> ## Displaying Text

> A report typically presents most of its information in textual format. In fact, it is safe to assume that all reports contain text. Even if a report consists primarily of charts or pictures, it uses text to label charts, display titles, describe the charts or pictures, and so on.

> Textual information can be any of the following:

> | Static text, which is text that the report displays exactly as you type it in the design. Use static text in a report title, column headings, or to write a summary about the report.

> | String, number, or date values that are derived from data set fields. Typically, the majority of information in a report comes from data set fields.

> | String, number, or date values that are derived from JavaScript expressions. Reports often contain information that is calculated, such as the report-generation date, or the number of records in a report table.

> Textual information can be as short as a single word, or span multiple paragraphs, even pages. BIRT Report Designer handles all lengths of text elegantly. When you insert a textual element, you do not need to calculate an element size to make it large enough to display all the text. BIRT Report Designer dynamically adjusts the height of elements to accommodate their contents.

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