How to adjust text field with stretch with overflow - jasper-reports

Question

I use iReport 4.5.1 (I know it's so so old but it's at work and I don't have authority to upgrade it).
Anyway, I have a text field with following value:
$F{field1} + " — " + $F{field2}
Both field1 and field 2 are of java.lang.String type.
Since neither field1 nor field2 has consistent length, I have checked the stretch with the overflow property as TRUE. But the problem is that when I have a long text for field2 the rest of it comes below field1 while I need it begin right below field2.
Actually, it appears like:
something for field1 — something very long
for field2
While I need it like:
something for field1 — something very long
for field2
and if I put $F{field1} in a separate text field, since it doesn't have a fixed length, sometimes an extra space appears after $F{field1} or if I set its stretch with overflow property as TRUE, $F{field1} appears in two lines, which I don't like it either.
Generally, I need $F{field1} appear in one line with only one space after that and $F{field2} to split in two lines, if its length is too long, and appear as I described above.
Is there any way to do that?
Here's jrxml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jasperReport xmlns="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/xsd/jasperreport.xsd" name="adjust_textField" language="groovy" pageWidth="595" pageHeight="842" columnWidth="555" leftMargin="20" rightMargin="20" topMargin="20" bottomMargin="20">
<parameter name="parameter1" class="java.lang.Integer"/>
<queryString>
<![CDATA[SELECT code, name FROM test_co1 WHERE id = $P{parameter1}]]>
</queryString>
<field name="code" class="java.lang.String"/>
<field name="name" class="java.lang.String"/>
<detail>
<band height="125" splitType="Stretch">
<textField isStretchWithOverflow="true">
<reportElement positionType="Float" x="41" y="66" width="270" height="20"/>
<textElement verticalAlignment="Bottom">
<font fontName="Gill Sans MT" size="12" isBold="true"/>
</textElement>
<textFieldExpression class="java.lang.String"><![CDATA[$F{code} + " — " + $F{name}]]></textFieldExpression>
</textField>
</band>
</detail>
</jasperReport>
Which reads data from the following table:
CREATE TABLE public.test_co1 (
id INTEGER,
code TEXT,
name TEXT
) ;
/* Data for the 'public.test_co1' table (Records 1 - 54) */
INSERT INTO public.test_co1 ("id", "code", "name")
VALUES
(1, E'J', E'WELDING & CUTTING'),
(2, E'L', E'CONFINED SPACES'),
(6, E'N', E'COMPRESSED GAS/FUEL CYLINDERS'),
(15, E'W18', E'java code to iReportWEAPON SAFETY FOR PROP. MASTERS'),
(45, E'GD$', E'java code to iReportGENERAL SAFETY TRAINING/INJURY & ILLNESS PREVENTION PROGRAM'),
(49, E'GD$', E'java code to iReportENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY');
When you enter 45 as the parameter value, it displays it as
GD$ — java code to iReportGENERAL SAFETY
TRAINING/INJURY & ILLNESS PREVENTION
PROGRAM
while I need it as :
GD$ — java code to iReportGENERAL SAFETY
TRAINING/INJURY & ILLNESS PREVENTION
PROGRAM

Answer 1

Try something like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- Created with Jaspersoft Studio version 6.3.0.final using JasperReports Library version 6.3.0 -->
<jasperReport xmlns="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/jasperreports http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/xsd/jasperreport.xsd" name="adjust_textField" language="groovy" pageWidth="595" pageHeight="842" columnWidth="555" leftMargin="20" rightMargin="20" topMargin="20" bottomMargin="20" uuid="f5fbc25f-d746-4a3c-bb20-80389233ba42">
<property name="ireport.zoom" value="1.0"/>
<property name="ireport.x" value="0"/>
<property name="ireport.y" value="0"/>
<parameter name="parameter1" class="java.lang.Integer"/>
<queryString>
<![CDATA[SELECT id, code, name FROM test_co1
WHERE id = $P{parameter1}]]>
</queryString>
<field name="id" class="java.lang.Integer"/>
<field name="code" class="java.lang.String"/>
<field name="name" class="java.lang.String"/>
<detail>
<band height="125" splitType="Stretch">
<textField isStretchWithOverflow="true">
<reportElement stretchType="RelativeToTallestObject" x="0" y="0" width="100" height="30" uuid="b40f6b54-cdd8-4bed-8a3f-96808e8eeecb"/>
<textElement textAlignment="Right"/>
<textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$F{code} + " — "]]></textFieldExpression>
</textField>
<textField isStretchWithOverflow="true">
<reportElement x="100" y="0" width="180" height="30" uuid="db6850d8-c213-4544-8bae-cf515ae7484e"/>
<textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$F{name}]]></textFieldExpression>
</textField>
</band>
</detail>
</jasperReport>
I haven't tested it, but the idea is to create two fields that will stretch in height with each other. The first field is right-aligned and the second field is left-aligned.
This was written using JasperReports 6.3, so the code might not work in an older version. The approach, though, is likely correct.