How to remove extra space between textfield in JasperReports?

Question

I have created three text field in Header. I have put parameter in all textField elements. When I'm not calling one of three parameter of three textField elements. It will show 2 textField elements. The problem now is there are space between the text fields.

How to remove the space?

This is my code:

<textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
    <reportElement x="0" y="18" width="555" height="35" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
    <textElement textAlignment="Center">
        <font size="12"/>
    </textElement>
    <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{daterangefrom}  && $P{daterangeto}  ?  "From ( " + $P{daterangefrom} + " - " + $P{daterangeto} + ")"
: $P{weeks}  && $P{monthy} && $P{yrs} ? "For week " + $P{weeks} +" "+ $P{monthy} +" "+ $P{yrs}
: $P{monthy}  && $P{yrs} ? "For monthly " +$P{monthy} +" "+ $P{yrs}
: $P{quarter}  &&  $P{yrs}  ? "For Quarter " + $P{quarter} +" "+$P{yrs}
: $P{yrs}  ? "For " + $P{yrs}
: null]]>
    </textFieldExpression>
</textField>

This is mine result:

Answer 1

You can use 3 textField elements with isRemoveLineWhenBlank property set to true value.

The sample (jrxml file):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jasperReport .. topMargin="0" bottomMargin="0">
    <parameter name="parameter1" class="java.lang.String">
        <defaultValueExpression><![CDATA[null]]></defaultValueExpression>
    </parameter>
    <parameter name="parameter2" class="java.lang.String">
        <defaultValueExpression><![CDATA[null]]></defaultValueExpression>
    </parameter>
    <parameter name="parameter3" class="java.lang.String">
        <defaultValueExpression><![CDATA[null]]></defaultValueExpression>
    </parameter>
    <title>
        <band height="102" splitType="Stretch">
            <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                <reportElement x="163" y="9" width="100" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{parameter1} == null ? null : "Parameter1: " + $P{parameter1}]]></textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                <reportElement x="163" y="29" width="100" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{parameter2} == null ? null : "Parameter2: " + $P{parameter2}]]></textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                <reportElement x="163" y="49" width="100" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{parameter3} == null ? null : "Parameter3: " + $P{parameter3}]]></textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <staticText>
                <reportElement x="163" y="73" width="100" height="20"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <text><![CDATA[Static text]]></text>
            </staticText>
            <line>
                <reportElement x="63" y="6" width="447" height="1"/>
            </line>
            <line>
                <reportElement x="73" y="96" width="447" height="1"/>
            </line>
        </band>
    </title>
</jasperReport>

The report design in iReport:

For the parameter1=null, parameter2=null, parameter1=value3 the result will be:

UPDATE

For solving the problem of moving up the textField in case the element above was hide you can use the Frame container. You should add 2 frames (one per column) and put 2 textField elements (2 rows) in each frame.

The sample (jrxml file):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jasperReport .. topMargin="0" bottomMargin="0">
    <parameter name="par1" class="java.lang.String">
        <defaultValueExpression><![CDATA[null]]></defaultValueExpression>
    </parameter>
    <parameter name="par2" class="java.lang.String">
        <defaultValueExpression><![CDATA[null]]></defaultValueExpression>
    </parameter>
    <parameter name="par3" class="java.lang.String">
        <defaultValueExpression><![CDATA[null]]></defaultValueExpression>
    </parameter>
    <parameter name="par4" class="java.lang.String">
        <defaultValueExpression><![CDATA[null]]></defaultValueExpression>
    </parameter>
    <title>
        <band height="80" splitType="Stretch">
            <line>
                <reportElement x="10" y="6" width="520" height="1"/>
            </line>
            <line>
                <reportElement x="10" y="72" width="520" height="1"/>
            </line>
            <frame>
                <reportElement x="329" y="10" width="172" height="59"/>
                <frame>
                    <reportElement x="13" y="3" width="60" height="54"/>
                    <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                        <reportElement x="1" y="20" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                        <box>
                            <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                        </box>
                        <textElement/>
                        <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par3} == null ? null : "P3: " + $P{par3}]]></textFieldExpression>
                    </textField>
                    <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                        <reportElement x="1" y="0" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                        <box>
                            <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                        </box>
                        <textElement/>
                        <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par1} == null ? null : "P1: " + $P{par1}]]></textFieldExpression>
                    </textField>
                </frame>
                <frame>
                    <reportElement x="73" y="3" width="70" height="54"/>
                    <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                        <reportElement x="1" y="0" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                        <box>
                            <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                        </box>
                        <textElement/>
                        <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par2} == null ? null : "P2: " + $P{par2}]]></textFieldExpression>
                    </textField>
                    <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                        <reportElement x="1" y="20" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                        <box>
                            <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                            <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                        </box>
                        <textElement/>
                        <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par4} == null ? null : "P4: " + $P{par4}]]></textFieldExpression>
                    </textField>
                </frame>
            </frame>
            <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                <reportElement x="10" y="30" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par3} == null ? null : "P3: " + $P{par3}]]></textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                <reportElement x="10" y="10" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par1} == null ? null : "P1: " + $P{par1}]]></textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                <reportElement x="64" y="10" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par2} == null ? null : "P2: " + $P{par2}]]></textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
            <textField isBlankWhenNull="true">
                <reportElement x="64" y="30" width="52" height="20" isRemoveLineWhenBlank="true"/>
                <box>
                    <topPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <leftPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <bottomPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                    <rightPen lineWidth="1.0"/>
                </box>
                <textElement/>
                <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$P{par4} == null ? null : "P4: " + $P{par4}]]></textFieldExpression>
            </textField>
        </band>
    </title>
</jasperReport>

The report design in iReport:

For the par1=null, par2=2, par3=3, par4=4 the result will be:

You can compare the results - left side is done without using frame and the right side with frame elements.