Programming Reporting Services

Module 07:
Programming Reporting
Services
Contents
Overview 1
Lesson: Supporting User Access 2
Demonstration 1: Querying for Server
Information 7
Demonstration 2: Rendering Reports via URL
Access 13
Demonstration 3: Rendering Reports via Web
Service 15
Lesson: Automating Report Management 18
Demonstration 4: Automating Report
Management 20
Lesson: Advanced Programmability 25
Demonstration 5: Creating a Custom
Assembly 31
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Module 07: Programming Reporting Services 1
Overview
Lesson: Supporting User Access

Lesson: Automating Report Management
Lesson: Advanced Programmability
Microsoft Confidential
This module will introduce you to the basic concepts of controlling Reporting
Services programmatically.
By the end of this module you will be able to do the following:
Create a simple Visual Basic .NET program to do the following:
• Retrieve information about published reports and folders from the server
• Render a specific report to a selected format
• Publish a report to the server
• Delete a report from the server
Understand how reporting services can be extended
Create a custom assembly that includes a function you can call from an
expression in a report
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2 Module 07: Programming Reporting Services
Lesson: Supporting User Access
Using Web Services

Discovering Server Information
Rendering Reports
In this lesson you will learn the basics for creating a custom interfaces or report
browser for end users. Creating a custom browser typically requires two separate
tasks: first, discovering information from the server, such as which reports are
available for the current user; and second, actually rendering the report. You will
create a very simple application that accomplishes both these tasks.
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Using Web Services
What Are Web Services?

z Platform independent applications based on established
standards
z XML, SOAP, HTTP
Why Does Reporting Services use Web Services?
z Allows interaction with Windows Applications, Web
Applications, etc.
z Allows for cross platform interoperability
What Are Web Services?

Web Services are applications that communicate over open protocols using standard
data formats. In order to create a platform independent set of application services,
we need to agree on how to pass information around. Using established standards
such as XML, SOAP, and HTTP Microsoft and other vendors are able to create
platforms for truly distributed computing.
XML – Gives us a standard data presentation.
SOAP – Gives us a standard format for packaging the data.
HTTP – Gives us a standard protocol for sending and receiving data packets.
All of these standards are set by the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3c.org).
The World Wide Web Consortium is an outside organization composed of around
450 members.
Why Does Reporting Services use Web Services?

By using web services, developers can build numerous applications around a rich set
of functionality. Developers can easily create Windows Applications, Web
Applications and even Console Applications using the .NET Framework. But,
developers are not tied to one platform. Any platform that can read/write XML and
transport data over HTTP can use these Web Services. This opens the door to
integration with most applications platforms.
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Discovering Server Information
Report Design
Browsing
Report Browser
Information
Data Report Server

Sources
Delivery Channels
ManagementOutput Formats
Report Manager
Information Data Flow
Control Flow
Discovering server information is useful for two separate purposes. On the one hand
it is often necessary when creating a custom browser for end users. On the other
hand, it can be useful when creating a custom management tool.
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Discovering Server Information - Purpose
For creating custom applications

Browsing
z What reports are available?
z What parameters does the report require?
Managing
z What subscriptions are in place?
z What are the security settings for this report?
Retrieve information from Web Service
One of the major reasons for retrieving information about items on the server is to
facilitate user access to appropriate reports. You can programmatically find which
reports are available for a particular user, whether those reports require parameters,
and other pertinent information about the reports.
In addition, you can also discover report information as part of an application to
manage reports. Before changing attributes of a report, your application may want to
know what the current attributes are.
The primary mechanism for getting information about Reporting Services items is
by communicating with the Web Service, which is accessible via standard SOAP
calls. Fortunately, the .NET infrastructure makes it easy to write applications that
communicate with a Web Service.
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Discovering Server Information - Logistics
Create Web Reference (or proxy) to handle SOAP calls,

and pass Authentication credentials to server
z http://«server»/reportserver/reportservice.asmx?wsdl
Information for all Server items (e.g., reports, folders)
Navigate Hierarchy: ListChildren
Search for Items: FindItems
z Use key properties such as Name, CreationDate
z Automatically filter’s by user’s permissions
The first step in communicating programmatically with the Report Server Web
Service is to create a Web Reference to the service. The Web Reference translates
normal object methods and properties into the appropriate SOAP calls. (It is also
possible to create an explicit proxy class for translating to and from SOAP, but the
Web Reference automatically creates the necessary class for you.) Visual Studio
walks you through the process of creating a Web Reference. The URL that contains
the definition of the web service is
http://«server»/reportserver/reportservice.asmx?wsdl.
Once you create a reference to the primary class—RSWebService—you must first
establish credentials by passing an item from the local .NET Credentials Cache.
When you retrieve information about reporting items, you are not limited to reports.
You also retrieve information about other items on the server, most notably folders
that organize reports.
There are two primary mechanisms for finding information about reporting items,
ListChildren—which allows you to navigate through the folder hierarchy—and
FindItems—which allows you to filter all or part of the hierarchy by search
conditions. When you create a search condition, you make comparison to certain key
attributes of the reporting items, such as the name or create date or modify date.
When you search for items, the list returned to you is automatically filtered by the
authenticated user’s permissions.
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Demonstration 1: Querying for Server Information

