Building Reports from a DataSet using ReportViewer

Mahesh Chand

ReportReport From Data Set

21 Comments

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Jayson Dagsaan16y agoedited
Hi. your post about report viewer helps me alot..
Charlston Bajuyo17y ago
chand can u help me present a dynamically reportviewer datasource sample...tnx
- Mahesh Chand17y ago
  Look at Crystal Reports section on C# Corner. Link is in the left side of home page.
- naveen17y ago
  Hi Mahesh , I have seen ur dynamic reports creating forum. But i have a problem. My requirement is ,in a crystal report ,there are both static and dynamic records to be displayed. So i tried both table joined in a single dataset ,but dint work. So i tried putting two data set ,but im getting error like crystal report server failed So how to bind two tables in one dataset ,and how to give sql connections and reportserver Kindly guide me. Regards Naveen
Anthony Fonseca18y ago
Hi Mahesh I saw some of your articles and are very interesting. I am learning visual basic 2005 and i did a table in SQL 2005, using Visual Studio 2005 and attached to a form. Everyday a post in it some transactions and i specify them using the date i posted it. So at the end of the month i want to pull data to the report using a date between 09/01/08 to 09/30/08, but i can't do that. Could you please help me how to do that? Thanks Tony
- Mahesh Chand17y ago
  You need to pass start date and end date parameters to your report OR you can pass these parameters to your database and get data for that date range. In the Crystal Reports section, I have any article on how to pass parameters to a crystal report. Go to Crystal Reports section of this site.
Martin Mbonu18y ago
Great tutorial. but what if I want to do all this using codes, how do I go about it. I mean using my own sql query
- Mahesh Chand18y ago
  I would probably execute SQL query and fill in a DataSet and then go from there.
Eng Wei Chua18y ago
Hi Mahesh I want to move the order of column, let say by default the column is Name, Age, Phone. I want to make it dynamic for user to let them change the order of column to Age, Name, Phone. Name, Age, Phone and so on. Is this possible to do that? Thanks
logesh kasi18y ago
I need to create a single rdlc file and use that in many projects, i have written the rdlc file in Class library, i a windows application.can you please help me out. Thanks in advance
- Mahesh Chand17y ago
  There are two ways to do it. If you are using Crystal Enterprise, you can reference a server report in multiple applications. Otherwise. you will have to copy your report to each project individually.
Dan Umstattd18y ago
I want to allow the user to change which query(dataset) they are running by selecting a value from a report parameter. Any Ideas how this could be done?
santo19y ago
Hi, Thanks for the article.It works fine if i specify databasec connection and create a dataset with table from dataset.But wht iam trying to do is iam getting a string of values which i need to convert it to dataset by declaring columns in code.Then i need to display the report with the data in dataset.Currently i created a xsd and able to drag columns to the table in rlc file.DataSet ds1 = new DataSet(); ds1 = GetVlaues(); int count = ds1.Tables[0].Rows.Count; DataTable1BindingSource.DataSource = ds1; this.reportViewer1.RefreshReport(); THis is the code iam using in form load event.Iam getting runtime error as a datasource instance as not been supplied for datasource. Let me know if you can help with this issue. Thank you
Edward Joell19y agoedited
Tried to do getting started methodology with Web page. However, Web page shows error message no datasource has been instantiated for datasource1_tblComments. Then tried to follow this tutorial for Web page. However data menu for WebForm does not show Add New datasource and there is no way to bring up Data Source Configuration Wizard. In addition, initially the building datasource wizard would not allow me to select the stored procedure I desired to show the data, instead reporting that it did not exist. I had to created another datasource for the same database and the sa user in order to see the stored proc I desired to use. I then created a windows Forms project to test out the methodology in this article. However, after dragging the table onto the report visual interface, I was unable to see any columns in the stored Procedure I desired to use to drag into the Report Table. At no point was I able to get to the point of displaying data from my stored procedure. I then returned to my web application and created the report object using a table in the database vice the real resultset that I need. It was my intent to create the report then change the dataset to that I need the way it was done it the above example. (I was not and am not sure how this change of data set is going to update the columns established in the table in the report object interface designer, but I decided that was an issue I could tackle later.) After adding the report to the reportviewer, I tried to change the datasource of the the objectdatasource that appeared on the page. This was not permitted. I then tried to create a local report object programmatically as shown in the MSDN localreport class example. I was able to successfully add the new datasource to the localreport object instantiated, but then was not able to programmatically add the localreport thus created to the reportview as the localreport property of the viewer is readonly. Perhaps you could redo the above step by step example as a web page using a stored procedure with parameters (all with default values) as the data source? Thanks
mahmoud beshr19y ago
hello mahesh , the tutorial is very nice but when i creat the report in the datasource conf wizard i didnt find the reportxml file in the list but all the steps was exist and working expect that step (imusing mysql database and and ODBC V 3.51.12 ) , when i was trying to creat and format the report , i didnt find the table i need in the toolbox it was empty please help ..............
- Mahesh Chand19y ago
  The file is .XSD. You need to create a typed DataSet from the database table. If it was not created using the connection wizard, you can add a new item to the project and select DataSet query. It will add a .XSD file. Now, simply drag database table from Database Explorer. Alternatively, you can create a DataAdapter by dragging OdbcDataAdapter from the Toolbox and connect it with your database and get data from tables using the Wizard. Once OdbcDataAdapter is created, right click on it and select Generate DataSet. This will generate a typed DataSet (.XSD) file.
Thabang Matlatle19y ago
How do i pass parameter values on reportviewer using textboxes and a button to query
Srivatsa Haridas19y ago
Hi Mahesh Is there any way to get the columns dynamically during runtime using Reports. Say i want Name and Age initially. I select Name and Age in the form ... i generate a report out of it ... Again next time i want Name,Age and Phone... Is this supported in the ReportViewer in .NET Thanx in advance for the info Srivatsa
- Mahesh Chand19y ago
  Srivatsa, To do this, I would suggest you create a report with all possible columns in your database and show/hide columns dynamically. So you may have to pass parameters to the report for each column as True or False and column will be displayed only when the parameter value if True. So if you want Age and Name columns to be displayed only, pass True for these two columns and False for rest. On Suppress property of the Reports column, check if Parameter value is False then return True else return False.
- Vikash19y ago
  Thanks for such a nice tutorial. I have a small question. Can we have name, age and phone no in 3 rows and the corresponding value in column i.e. I want to transpose the rows and columns and want to generate dynamic column(for every user 1 column will be added). Can we do this?
- Yogendra16y ago
  HI, Can you please help me to use image at runtime to show image for each and every record. Thanks

