Can SSRS use an ASP.NET dataset?

We find that quite often we have devoted a great deal of work in our asp.net
application to generate just the right dataset. Now we want to produce a
report from it. Is there any way just to pass our existing dataset to
reporting services instead of having to re-inquire, re-filter, re-join, etc?
thanks,
THI Tim,
> We find that quite often we have devoted a great deal of work in our
asp.net
> application to generate just the right dataset. Now we want to produce a
> report from it. Is there any way just to pass our existing dataset to
> reporting services instead of having to re-inquire, re-filter, re-join,
etc?
Yes, I have solved the same question.
I have implemented a custom RS DataExtension. The DataExtension use a
System.Data.Dataset as data source.
At report design time I use an XML file to load schema and sample data.
When I must cosume the report from my ASP.NET application I use
ReportingServices web service (render method) and I pass my dataset as
parameters... I pass dataset as XML String: your custom DataExtension must
be able to treat it.
The dataset must have a compatible schema with dataset you have used to
design report.
You can find a sample of DataExtension implementation in your folder
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL\Reporting
Services\Samples\Extensions\FsiDataExtension".
HTH M.rkino
--
Marco Barzaghi - [MVP - MCP]
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com - http://italy.mvps.org
UGIDotNet - User Group Italiano .NET, http://www.ugidotnet.org
Read my WebLog: http://www.ugidotnet.org/436.blog|||Marco has a good solution if you must do it this way. But look at the hoops
to go through. First you have to write a data extension (although this could
be done just once). But then look at what you have to do with every report
you want to do. You have to have an xml defining the schema with some sample
data. This will definitely affect productivity in creating reports plus it
raises the skill level necessary to create reports. My feeling is that a
better direction to take is to put the logic into a stored procedure. If you
have code that ends up with a dataset in your asp application then someone
can easily look at it and create a stored procedure. I have been doing that
some when taking reports written in C. Although, when people work in
something like C, C#, VB they don't tend to solve the solution in a set
based manner so sometimes you are better off to totally rewrite the logic.
Anyway, once it is in a stored procedure then both your asp application and
RS can use it. RS supports stored procedures quite well (at least with SQL
Server, I have tried unsuccessfully with Sybase 11.x). My guess is the
effort to encapsulate the logic into a stored procedure will be no greater
than going through the hoops for a data extension. Once Yukon comes out then
this would be even easier to port your code to a stored procedure but for
now you would need to use T-SQL.
Now, in some cases you can not use a stored procedure easily in which case
Marco's solution is a very elegant one.
Bruce L-C
"Tim Seaburn" <tims@.removespamexcite.com> wrote in message
news:OIwXtK1WEHA.2852@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> We find that quite often we have devoted a great deal of work in our
asp.net
> application to generate just the right dataset. Now we want to produce a
> report from it. Is there any way just to pass our existing dataset to
> reporting services instead of having to re-inquire, re-filter, re-join,
etc?
> thanks,
> T
>