Not able to preview RDLC report in VS2013 because of blank data source instance - vb.net

I have been struggling with this issue for two years now. My problems are happening in Visual Studio 2013 (not a web server).
Occasionally, I have to take an RDLC file that was created by someone else and make changes to it. Using VS, I create an XSD file for the dataset, then replace the DataSource and DataSet in the RDLC so that the report now points to the tableadapter(s) in the XSD.
Often when I try to view the report in the ReportViewer form, the Report Data Source and Data Source Instance are blank. I've tried Rebind Data Sources, and I've cleaned and rebuilt the project, but I can't get the data source to show up. Sometimes the report will have a subreport, and that data source will be available if I choose that RDLC.
I'm a third party developer -- I'm not editing (and cannot edit) aspx files; just the reports. I've tried editing the code in Form.vb manually to insert the TableAdapter, but it hasn't worked, and I don't really know what I'm doing there -- I have some object-oriented programming experience, but not much.
What can I do to make the data source available to the report viewer and/or bind it to the RDLC? Any suggestions are appreciated. Please let me know if there's any particular code it would be useful to share.
Thank you.

I ended up doing the following, which solved the problem in this case. Not sure it's a solution that will work in all situations like this.
I replaced the opening Report tag in the XML of the RDLC with this:
<Report xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2008/01/reportdefinition" xmlns:rd="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQLServer/reporting/reportdesigner">
I removed the <ReportSections> and <ReportSection> tags, as they are not supported by the 2008 schema. I didn't remove anything that was between the tags.
After making these changes, the data source became available to the form, and I was able to preview the report.

Related

Word Document Template - Embed after Crystal or SSRS

I am working with a crystal report that has the first few pages populated with a few fields from the database and the rest of the report has sections of static information (mostly legal terms and conditions).
Now the report runs fine but I am running into a lot of issues when I have to update the terms and conditions text every time there's a change. It may sound easy, but Crystal is extremely finicky when it comes to handling formatting copied over from a Word Document. This makes it extremely difficult to work with.
I am exhausted of ideas trying to make this work, but is there any way to keep that static text independent from the report? Is there anyway to give control of the document to the users so they can change it at will and be stored on the network somewhere that gets called in and embedded onto the report?
It needn't be just a crystal report, it can be a SSRS report as well, it really doesn't matter.
TLDR; Need help embedding contents of a document file in a Crystal/SSRS report that can be sitting out on the network somewhere.
Thanks for the help in advance :)
If you are exporting the report to a PDF you can create just the page with the database information in the report and append the static text as an external PDF files. You will need a 3rd party tool to run the reports.

SSRS Sharepoint List

How can I find out where a Sharepoint Report is getting its data from?
Is it possible/easy?
I have a live report similar to one I am about to produce (it will use the same data source) but I do not know where this is coming from!
Thanks in advance!
The easiest is to just copy and rename the file, upload it and edit it in Report Builder on SharePoint. This way you will maintain the exact data source without needing to edit XML.
If you want to download it, go here Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Report Builder 3.0
However, if you favour a text editor you can open the .rdl file to edit it.
Look in the XML for something like:
<DataSources>
..data source details here.
Where the data comes from
</DataSources>
<DataSets>
.. actual returned date definitions here, like columns.
What the data is
</DataSets>

convert rdl to rdlc?

I am using visual studio 2008 and reporting service 2008.
I created a .rdl reports. Now I want to convert .rdl to .rdlc. How can I do it?
Good question. According to spec whey should be more or less the same, but in reality they differ wildly depending on version. For instance if I open an RDLC file I created in Visual Studio 2010 in Report Builder 3.0 it works. But if I make a change in my RDL(C) file and try to open it in VS2010 I first get asked if I want to convert it to RDLC 2008 format (yes) and then I get the error message "The report definition has an invalid target namespace 'http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2010/01/reportdefinition' which cannot be upgraded."
There is nothing to convert. All you have to do is to rename the file to .rdlc. This converts it from a server report to a client report. The underlying schema is the same, whether it's an .rdl or .rdlc file.
Take a look at FAQ #8 here: http://www.gotreportviewer.com/
I found working with MS support that converting an RDL to RDLC merely by changing the extensions results in a ReportViewer Control HTTPHandler error which is shown with a style of "dsiplay:none". It accuses the developer of not including the HTTPHandler in the web.config, when it is actually in the web.config. Using an rdlc created by VS in that project, then the reportviewer opens just fine and properly displays. MS support and I are still researching what other changes need to be made, but as of now, I can let people know not to drink the MSDN Kool-Aid.
I also tried changing the schemas namespace in the XML file and I got the same report definition cited above.

How to see the contents of deployed datasource?

I've inherited a project (without a handy handover) that contains reports published to a Reporting Server (2005).
MY SSRS knowledge is 4 years stale, so I need your help.
I need to edit one of the published reports, is this possible?
I also want to peek into the Data Source on the RS, because that's probably where I can change stuff.
I'll add more info as I get a better understanding of what exactly to ask.
EDIT: I found a project for some of the reports, opened up in VS2005 BI.
Still, how do I see where the Data Source gets its data?
It brings back 56 fields but I don't know which tables/stored procs/queries are used to get these.
Yes you can.
1st - to edit the published reports: Browse to the folder containing the report source you want on report server (web server). On the right side click 'Show Details'. Now click the properties icon under the 'Edit' column. Near the bottom you will see two links: Edit & Update. Click edit and the source RDL file will start to download. This is the actual report source.
You can import this right into a VS2005 report project and have full access for modifications.
2nd - As to the project you found: After opening an RDL file for editing, click the 'Data' tab. directly under that you will see a drop down list labeled 'Dataset:'. A report can have one or more datasets. These are the actual queries that generate report data. Also clicking '...' will allow you to see other properties of each dataset, such as parameters, etc.
You can run a profiler on your server, then run your report. The profiler give you most info about your query or stored procedure.

Website Data Source is empty

This is driving me insane. I am trying to get a basic Report to show with Report Viewer but cant get the DataSet to show in the Website Data Source window no matter what I do.
I created a dataset..picked the proc I want, etc. without any problems. I added my RDLC and tried adding a table that I can bind data to but the Windows that contains the Data Sources is empty.
Im using VS 2008. Is there anything im doing wrong? Ive followed some tutorials but cant get further due to this issue.
Ok..figured it out after wasting 1 day on it.
As I said i am running VS 2008 and what I did was remove all the DLL references one by one until the window populated with some datasources. I found out a reference to Entity Spaces cause the problem. So I create the reports and when im down add back the reference. A pain but it now works.
Jeeesh.