In this demonstration, you will create a simple Windows Form with a textbox, a
button and a list (combo) box. When you type a string in the textbox and click the
button, the items on the server—folders and reports—that contain that text will
appear in the list.
In this and the following demonstrations, to facilitate focusing on the current task,
you will create the simplest possible application necessary to accomplish the
indicated tasks. Consequently, you will not give standardized names to controls or
add error handling code.
Ç Launch Visual Studio and create a new Visual Basic Windows Form
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
2003, and then click Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003.
2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
3. In the New Project dialog box, in the Project Types pane, click Visual Basic
Projects.
4. In the Templates list, click the Windows Application icon.
5. In the Name textbox, replace the default name with Web Service, in the
Location textbox, type C:\Reporting Services Training\Workspace\ and then
click OK.
The project contains a blank windows form, Form1.vb.
6. Resize the form to fill most of the available space.
7. On the Toolbox, double-click the TextBox control, the Button control, and the
ComboBox control.
Tip: By default, the Toolbox is located on the left side of the screen. If the
Toolbox is not visible, on the View menu, click Toolbox.
8. Arrange the Button to the right of the TextBox, and the ComboBox below them
both.
9. Select the TextBox control, and in the Properties window, clear the Text
property value.
10. Select the Button control, in the Properties window, in the Text property,
delete the default value, and then type Get Items
11. Select the ComboBox control, and in the Properties window, for the
DropDownStyle property, select Simple.
Ç Add a Web Reference to the Reporting Services Web Service

1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the References folder, and click Add Web
Reference.
Tip: If the Solution Explorer pane is not visible, on the View menu, click
Solution Explorer.
2. In the URL textbox, enter the following URL:

http://localhost/ReportServer/ReportService.asmx?wsdl
3. Click Go.
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4. After the web service is located, in the Web reference name textbox, delete the
default value, type ReportService and then click Add Reference.
Ç Add code to the Find Items button to search for matching items
1. On the form double-click the Get Items button.
This opens the Visual Basic page that controls the form, and adds a new
procedure called Button1_Click. This code will run whenever you click the
Find Items button. The code to enter in this procedure is in a text file.
2. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click
Notepad.
3. In Notepad, on the File menu, click Open.
4. Navigate to the C:\Reporting Services Training\M07\Demo\Step1.txt and then
click Open.
This file contains the following code:
Dim myReportService As New ReportService.RSWebService
Dim myCatalogItems As ReportService.CatalogItem()
myReportService.Credentials = _
System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials
Dim mySearchConditions(0) As
ReportService.SearchCondition
mySearchConditions(0) = New
ReportService.SearchCondition
mySearchConditions(0).Name = "Name"
mySearchConditions(0).Value = TextBox1.Text
myCatalogItems = myReportService.FindItems("/", _
Nothing, mySearchConditions)
Dim i As Integer
ComboBox1.Items.Clear()
For i = 0 To myCatalogItems.Length - 1
ComboBox1.Items.Add(myCatalogItems(i).Name)
Next i
The first two lines respectively create a connection to the web service and
prepare a place to store the list of returned items. These two lines will go at
the top of the page.
The first indented statement (split onto two lines for readability), tells the
service to use the credentials of the currently logged in user. This line needs
to execute once when you first start the program.
The remaining statements execute each time you click the Find Items
button.
The next block of statements creates a list consisting of one search
condition. This search condition tests the “Name” value of a report item
with the text from the Textbox.
The next statement uses the FindItems command to tell the report service to
“find” the “items” that match the list of conditions, and put the information
about the items into the myCatalogItems list.
The final block of statements puts the name of each item in the retrieved list
into the combo box, after first clearing the box of any previous items.
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5. Copy the first two lines and switch to Visual Studio, after the Inherits
statement, press ENTER and then paste the two copied lines.
6. Switch back to Notepad and copy the first indented statement (the credentials
statement).
7. Switch to Visual Studio, click the plus sign next to Windows Form Designer
generated code.
8. After the InitializeComponents() statement, press ENTER, and then paste the
copied line.
9. Click the minus sign next to #Region " Windows Form Designer generated
code "
10. Switch back to Notepad, copy the remaining lines, and on the File menu, click
Exit to close Notepad.
11. In Visual Studio, before the End Sub statement, paste the copied lines.
Your form should now look like the following image:
12. On the Debug menu, click Start to run the form and wait for Form1 to appear.
13. In Form1, with the textbox empty, click the Get Items button and wait for the
names to appear in the combo box.
The names of all the items on the server—both folders and reports—appear.
14. In the textbox, type Sales, and click the Get Items button.
The names of all items that contain the word Sales appear.
15. Click the Close button to close the form.
Note Leave this Visual Basic project open, as you will continue the project in
Demonstration 4.
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Rendering Reports
Report Design
Report Browser
Data Report Server Rendering

Sources Reports
Output Formats Delivery Channels

Report Manager
Data Flow
Control Flow
The second part of facilitation user access to reports is to actually render the reports.
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Rendering Reports - Purpose
Web Pages – Links to Report Pages

Custom client applications
Dashboards
Extract report data
There are a number of reasons to programmatically control the rendering of a report,

ranging from the straightforward objectives of inserting reports in a dashboard or
creating links from a portal, to the more sophisticated applications such as creating
completely custom front-end tools or extracting data from reports to pass to other
applications.
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Rendering Reports via URL Access
For simple dashboard applications, web page links

