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Comparing Interactive Functionality for Different Report Rendering Extensions

Reporting Services provides interactive reporting features that allow you to work with a report at run time. Not all of the report rendering formats support the full range of interactive features. You can use the following table to understand how each interactive feature works in specific formats.

Interactive Features in Different Output Formats

Reports that are rendered to XML, CSV, or Image formats do not support interactive features.

Ad hoc reports that you create in Report Builder and default reports that you view in Report Manager, SharePoint Web parts, or in a browser are rendered in HTML. HTML and Windows Forms are the only report output formats that fully support all interactive features. Alternate HTML formats (such as MHTML) support many interactive features. If exceptions for MHTML exist, they are noted in the following table.

Document maps

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    Interactive document map provides a navigation pane of hierarchical links that can be used to navigate to different sections of a report.

  • HTML
    Interactive document map provides a navigation pane of hierarchical links that can be used to navigate to different sections of a report.

  • PDF
    PDF renders a document map as the Bookmarks pane. All items in the document map are listed one after the other down the pane. It includes a hierarchy of links. If a page range is specified, only those bookmarks that are rendered exist in the hierarchy.

  • Excel
    Excel renders a document map as the first worksheet in the workbook. It includes a hierarchy of links. When the link in the document map is clicked, the appropriate target cell in the respective worksheet is opened.

  • Word
    Word renders the document map as Table of Contents labels.

  • Other
    Not available in MHTML, XML, CSV, or Image.

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    Users click on data values in the report to view related data in another report.

  • HTML
    Users click on data values in the report to view related data in another report.

  • PDF
    Drillthrough links are not available in PDF. Consider using hyperlinks for PDF reports that link to other pages.

  • Excel
    Drillthrough links are rendered in Excel.

    The link becomes a hyperlink pointing to the report referenced by the drillthrough link. Clicking the link opens a report in a browser window.

  • Word
    Drillthrough links are rendered in Excel.

    The link becomes a hyperlink pointing to the report referenced by the drillthrough link. Clicking the link opens a report in a browser window.

  • Other
    Not available in XML, CSV, or Image.

Toggle items within a report

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    Users click expand and collapse icons to view sections of a report.

  • HTML
    Users click expand and collapse icons to view sections of a report.

  • PDF
    The report server exports the current show or hide state of the report to PDF. Interactive toggling is not supported

  • Excel
    Drilldown links and items that can be toggled are rendered as collapsible outlines in Excel. You can expand and collapse sections of the report in Excel. For more information about Excel-imposed limitations, see Exporting to Microsoft Excel.

  • Word
    The report server exports the current show or hide state of the report to PDF. Interactive toggling is not supported

  • Other
    Not available in MHTML, XML, or CSV. When exporting to an Image format, the report server exports the current show or hide stated of the report to PDF. Interactive toggling is not supported.

Interactive sorting

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    For tabular repots, users click sort arrows on column to change how the data is sorted.

  • HTML
    For tabular repots, users click sort arrows on column to change how the data is sorted.

  • PDF
    Not available in PDF.

  • Excel
    Not available in Excel.

  • Word
    Not available in Word.

  • Other
    Not available in MHTML, XML, CSV, or Image.

Hyperlinks to external Web content or images

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    Users click links to open external Web pages in a new browser window.

  • HTML
    Users click links to open external Web pages in a new browser window.

  • PDF
    Hyperlinks are rendered by the PDF rendering extension. When a user clicks on a hyperlink, the linked pages are opened in the browser.

  • Excel
    Hyperlinks are rendered in Excel.

  • Word
    Hyperlinks are rendered in Excel.

  • Other
    Hyperlinks are not available in MHTML, XML, CSV, or Image.

    For MHTML, and Image, external images are rendered as a static picture.

Bookmark or anchor

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    Users click links to navigate to another section of the same report.

  • HTML
    Users click links to navigate to another section of the same report.

  • PDF
    Not available in PDF.

  • Excel
    Bookmarks are rendered in Excel.

    The bookmark becomes a hyperlink pointing to the name of the report item.

  • Word
    Bookmarks are rendered in Word.

    The bookmark becomes a hyperlink pointing to the bookmarked report item. Only 40 characters of a bookmark or anchor name is converted when the report is exported which can lead to duplicate bookmark or anchor names. Spaces are converted to underscores (_).

  • Other
    Not available in XML, CSV, or Image.

Parameters obtained at run time, user provides data values that are passed to a query during data processing

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    A parameter input area appears at the top of the report. This area is part of the HTML Viewer used to display reports in a browser.

  • HTML
    A parameter input area appears at the top of the report. This area is part of the HTML Viewer used to display reports in a browser.

  • PDF
    The report server exports the report to PDF using the parameter values currently in effect for the report.

  • Excel
    The report server exports the report to Excel using the parameter values currently in effect for the report.

  • Word
    The report server exports the report to Word using the parameter values currently in effect for the report.

  • Other
    The report server exports the report to other formats using the parameter values currently in effect for the report.

Filters applied at run time, user identity or other filter criteria selects a subset of the available data for the current user

  • Preview/Report Viewer
    The filtered data is displayed to the user at run time.

  • HTML
    The filtered data is displayed to the user at run time.

  • PDF
    The report server exports the report to PDF using filtered data in the current report.

  • Excel
    The report server exports the report to Excel using filtered data in the current report.

  • Word
    The report server exports the report to Word using filtered data in the current report.

  • Other
    The report server exports the report to other formats using filtered data in the current report.