In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to create reports from a Database using a DataSet and the ReportViewer control and Visual Studio 2005.

Step 1. Generate a Typed DataSet

First of all, we need a typed DataSet that will represent the data types. You can generate a typed DataSet from a database table, stored procedure, and a view or from a SQL query. After generating the typed DataSet, report generation is same.

Right click on the project in Solution Explorer, select Add >> New Item and select DataSet from the list.

Change DataSet1.xsd to Company.xsd. After adding the DataSet, you will see the designer. On the designer, click Server Explorer link, which will let you create a Database connection and can view database objects including tables, views, and stored procedures.

Drag a database table, or view, or stored procedure where you want to display the data from and it will create a DataSet schema for you. Once you have a typed DataSet, just follow these steps.

Before that, make sure you Rebuild the project.

Step 2. Create a Report

Now we will add a new report file to the project. Right click on the project in Solution Explorer and select Add >> New Item and select Report from the Items list. It will add Report1.rdlc file to the project.

Once the report is added, our next step is to add a data source. First double click on the Form and select Data Menu item from the Main Menu. Click on Data Menu item and select Add New Data Source item.

It will launch Data Source Configuration Wizard. Select Object from the list and click the Next button on the Wizard. See Figure 1.

Figure 1.

On next dialog, you should see all namespaces and classes in your project. Expand your namespace and you will see class Company. See Figure 2.

Figure 2.

Select Company class and click the Next button. On next dialog, you will see a confirmation message. Select Finish there and get out of the wizard.

Now double click on the Report1.rdlc file and you should see Figure 3 in your Data Sources window.