Referencing assemblies in an RDL file

To support the use of custom code assemblies in report definition files, two Report Definition Language (RDL) elements are included in the RDL specification: the CodeModules element and the Classes element.

The CodeModules element enables you to refer to managed code assemblies in report expressions. CodeModules is a top-level element that contains the reference to the assembly that you use in your report definition files to call specialized functions. An entry in a report definition that supports the use of a custom assembly might look like the following example:

<CodeModules>  
   <CodeModule>CurrencyConversion, Version=1.0.1363.31103, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null</CodeModule>  
</CodeModules>  

Instead of calling Load from your custom code, register your custom assemblies by either manually adding CodeModule elements to your RDL file or by using the References tab of the Report Properties dialog. For more information, see Custom Code and Assembly References in Expressions in Report Designer (SSRS).

The Classes element supports the use of instance members in a report definition. Classes is a top-level element that contains a reference to the class name and an instance name. An entry in a report definition that supports the use of instance members might look like the following example:

<Classes>  
   <Class>  
      <ClassName>CurrencyConversion.DollarCurrencyConversion</ClassName>  
      <InstanceName>m_myDollarConversion</InstanceName>  
   </Class>  
</Classes>  

For more information, see Accessing Custom Assemblies Through Expressions.

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Using Custom Assemblies with Reports