Reference a report on the Server. For example:
z http://localhost/ReportServer/Sample%20Reports/
Company%20Sales?rs:Command=Render
Tip: Referencing a folder shows the children, and then
clicking a report name gives a URL you can copy
Can include report parameters
Plain text – use encrypted internet (SSL) for security
Automatically detects browser and uses appropriate
HTML level
The easiest way to programmatically access a report is by simply giving a URL to a

browser. To render a report, you simply specify the server, the service, and the
report name (including the folder hierarchy, as appropriate), and then add the special
parameter rs:Command=Render. This tells the service to render a report.
If you specify a folder rather than a report, the service displays a simple page with
available subfolders and reports. Each subfolder or report is actually a hyperlink that
contains the appropriate URL for that object. This makes it easy to determine the
URL for rendering a specific report: Simply start by accessing the root level folder,
and then navigate to the desired report. When you click the report, the desired URL
will appear in the browser Address Bar.
If a report takes parameters, you can insert parameter values in the URL directly. A
report parameter is simply entered in the URL without the rs:command= prefix.
Remember that URLs are sent to the server as plain text. If you include anything in
the URL, including the parameters, that is confidential, be sure to connect to the
server via a secure, encrypted protocol.
When you use a URL to render a report, the web service automatically detects the
browser you are using and issues the appropriate form of HTML for that browser.
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Demonstration 2: Rendering Reports via URL Access

In this demonstration, you will display a report in a browser simply by entering the
URL. You can use this concept to add a link to a report anywhere you could put a
URL—in a simple web page or a dashboard.
Ç Access a report via a URL link

1. Launch Internet Explorer.
2. In the Address Bar, type http://localhost/ReportServer/.
This is simply the name of the root folder on the server. It is not a report,
but a folder. When you use URL to access a folder, the contents of the
folder are displayed, but as URL links to their respective folders or reports.
3. Click the Example Reports folder link.
4. Click a report link.
The report appears in the browser. Note that the URL to render that report
appears in the Address Bar. You could copy that URL and put it into any
other hyperlink you want.
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Rendering Reports via Web Service

Specify Rendering Type, parameters, and options
Get back byte array as result
Forward byte array to appropriate target
Example: Extract CSV version of data to copy to Excel
Using a URL to render a report is clearly the simplest way to render a report, but
there are times when you programmatically want more control. You can issue a
Render command to the web service directly and programmatically, in essentially
the same way that you get report item information from the service: create a Web
Reference, pass authentication, and then execute the Render method.
The Render method has many parameters, including the full path for the report and
the rendering type (when you call the Render method to create HTML output, you
must specify the HTML level you want). You also pass as arguments any report
parameters or other options. Because the proxy is translating the request to SOAP to
send to the service, you must include the keyword Nothing for any optional
arguments you choose not to use.
When you call the Render method, the report is not automatically rendered in the
browser, which means that you can call the method from any application, not just a
browser. The function returns the rendered report in the form of a byte array. You
then programmatically do with that byte array whatever you want: for example, you
can display an HTML rendered report in a literal Web Control, or you can save any
report output to a file. If you want to dump the report results to a list in a
spreadsheet—for sorting and other analysis—you may want to retrieve the data as
comma separated values (CSV), which you can then copy into Excel.
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Demonstration 3: Rendering Reports via Web Service

In this demonstration, you will render a comma separated value (CSV) version of a
report and display the CSV form of the report in a textbox. This type of data would
be useful for transferring the data into a spreadsheet program.
Ç Open a saved project and report

Important If you successfully completed Demonstration 2, then use the Web
Service project that you already have open to complete the procedures in this
demo. If you did not complete Demonstration 2 then you should complete this
procedure to open a saved project.
2. On the File menu, point to Open, and then click Project.
3. In the Open Project dialog box, navigate to the C:\Reporting Services
Training\M07\Demo\Answers\Demo 02\ folder containing Demonstration 2
answer files.
4. Click the Web Service.sln file and then click Open.
5. In Solution Explorer, double-click the Form1.vb form.
Solution Explorer.
Ç Insert a rich textbox for output

