# MasterPage

Base element for master pages within a report.

### Description

The master page is an abstract element that defines the basic properties of a page. The derived elements, Simple and Graphic Master Pages, provide content that appears on the page itself. The simple master page is best for use with simple reports, or reports targeted for the web. Graphic master pages provide a robust set of formatting capabilities and are ideal for sophisticated web layouts or printed reports.

The master page element is a kind of Report Element. Some of the inherited attributes have a special meaning. The Name property provides the name of the master page and is required. The page name must be unique within the design. The name is used to create a page sequence, and to associate master pages with report elements.

Master pages cannot extend another master page, and so the extends property is ignored.

The master page implicitly defines a content area. In a single-column report, the content area is the area inside the margins.

### See Also

## style

Name of the style applied to this item.

### Description

Master pages provide many style properties. The style properties are defined in the ROM Styles Specification. An element can inherit its style properties from a parent element (which does not apply to master pages), from a named style, or from a style that identifies the context in which the item appears. This property provides the name of the shared style to use.

This item can also set the value of style properties. Properties set on this element "override" those inherited from a parent element or a shared style.

### See Also

Style element in the ROM Styles Specification.

## type

One of the standard page types: Custom, US Letter, US Legal or A4.

### Choices

- us-letter: US letter-sized paper: 8.5" by 11".
- us-legal: US legal-sized paper: 8.5" by 14".
- a4: Metric A4 paper size.
- custom: The page size is user-defined.

### Description

One of the standard page types: Custom, US Letter, US Legal or A4. (Others may be added in the future.)

The default is locale-dependent, usually US Letter for the US locale, A4 for the rest of the world. The default is set when a new page is created in the report designer; a page in the design file must supply a page type, which could however, be Custom.

### See Also

`orientation` property

`height` & `width` properties

## orientation

The page orientation. Portrait, Landscape or Auto (default).

### Choices

- auto: BIRT chooses the best orientation for the report.
- portrait: The page is taller than it is wide.
- landscape: The page is wider than it is tall.

### Description

The page orientation. Used only if `pageType` is set to one of the standard types; ignored if Type is set to Custom.

### See Also

`pageType` Property

## width

The width of a page. (Set only for a custom page size.)

### Description

Required if the page type is Custom.The width of a page. (Set only for a custom page size.) The dimension must be in physical units. The dimension cannot use relative units (percent, em, or ex.) The size also cannot be in pixels.

### See Also

## height

The height of a custom-sized page.

### Description

Required if the page type is Custom.The height of a page. (Set only for a custom page size.) The dimension must be in physical units. The dimension cannot use relative units (percent, em, or ex.) The size also cannot be in pixels.

### See Also

## topMargin

The amount of white space at the top of each page.

### Description

The amount of white space at the margins of each page. Each dimension must be in physical units. The dimension cannot use relative units (percent, em, or ex.) The size also cannot be in pixels.

### See Also

## leftMargin

The amount of white space at the left side of each page.

### Description

The amount of white space at the margins of each page. Each dimension must be in physical units. The dimension cannot use relative units (percent, em, or ex.) The size also cannot be in pixels.

### See Also

## rightMargin

The amount of white space at the right side of each page.

### Description

The amount of white space at the margins of each page. Each dimension must be in physical units. The dimension cannot use relative units (percent, em, or ex.) The size also cannot be in pixels.

### See Also

## bottomMargin

The amount of white space at the bottom of each page.

### Description

The amount of white space at the margins of each page. Each dimension must be in physical units. The dimension cannot use relative units (percent, em, or ex.) The size also cannot be in pixels.

### See Also

## columns

The number of columns on the page

### Description

The number of columns on the page. A multi-column page prints like a phone book or a dictionary: the left column is filled from top to bottom, then the next column, and so on until all columns are full.

### See Also

## columnSpacing

The amount of space between columns.

### Description

The amount of space between columns.

### See Also