Using RDLC files and Microsoft Report Viewer in ASP.NET

Great way to display data is using Microsoft Report Viewer on ASP.NET pages. However you don't want to create a new page for each report you generate. I came across this problem recently and decided that the best way for me would be to create just one page with a report viewer where I could display all my reports.


Now I'm going to show you how i did it...


Step 1

Under root folder I've created "Reports" folder. This is were I'm going to store all my reports (rdlc files) and a default page to display them.


Step 2

Create default.aspx under ~\Reports and place a MicrosoftReportViewer on it.


Step 3

Create new dataset "ReportsDataSet.xsd" under ~\App_Code. Here we are going to define the dataset classes.

The first datatable we need is for some general report parameters we would like to display on the report. So create a new datatable and add some columns to it. I've created a datatable called "Reports" with 3 columns - ReportName, ReportDate and Parameter1. I also addes some tables from Northwind database. Just drag and drop from server explorer.

Now it should look like this.



Step 4

Create a new report under ~\Reports lets call it "CustomersReport.rdlc"

Goto Report - Data Sources and add ReportDataSet_Reports and ReportDataSet_Customers to your report sow we can use them.



Step 5

Design your report using selected datasources.



Step 6

Open ~\Reports\default.aspx.cs and enter the following code.

This is a method which loads "CustomersReport" in here you can load all the reports you wish.

private void ShowReport(string Report_Name, string Parameter1)
    {
        //path for your reports
        string path = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath("~/Reports/");

        ReportViewer1.Reset(); //important
        ReportViewer1.ProcessingMode = Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.ProcessingMode.Local;
        Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.LocalReport r = ReportViewer1.LocalReport;
        r.ReportPath = path + Report_Name + ".rdlc";
        Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.ReportDataSource rds;


        // fill data parameters table so we can use it on reports
        DataTable dtReports = new ReportsDataSet.ReportsDataTable();
        DataRow drReports = dtReports.NewRow();
        drReports["ReportName"] = Report_Name;
        drReports["ReportDate"] = DateTime.Now;
        drReports["Parameter1"] = Parameter1;
        dtReports.Rows.Add(drReports);

        // add parameters table to report data source
        rds = new Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.ReportDataSource();
        rds.Name = "ReportsDataSet_Reports";
        rds.Value = dtReports;
        r.DataSources.Add(rds);


        if (Report_Name == "CustomersReport")
        {
            ReportsDataSet.CustomersDataTable dtCustomers = new ReportsDataSet.CustomersDataTable();
            ReportsDataSetTableAdapters.CustomersTableAdapter ad = new ReportsDataSetTableAdapters.CustomersTableAdapter();
            ad.Fill(dtCustomers);

            rds = new Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.ReportDataSource();
            rds.Name = "ReportsDataSet_Customers";
            rds.Value = dtCustomers;
            r.DataSources.Add(rds);
        }
    }

Now you can call this method within the ~\Reports\default.aspx page or you can call from other pages passing parameters. For that you will need this extra code.

protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        if (!IsPostBack)
        {
            string reportName = null;
            string parameter1 = null;

            if (this.Request.QueryString["ReportName"] != null)
                reportName = this.Request.QueryString["ReportName"];

            if (this.Request.QueryString["Parameter1"] != null)
                reportName = this.Request.QueryString["Parameter1"];

            if (reportName != null)
            {
                ShowReport(reportName, parameter1);
            }
        }
    }

I'm just going to put a link on the home page to test that all works fine.

<a href="Reports/Default.aspx?ReportName=CustomersReport">Customers Report</a>

Here is the result.