1. In the Toolbox window, double click the RichTextBox control.
You may need to scroll down the list of controls to see the RichTextBox control.
2. Position and resize the control to take up all available space on the right side of
the form.
3. With the RichTextBox control selected, in the Properties window, clear the
Text property value.
Ç Render a report when you change the selection in the list of items
1. On the form, double-click the ComboBox control.
This displays the code page with a new procedure named
ComboBox1_SelectedIndexChanged. This code will run each time you
select a new item in the Combo Box.
Notepad.
click Open.
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This file contains the code necessary for rendering the report into the
RichTextBox.
Dim myDefinitionBytes As Byte()
Dim myEncoding As System.Text.Encoding = _
System.Text.Encoding.Unicode
Try
myDefinitionBytes = myReportService.Render( _
myCatalogItems(ComboBox1.SelectedIndex).Path,
"CSV", _
Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, _
Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing)
RichTextBox1.Text = _
myEncoding.GetString(myDefinitionBytes)
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.ToString)
End Try
The first statement creates a buffer—called a byte array—to store the
details for the report. You retrieve a rendered report into a byte array
regardless of the rendering type you use.
The second statement creates an Encoding object that allows you to
translate the byte array, which is stored in Unicode text (capable of
handling exotic text such as Chinese) into a simple string that you can put
into the RichTextBox.
The Try, Catch, and End Try statements allow you to display an error
message if the report does not render properly. For example, you will see an
error if you select a folder from the list, rather than a report.
The first statement in the Try section renders the report into the byte array.
This Render command is passed to the server via the Web Reference that
you created earlier. There are a lot of possible arguments to the Render
command, and if you don’t need them, you must enter Nothing as a
placeholder. Notice the “CSV” argument. This is what tells the Render
command to create CSV output. If you use “HTML3.2” in the command,
the report will come out with HTML formatting. You pass to the report
server the complete path of the report you want to render. The path is one of
the properties stored in the catalog list created by the FindItems command.
This command gets the item from the list corresponding to the item selected
in the combo box.
Different report formats require different encoding. So, for the “CSV”
format presented here use Unicode. To render a report in “HTML”, change
the encoding to UTF8.
The second (and final) statement in the Try section uses the Encoding
object to translate the byte array into a string and put it into the Rich Text
Box control.
The Catch portion of the code displays an error message if something goes
wrong with either Rendering the report, or translating the byte array.
5. In Notepad, select all by using Ctrl + A and then copy by using Ctrl + C.
6. On the File menu, click Exit to close Notepad.
7. In the Visual Basic code, paste all the statements before the End Sub statement
of the ComboBox1_SelectedItemChanged procedure.
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8. On the Debug menu, click Start to run the form.

9. Wait for Form1 to appear.
10. In Form1, type Sales in the textbox and click Get Items.
11. Select the Product Profitability report.
The CSV-rendered report appears in the textbox. If you wanted, you could
copy the contents of the textbox, paste it into Excel, and parse the data into
columns by using the Data to Text command.
12. Click the Close button to close the form.
13. On the File menu, click Close Solution.
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Lesson: Automating Report Management

Report Design
Report Browser
Data Report Server

Sources

Report Manager Managing
Reports Data Flow
Control Flow
In this lesson, you will learn about how to write your own custom tools for
managing reports on the server, so that you could replace the functionality of the
Report Manager application You will write a very simply application that publishes
a report and deletes a report.
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Automating Report Management
Anything you can do with Report Manager

z Add, delete reports, folders
z Administer security, schedules, etc
Example applications,
z Apply identical report settings to multiple servers
z Apply identical security settings to multiple reports
Execute methods and properties of RSWebService
When you automate report management via the web service, you can do anything
that you can do in the Report Manager application. That’s because the Report
Manager application uses the web service to carry out its tasks. You can write
custom code to add or delete reports, administer security or schedules, or any of a
large number of other tasks.
Any report management task that you must execute multiple times becomes a
candidate for a custom application. If you are running a report server farm, for
example, you may want to apply identical settings to multiple servers. Or you may
want to apply the same security or subscription settings to multiple reports. Or create
an application that generates report RDL files and then automatically deploys the
generated reports.
As with other web service applications, you must create a Web Reference and pass
credentials in order to communicate with the server. The RSWebService class then
has methods and properties for manipulating reports.
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Demonstration 4: Automating Report Management

You can use the Reporting Services Web Service to manage the report server.
Anything that you can do in the Report Manger interface, you can do via the Web
Service—because that is what Report Manager uses. In this demonstration, you will
deploy a new report (as defined in an RDL file) to the server. You will then delete a
selected report from the server.
Ç Open a saved project and report

Important If you successfully completed Demonstration 4, then use the Web
Service project that you already have open to complete the procedures in this
demo. If you did not complete Demonstration 4 then you should complete this
procedure to open a saved project.
2. On the File menu, click Open Solution.
3. In the Open Solution dialog box, navigate to the C:\Reporting Services
Training\M07\Demo\Answers\Demo 04\ folder containing Demonstration 4
answer files.
4. Click the Web Services.sln file and then click Open.
5. In Solution Explorer, double-click the Form1.vb form.
Solution Explorer.
Ç Add buttons for Adding and Deleting a report

1. With the design view of the form visible, in the Toolbox, double-click the
Button control twice.
2. Move the two new buttons below the ComboBox.

3. Select the first of the new buttons, Button2.
4. In the Properties window, in the Text property, type Add Report
5. Select the second of the new buttons, Button3.
6. In the Properties window, in the Text property, delete the default value and then
type Delete Report
Note You may need to resize the button to view all of the Delete Report text.
Ç Copy a report definition to an easy to type location

Windows Explorer.
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2. Navigate to the C:\Reporting Services Training\M07\Demo\Answers\Demo

01\ folder.
3. Copy the Product Profitability.rdl report from C:\Reporting Services
Training\M07\Demo\Answers\Demo 01\ to the C:\ folder.
4. Rename C:\Product Profitability.rdl to C:\Report.rdl.
Important If you prefer not to copy and rename the report, you can edit the
location of the report in the code file in the next step.
Ç Add code to add a new report

1. Double-click the Add Report button.
This creates a new procedure named Button2_Click, which will run
whenever you click the button.
Notepad.
click Open.
This file contains the code necessary for copying the report definition to the
server.
Dim myDefinitionBytes As Byte()
Dim fr As System.IO.FileStream = _
System.IO.File.OpenRead("C:\Report.rdl")
ReDim myDefinitionBytes(fr.Length)
fr.Read(myDefinitionBytes, 0, fr.Length)
myReportService.CreateReport("New Report", "/", False, _
myDefinitionBytes, Nothing)
Button1_Click(Nothing, Nothing)
In the first block, the first statement creates a place to store the report
definition, a byte array. The second statement creates an object capable of
reading a file, a FileStream object. It also sets up the object to read the
sample report file. The third statement prepares the byte array for the
number of characters that will be coming from the file.
In the second block, the first statement reads the characters from the file
into the byte array. The second statement passes that array to the Web
Service, giving it a name (New Report) and a location (/—the root folder).
The final block simply “clicks” the Get Items button so that the list will
refresh.
5. In Notepad, select all by using Ctrl + A and then copy by using Ctrl + C, and
then switch to Visual Studio.
of the Button2_Click procedure.
Ç Add code to delete a selected report

1. Click the Design tab and double-click the Delete Report button.
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This creates a new procedure named Button3_Click, which will run

whenever you click the button.
click Open.
This file contains the code necessary for copying the report definition to the
server.
myReportService.DeleteItem(myCatalogItems( _
ComboBox1.SelectedIndex).Path)
Button1_Click(Nothing, Nothing)
The first statement deletes the selected item. To delete an item, you simply
pass its complete path. The path is stored in the collection of catalog
information retrieved by FindItems. In this case, you pass the path from the
item with the same number as the report currently selected in the combo
box.
The second statement “clicks” the Get Items button to refresh the list.
4. In Notepad, copy all the code, and then on the File menu, click Exit to close
Notepad.
of the Button3_Click procedure.
Ç Test the Add and Delete buttons

1. On the Debug menu, click Start to display the form.
2. Wait for the form to appear.
3. With the textbox empty, click the Get Items button.
4. Click the Add Report button, and watch the New Report appear in the list.
5. Select New Report and watch the report render in the Rich Text Box.
6. Click the Delete Report button, and watch the New Report disappear from the
list.
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Automating Report Management via Scripts
For batch automation without writing a full application

RS.EXE provides shell functionality
z Manages SOAP interfaces
z Manages connection to Report Server Web Service
z Manages authentication
Create Visual Basic .Net function (named Main)
Store in script file with extension .rss
Pass script file as command line argument to rs.exe
Rather than write a complete executable application to carry out a management task,
you can create a script file and then utilize the RS.EXE application to execute the
script. The RS.EXE application manages the SOAP interface and the connection to
the web service. It also manages the necessary authentication.
In essence, a script file is the core of a Visual Basic application. It must have a
function named Main, but it doesn’t need to create a proxy or connect to the server
or pass authentication. You can create multiple script files—with the extension rss—
and then execute them in various batch process as command line arguments to
RS.EXE.
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For More Detailed Examples
Web Service and URL Access

z RS Explorer
z Includes reusable URL Generator class for constructing
an appropriate URL (with parameters, etc)
z Shows ListChildren method of Report Service
RS.EXE Scripting
z PublishSampleReports.rss
z Creates shared data source
z Includes command-line argument for parent folder
The demonstrations in this module are intended to give you the simplest possible
code that can carry out the essential requirements. The samples that come with
Reporting Services include more extensive applications that you can learn from. To
learn more about communicating with the web service and using URLs, check out
the RS Explorer application. In addition to basic navigation and rendering code, this
sample application includes a URL Generator class that is more powerful than
needed for the RS Explorer itself. This is a class that you can incorporate in your
own applications that need to generate URL string with parameters and other
sophisticated options.
If you want to create scripts for managing reports, you should look at the
PublishSampleReports sample script. This script shows how to create a shared data
source, upload multiple reports, and pass a command-line argument via the RS.EXE
application.
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Lesson: Advanced Programmability
Server Configuration
Types of Extensions
Custom Extensions
Custom Assemblies
In this lesson you will learn about some advanced programmability options available
in Reporting Services. In addition to day-to-day operations such as creating or
customizing reports, facilitating user access to reports, and managing reports, there
are also some specialized ways in which you can automate Reporting Services,
particularly to control server configuration and to add extensions to the server.
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Server Configuration
All management interface is through SOAP calls to

Report Server Web Service
If service is not running, can’t use SOAP to
communicate with it
Windows Management Interface (WMI) calls allow
programmatic control whether server is running or not
Normal report management is all done through SOAP calls to the Report Server
Web Service. In order for the server to respond to the SOAP calls, the service must
be running. There are, however, certain server configuration tasks that you may
want to be able to automate whether or not the server is actually running. In
particular, options that allow you to configure the server in the first place must run
before starting the service. For these configuration activities, Reporting Service
supports a Windows Management Interface (API). This interface does not replace
the normal Web Service activities, but provides a narrowly focused set of tools for
those tasks that must be executable without requiring the service to be running.
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Types of Extensions
Report Design
Report Browser
Rendering
Extensions
Data Processing
Data Report Server
Extensions
Sources
Delivery
Extensions
Report Manager
Security
Extensions Data Flow
Control Flow
Reporting Services was designed as an extensible architecture. All the major tasks of
Reporting Service are implemented as extensions. For example, rendering a report
as HTML is implemented as an HTML rendering extension. What this means is that
you can, if necessary, add additional customized extensions that integrate seamlessly
with the native functionality of the Report Server. Specifically, extensions come in
four flavors: Data Processing, Rendering, Security, and Delivery.
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Custom Extensions
Create “add-ins” for Reporting Services

