iReport: trying to hide elements B,C and D when value in A is repeated

Question

Hi,

I have a iReport question: Let's say we have 4 columns on a detail band: A,B,C and D. Column A can have the same value, and repeated values should be hidden. So I uncheck the "Print Repeated Values" property. That works.

But now I also want to hide the columns B and C when column A is empty.

Adding a "Print When Expression" on B and C like:

!($V{A}.IsEmpty())

does not work because even though the textfield of $V{A} is suppressed, the variable $V{A} still contains a value. So I cannot use that.

I would need something like: !($Textfield{A}.IsEmpty())

I also tried grouping the columns A, B and C into one element, but iReport does not have a "Print When Expression" on the group-element.

Is changing the SQL query the only option here?