Find the Report Definition Schema Version (SSRS)

A report definition file specifies the RDL namespace for the version of the report definition schema that is used to validate the rdl file. When you open an .rdl file in a report authoring environment such as Report Designer in SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), Visual Studio, or Report Builder. If the report was created for a previous namespace, a backup file is automatically created, and the report is upgraded to the current namespace. If you save the upgraded report definition, you have saved the converted .rdl file. This is the only way to upgrade a report definition. The report definition itself is not upgraded on a report server. The compiled report is upgraded on a report server. For more information, see Upgrade Reports.

How to: Identify the RDL schema version of a report

  1. Open the report .rdl file in an application such as Notepad or XML Notepad, in which you can view the XML.

    The XML Report element specifies the schema namespace. For example, the following Report element specifies the namespace for Report Designer and the namespace for the report definition.

    <Report xmlns:rd="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQLServer/reporting/reportdesigner" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2016/01/reportdefinition" xmlns:df="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2016/01/reportdefinition/defaultfontfamily" MustUnderstand="df">  
    

    The most recent report definition namespace is 2016. However, the most recent published report definition namespace is 2010, specified by the following URL: https://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2010/01/reportdefinition..

How to: Identify the RDL schema version of Report Designer

  1. Open a new project. The version of the project that you choose determines the version of the RDL schema. In SQL Server, more than one schema version is supported. For more information, see Deployment and Version Support in SQL Server Data Tools.

  2. On the Project menu, click Add New Item. The Add New Item dialog box opens.

  3. In the Templates pane, click Report.

  4. In Name, type a report name or accept the default.

  5. Click Add. Report Designer opens a new blank report in Design view.

  6. On the View menu, click Code. The report definition is displayed as an XML file.

    The XML Report element specifies the schema namespace. For example, the following Report element specifies the namespace for Report Designer and the namespace for the report definition.

    <Report xmlns:rd="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQLServer/reporting/reportdesigner" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/*year*/01/reportdefinition" xmlns:df="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/*year*/01/reportdefinition/defaultfontfamily" MustUnderstand="df">  
    

    The report definition namespace is specified by the following URL: https://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/*year*/01/reportdefinition

How to: Identify the RDL schema version on the Report Server

  • In the web portal, type the URL for the report server. For example, the following URL specifies a report server on the local computer:

    https://localhost/reportserver/reportdefinition.xsd

    The .xsd file opens in the browser.

    The XML schema element specifies the schema namespace. For example, the following schema element specifies three namespaces: the targetNamespace reference that is used internally by Visual Studio, the xsd reference for the schema itself (xsd), and the report definition reference. Year represents the year of the schema the report is using. For example, 2010 or 2016.

    <xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/*year*/01/reportdefinition" targetNamespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/*year*/01/reportdefinition" elementFormDefault="qualified">  
    

    The report definition namespace is specified by the following URL: https://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/*year*/01/reportdefinition

Next steps

Upgrade Reports
Report Definition Language

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