Particularly useful for 3rd party developers
z Proprietary data source
z Enhanced rendered output (3-D view, link to diagrams)
Advanced technique
Creating custom extensions allows you to create seamless “add-ins” to Reporting

Services. These are particularly useful if you are a 3rd party developer using
Reporting Services to create a specialized solution. For example, if you have
specialize application with a proprietary data source, you can create a custom Data
Processing extension to retrieve data from your application. Or you might want to
create specialized reporting or visualization tools—for example reports that link to
manufacturing diagrams or schematics, or specialized three-dimensional views of
data. Your ability to extend Reporting Services functionality is limited only by your
imagination.
Of course, creating custom extensions is not for everyone. Most reporting needs can
be met with the native extensions that ship with the product. But it’s nice to know
that if you have a specialized need, you can extend Reporting Services to handle it.
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Custom Assemblies: Purpose
Create functions that you can call from within a report

expression
Access the full capabilities of the .NET platform
Use strong keys to secure the assemblies
Custom assemblies accessible from a report serve several purposes.

They allow you to create functions that you can use to extend the capabilities of
expressions.
Custom functions can be used to encapsulate complex or detailed expressions.
Rather than build all the logic of a complex statistical calculation in a text box
expression, you can put the complexities into a custom function so that the text
box expression is easier to understand. Custom functions in an assembly can
make use of all the capabilities.NET platform For example, the code can be
procedural, not just a single expression, allowing you to make use of
sophisticated structures such as conditionals (IF or CASE), or loops (FOR or
WHILE).
Putting custom functions in an assembly allows you to be confident that the code
is secure. You must provide a strong key for the assembly, so that no one—either
maliciously or inadvertently—can change the code in the function.
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Custom Assemblies: Logistics
Create a new VB .NET class library and add functions

Create a strong key for the assembly and add to the
Global Assembly Cache (GAC)
Enable custom assemblies in Reporting Services
In the project, add a reference to the assembly
In an expression, reference a custom function
Creating and using a custom assembly from a report requires several steps. Some of
these steps—such as writing the function code—must clearly be done for each
function you create. Other steps—such as enabling custom assemblies in reports—
need to be done only once.
• You must create a new .NET class library and add functions to that library.
• You must create a strong key to secure the assembly so that you can add it to
the .NET Global Assembly Cache (GAC), from which it is accessible to your
reporting services project.
• You must edit two configuration files—one for the Report Designer, and one
for the Report Server—to allow custom assemblies to be used.
• You must add a reference within the report to any assemblies you wish to
use.
• Within any expression, you can then call the functions from the registered
assembly.
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Demonstration 5: Creating a Custom Assembly

In this demonstration, you will create a very simple custom assembly that includes a
function named GetColor. This function will return the colors Red, Yellow, or
Green, suitable for adding as conditional format to a report. As arguments to the
function, you will pass a test value. If the value is more than the first cut-off level,
the function will return Green. Otherwise, if the value is more than a second cut-off
level, the function will return Yellow. Otherwise, the function will return Red. You
will then reference the function from within a report to apply conditional colors to
the value of a cell.
Ç Create a new project

2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
3. In the New Project dialog box, in the Project Types pane, verify that the Visual
Basic Projects folder is selected.
4. In the Templates pane, click the Class Library icon.
5. In the Name box, replace the default name with AdventureWorks.Extensions,
in the Location box, type C:\Reporting Services Training\Workspace\ and
then click OK.
The Class1.vb tab should open automatically.
6. In the Solution Explorer window, right click Class1.vb, and then click Rename.
7. Type CommonFunctions.vb and press <ENTER>.
8. Keep Visual Studio .NET 2003 open.
Ç Copy a custom function

Notepad.
3. Navigate to the C:\Reporting Services Training\M07\Demo\Custom
Assembly.txt file and then click Open.
This file contains the GetColor custom function. This is the contents of the
file:
Public Shared Function GetColor(ByVal Value As Decimal) As
String
Select Case Value
Case Is > 0.15
Return “Green”
Case Is > 0.1
Return “Yellow”
Case Else
Return “Red”
End Select
End Function
The function takes an input number and returns a color based on that
information.
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4. In Notepad, select all by using Ctrl + A and then copy by using Ctrl + C, and
then close the file.
Ç Insert a function into the class definition

1. Switch back to Visual Studio .NET 2003.
2. On the CommonFunction.vb tab, replace the class name from Class1 to
CommonFunctions. You should now see the following:
Public Class CommonFunctions
End Class
3. Click immediately after CommonFunctions, press <ENTER>, and then click

the Paste toolbar button to paste the function into the class definition. The
complete code should look like the following:
Public Class CommonFunctions
Public Shared Function GetColor(ByVal Value As Decimal)

As String
Select Case Value
Case Is > 0.15
Return "Green"
Case Is > 0.1
Return "Yellow"
Case Else
Return "Red"
End Select
End Function
End Class
4. On the File menu, click Save All.

5. Keep Visual Studio .NET 2003 open.
Ç Create a strong name key for the assembly

Now that you have compiled the assembly you will create a key pair that allows you
to sign the assembly with a strong name. Creating a strong named assembly will
allows you to install the assembly into the Global Assembly Cache.
2003, point to Visual Studio .NET Tools, and then click Visual Studio .NET
2003 Command Prompt.
The Visual Studio .NET 2003 Command Prompt window uses the same
commands as the windows command prompt and adds additional
functionality specific to .NET.
2. In the command prompt window, type cd C:\Reporting Services
Training\Workspace\AdventureWorks.Extensions\ and then press <ENTER>
to change directories.
3. In the command prompt window, type sn -k AdventureWorks.Extensions.snk
and then press <ENTER> to create the Strong Name Key.
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You should now have a new file in the root of the project called
AdventureWorks.snk. This file contains a public/private key pair that will
allow you to sign the assembly.
4. Keep the command prompt window open.
Ç Associate the key file with the assembly

To associate the key file with the assembly you need to edit the AssemblyInfo.vb
file.
2. In the Solution Explorer window, right click AssemblyInfo.vb, and then click
Open.
3. Find the following metadata tag at the bottom of the code file:
<Assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.*")>
4. Replace the 1.0.* version number to 1.0.0.0

The last line of code should look like the following:
<Assembly: AssemblyVersion("1.0.0.0")>
5. Click after the version number line, press <ENTER>, and then type the
following metadata tag to specify the key file:
<Assembly:
AssemblyKeyFile("../../AdventureWorks.Extensions.snk")>
6. On the Build menu, click Build Solution to build the solution.

This will create a .dll file called AdventureWorks.Extensions.dll in
C:\Reporting Services
Training\Workspace\AdventureWorks.Extensions\bin. This is the dll we
will reference in our report.
7. On the File menu, click Save All.
Ç Install the Custom Assembly in the Global Assembly Cache

In this procedure you will take the custom assembly and install it in the Global
Assembly Cache (GAC). Installing a .NET assembly in the GAC allows multiple
applications to share the same .dll file.
1. Switch back to the Visual Studio .NET 2003 Command Prompt window.
2. In the command prompt window, type cd C:\Reporting Services
Training\Workspace\AdventureWorks.Extensions\bin and then press
<ENTER> to change directories to work with the .dll you created.
3. In the command prompt window, type gacutil -i
AdventureWorks.Extensions.dll and then press <ENTER> to add the
assembly to the GAC.
You should receive a message stating that the assembly has been
successfully added to the Global Assembly Cache.
The assembly is now ready to be used in our report.
4. Close the command prompt window.
Ç Enable Custom Assemblies in Reports

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For security purposes, Reporting Services does not enable custom assemblies in a
report until you explicitly enable them. To enable custom assemblies, you simply
delete comment marks from two configuration files.
1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
Server\80\Tools\Report Designer.
2. Make a copy of the RSReportDesigner.config file as a safety precaution.
3. Right-click the file RSReportDesigner.config, point at Open With, and click
Choose Program. Then select Notepad, and click OK.
4. Click Edit, and click Find. Type Comment, and click OK. Delete the comment
indicator before the <CustomAssemblies> tag, and the closing comment
indicator after the </CustomAssemblies> tag. Then save the file and close
Notepad.
5. Navigate to the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL
Server\MSSQL\Reporting Services\ReportServer.
6. Make a copy of the RSReportServer.config file as a safety precaution.
7. Right-click the file RSReportServer.config, point at Open With, and click
Choose Program. Then select Notepad, and click OK.
8. Click Edit, and click Find. Type Comment, and click OK. Delete the comment
indicator before the <CustomAssemblies> tag, and the closing comment
indicator after the </CustomAssemblies> tag. Then save the file and close
Notepad.
Ç Preview the initial Product Profitability report

3. On the File menu, click Open Solution.
4. In the Open Solution dialog box, navigate to the C:\Reporting Services
Training\M07\Demo\Custom Assembly folder containing demonstration files.
5. Click the Custom Assembly.sln file and then click Open.
6. In Solution Explorer, expand the Custom Assembly project, and then expand
Reports.
Solution Explorer.
The project contains a Product Profitability report, which is a report that

uses conditional formatting and grouping.
7. Double-click the Product Profitability.rdl report, and in the View pane click
Preview.
The Margin % value for Road Bike is colored red. This is the result of a
conditional expression in the Color property. The condition uses a red font if
the value is less than 15%.
8. Click the expand indicator (+) next to Road Bike.
The Margin % for multiple road bikes are red, along with the bold subtotal
for Road Bike. The conditional format was applied for detail rows (the
individual products), for product footers (when products are expanded), and
for product headers (when products are collapsed).
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Ç Reference the Custom Assembly

1. Click the Layout tab to view the design of the report
2. In the Properties window drop-down list, click Report to view the report
properties.
3. In the Properties window, click the References property box, and then click the
button.
4. In the Edit References dialog box, click the button in the upper right hand
corner to add a reference.
5. In the Add Reference dialog box, click the Browse button to navigate to the
custom assembly.
6. In the Select Component dialog box, navigate to the C:\Reporting Services
Training\Workspace\AdventureWorks.Extensions\bin folder.
7. Select the AdventureWorks.Extensions.dll file and then click Open.
8. Click OK twice.
Ç Use the Custom Assembly

