Upgrading Reports

You can upgrade report definitions, published reports, and report snapshots when you upgrade a SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services installation to SQL Server 2005. SQL Server 2005 introduces changes to the Report Definition Language (RDL) and report object model that affects reports created in earlier versions of the software. Existing reports must be upgraded if they are to run on a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services report server.

Report definition (.rdl) files are upgraded when you open them in Report Designer. Published reports and snapshots are upgraded on first use after you upgrade the report server. When a report is upgraded, it is modified in the following ways:

  • The report definition namespace is upgraded to https://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2005/01/reportdefinition.
  • Actions element has been modified to support multiple actions. It can now contain more than one child element.
  • CustomReportItem element has been modified to support data-bound controls and report processing extensions. It includes child elements that describe the data that is used by the control, properties, and dimensions of the control in the report. The XML structure that you use with CustomReportItem is HTML-encoded upon upgrade in Report Designer, and will be decoded during report publishing to a report server.
  • Custom element has been replaced by a custom properties collection that contains name-value pairs. Upon upgrade, all instances of a custom element are mapped to a custom property in the custom properties collection.

After you upgrade a report, you might notice additional errors, warnings, and messages. This is the result of improvements to the internal report object model and processing components, which cause messages to appear when underlying problems in the report are detected. For more information about recent product changes that affect report parameters, see Behavior Changes in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.

Report Definition (.rdl) Files and Report Designer

Report definitions can be upgraded to a new namespace when you open an .rdl in the SQL Server 2005 version of Report Designer. You are prompted whether to upgrade the report definition when you open the report. Once you upgrade the report definition, you cannot open it in previous versions of Report Designer.

Report definitions are also upgraded when you publish or upload an .rdl file created in an earlier version of Reporting Services to a SQL Server 2005 report server. The report is published in the SQL Server 2005 version of RDL. The original file is not upgraded unless you open it in Report Designer.

Note

You cannot publish a report that has the SQL Server 2005 report definition namespace to a SQL Server 2000 report server.

You can run different versions of the Report Designer side-by-side on the same computer. For more information, see How to: Install Reporting Services Side-by-Side with an Earlier Version.

Published Reports and Report Snapshots

Published and stored reports are upgraded automatically, requiring no specific action on your part. Upgrading reports is performed on a first use basis. When a user opens a report or report snapshot, or when the report server processes a subscription, upgrading occurs. Once a published report or snapshot has been upgraded, you cannot run it on earlier versions of the product.

Versions Supported by Upgrade

You can upgrade reports that were created in the following versions of Reporting Services:

  • SQL Server 2000
  • SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 1
  • SQL Server 2000 with Service Pack 2.
  • SQL Server 2005 Beta 3
  • SQL Server 2005 product release to SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1.

See Also

Concepts

Upgrading Editions of Reporting Services

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance