Symptoms

If there is text in source data that is very long, and will span many lines of text within a single row in a list view, you may prefer to limit how many lines of text display within the row, which can be done using the Text Area control. However, the Text Area control only displays its contents when used in the editable row (not in the read-only rows).
 

Diagnoses

Text Box controls display their contents when the row is in read-only mode, but the Text Area control does not. As I understand it, the primary difference between the two controls is that the Text Area control allows you to define how many lines of text to display within a single record.
 

Resolution

WORKAROUND:
One option is to apply 100% width to the body controls and add a height to the cells to suit your need, such as:
1. Set the width of the column body controls to 100%
2. Add a data label somewhere to your form
3. Set that data label's Literal property to True
4. Configure a rule (or add an action to your existing rule) to Transfer Data
5. In that action, copy the following text into the box for your Data Label:
<script>$(".runtime-list-item-wrap").height("66px")</script>

RESOLUTION:
A feature request has been logged to make the Text Area control display its contents when not in editable mode. A Text Box does display the contents, but doesn't let you limit the number of lines being displayed.