1. In Solution Explorer, click the Product Profitability.rdl report, and then click
the View Code button.
This displays the XML representation of the report.
Note the new tag <CodeModules></CodeModules> towards the top of the
report definition. This tag contains the assembly name, version and public
key. This information is used to identify the assembly in the Global
Assembly Cache.
2. Press <CTRL> + F to display the Find dialog box.
3. In the Find what textbox, type “Red” (including the quotation marks), and then
click the Find Next button. Keep the Find dialog box open.
This finds the first conditional format expression, the one for the detail line.
It looks like this:
<Color>=IIF(Me.Value<0.15,"Red","Black")</Color>
4. Replace IIF with AdventureWorks.Extensions.CommonFunctions.GetColor,

and delete everything between Value and the closing parenthesis. The finished
element should look like this:
<Color>=AdventureWorks.Extensions.CommonFunctions.
GetColor(Me.Value)</Color>
5. In the Find dialog box, click Find Next. Keep the Find dialog box open.
6. Again replace IIF with
AdventureWorks.Extensions.CommonFunctions.GetColor and delete
everything between the closing parentheses after Value and the final closing
parentheses. The finished element should look like this:
7. In the Find dialog box, click Find Next.
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8. In the Find dialog box, click Close.

9. Again replace IIF with GetColor and delete everything between the closing
parentheses after Value and the final closing parentheses. The finished element
should look like this:
10. Activate the Design tab for the report by clicking the Product Profitability.rdl
[Design] tab, and then click the Preview tab.
Now some of the locations are yellow, because they are below the 15% cut-
off value for green, but are above the 10% cut-off value for red.
Ç Reference a Report Parameter from Custom Assembly

1. In the View pane, click the Layout icon to return to layout view.
2. On the Report menu, click the Report Parameters.
3. Do the following steps to create a new parameter:
a. Click the Add button
b. In the Name textbox, type High
c. In Data type drop down list, click Float.
d. Clear the Allow null value checkbox.
Notice that the Available values option is Non-queried.
e. For the Default values option, click the Non-queried radio button.
f. In the Default values textbox, type 0.15
4. Repeat, adding a parameter named Low, with all the same options, except enter
0.1 in the Default values textbox, and then click OK to close the dialog box.
You now need to modify the GetColor function to use the parameter values.
Even though you created the Code tag at the top of the report, the Report
Designer moved it down to a lower place in the XML structure. You can
use Find to get to the Code section.
5. Click the Product Profitability.rdl [XML] tab.
6. Press Ctrl+F to display the Find dialog box.
7. In the Find what textbox, type Code and click Find Next, and then click Close.
8. In the GetColor function, replace 0.15 with Parameters!High.Value and replace
0.1 with Parameters!Low.Value.
Using a custom function allows you to change stoplight values in one place,
even though they are referenced three different times in the report.
9. Click the Design tab for the report and then in the View pane click the Preview
icon.
The report appears the same as before, because the default parameters are
the same as the old default values.
10. In the View pane, click the Layout icon to return to layout view.
11. On the Report menu, click the Report Parameters.
12. In the Parameters pane, click the High parameter.
13. In the Default values textbox, type 0.29
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14. In the Parameters pane, click the Low parameter.

15. In the Default values textbox, type 0.15 and then click OK.
16. In the View pane, click the Preview icon.
Many more of the values change to Red or Yellow. If you want to make
additional enhancements to the color calculation, you can do them in the
one custom function, rather than the three expressions scattered about the
report.
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Programming Reporting Services

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Programming Reporting Services

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Module 07:

 2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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 Lesson: Supporting User Access

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Lesson: Supporting User Access

 Using Web Services

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Using Web Services

 What Are Web Services?

What Are Web Services?

Why Does Reporting Services use Web Services?

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Discovering Server Information

Data Report Server

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Discovering Server Information - Purpose

 For creating custom applications

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Discovering Server Information - Logistics

 Create Web Reference (or proxy) to handle SOAP calls,

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Demonstration 1: Querying for Server Information

Ç Add a Web Reference to the Reporting Services Web Service

2. In the URL textbox, enter the following URL:

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Data Report Server Rendering

Output Formats Delivery Channels

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Rendering Reports - Purpose

 Web Pages – Links to Report Pages

There are a number of reasons to programmatically control the rendering of a report,

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Rendering Reports via URL Access

 For simple dashboard applications, web page links

The easiest way to programmatically access a report is by simply giving a URL to a

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Demonstration 2: Rendering Reports via URL Access

Ç Access a report via a URL link

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Rendering Reports via Web Service

 Create Web Reference (or proxy) to handle SOAP calls,

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Demonstration 3: Rendering Reports via Web Service

Ç Open a saved project and report

Ç Insert a rich textbox for output

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8. On the Debug menu, click Start to run the form.

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Lesson: Automating Report Management

Data Report Server

Output Formats Delivery Channels

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Automating Report Management

 Anything you can do with Report Manager

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Demonstration 4: Automating Report Management

Ç Open a saved project and report

Ç Add buttons for Adding and Deleting a report

2. Move the two new buttons below the ComboBox.

Ç Copy a report definition to an easy to type location

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Lesson: Supporting User Access

Using Web Services

What Are Web Services?

For creating custom applications

Create Web Reference (or proxy) to handle SOAP calls,

Web Pages – Links to Report Pages

For simple dashboard applications, web page links

Create Web Reference (or proxy) to handle SOAP calls,

Anything you can do with Report Manager

For batch automation without writing a full application

Web Service and URL Access

All management interface is through SOAP calls to

Create “add-ins” for Reporting Services

Create functions that you can call from within a report

Create a new VB .NET class library and add functions