop of the other data in the current band?
I have found that if I create a new band and put the table inside that band it seems to size dynamically, however I cannot seem to find a nice way to create new bands either. My report currently has over 100 bands and whenever I create a new one I have to click the "move up" button ~100 to put the band in place and the re-arrange the other parts around it.
I have tried modifying the band's layout to "Vertical layout" instead of "Free Layout", but that was less than successful hosing the band's formatting and the data elements wouldn't display properly.
So my question is this, what is the best way to create/modify these tables so that when the dataset in them expands that they don't overflow ontop of the other data in the current band?
I'd say the best way would be to avoid using tables, and using the bands themselves instead. You could use groups to create "sub" headers and footers, and you can also manage to duplicate these headers and footers so that you can improve your layout. If create a new report based on a template or look at the examples provided in the Jasper Reports library pack, you may notice that the bands are used either as "row" or as "header"/"footer".
My report currently has over 100 bands and whenever I create a new one I have to click the "move up" button ~100 to put the band in place and the re-arrange the other parts around it.
And remember, a subreport is your friend in times like this. Again it can help you to organize your report and even provide more flexibility to your layout.
Finally, I believe that grouping so many bands with so many tables in the same report may cause you a big trouble (well, you have already noticed some issues). So maybe taking a bit of time to study more the "bands" system and the "subreport" component may help you. The Jaspersoft Studio documentation on the report structure is a good start.
I believe that dealing with Jasper Reports is basically dealing with these two components (bands and subreports).