Tutorial: Updating Reports Using Classes Generated from the RDL Schema

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New: 17 July 2006

This tutorial illustrates how to use the XML Schema Definition Tool (Xsd.exe) to generate classes that allow you to serialize and deserialize report definition files (.rdl and .rdlc) with the Microsoft .NET Framework XmlSerializer class.

What You Will Learn

During the course of this tutorial, you will complete the following activities:

  • Create an application using the Microsoft Visual Studio Console Application project template.
  • Generate classes from the Report Definition Language (RDL) schema using the xsd tool.
  • Connect to a report server and retrieve a report definition.
  • Write code to update the report definition file.
  • Save the updated report definition back to the report server.

Requirements

To complete the tutorial, you must have the following:

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2005.
  • Sufficient permissions to be able to access and publish reports to the Report Server Web service on the computer where your report server is located.
  • The AdventureWorks sample database installed to an instance of SQL Server 2005.
  • A report installed on your report server. This tutorial uses the sample report, Company Sales. For more information about sample reports, see AdventureWorks Report Samples.

Note

The samples are not installed automatically during setup, but you can install them at any time. For information about installing the samples, see Installing Samples.

Estimated time to complete the tutorial: 30 minutes

Tasks

Lesson 1: Create the RDL Schema Visual Studio Project

Lesson 2: Generate Classes from the RDL Schema using the xsd Tool

Lesson 3: Load a Report Definition from the Report Server

Lesson 4: Update the Report Definition Programmatically

Lesson 5: Publish the Report Definition to the Report Server

Lesson 6: Run the RDL Schema Application (VB/C#)

Note

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See Also

Tasks

Tutorial: Generating RDL Using the .NET Framework

Concepts

Reporting Services Tutorials

Other Resources

Report Samples (Reporting Services)
Installing AdventureWorks Sample Databases and Samples
Report Definition Language

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance