.NET

Upgrading to Reporting Services 2008 in Visual Studio 2010

Upgrading to SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 requires a few changes in your Visual Studio 2010 projects.

First you need to remove your old Reference to Microsoft Reporting.WebForms (Version 9.0.0.0). Then add the Reference to the Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms for Version 10.0.0.0. Right mouse-click on your project Reference like this –>

Add a Reference to the Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms Control

If you use any embedded reports on any Web Forms, you need to change the Assembly Reference directive in your .aspx file from 9.0.0.0 to 10.0.0.0
<%@ Register assembly=”Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a” namespace=”Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms” tagprefix=”rsweb” %>

For SSRS 2008, you must add Microsofts ScriptManager control to the form.

Visual Studio 2010 Script Manager

Finally, in your Web.config, all references to the ReportViewer controls 9.0.0.0 need to be changed to 10.0.0.0.
Here is an example web.config (the key areas are bolded) –>

<?xml version=”1.0″?>

<!–

For more information on how to configure your ASP.NET application, please visit

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=169433

–>

<configuration>

<system.web>

<compilation debug=”true” targetFramework=”4.0″>

<assemblies>

<add assembly=”System.Web.DataVisualization, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31BF3856AD364E35″ />

</assemblies>

<buildProviders>

<add extension=”.rdlc” type=”Microsoft.Reporting.RdlBuildProvider, Microsoft.ReportViewer.Common, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a” />

</buildProviders>

</compilation>

<httpHandlers>

<add verb=”*” path=”Reserved.ReportViewerWebControl.axd” type = “Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.HttpHandler, Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a” />

</httpHandlers>

</system.web>

<system.webServer>

<handlers>

<remove name=”ReportViewerWebControlHandler” />

<add name=”ReportViewerWebControlHandler” preCondition=”integratedMode” verb=”*” path=”Reserved.ReportViewerWebControl.axd” type=”Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms.HttpHandler, Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=10.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a” />

</handlers>

</system.webServer>

</configuration>

One last item that may happen, in your IIS Settings, be sure there are no global provider references. Verify this by going to Start->Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.  Then click on your computer name on the left navigation tree, then double-click on Handler Mappings. Just verify there is no mapping for .rdlc files. If there is, you must decide if you want to delete it. Other applications may be using older Reporting Services files. If you are unsure, save a screenshot of the settings, then delete the reference. If there is a problem, reenter the original reference.

You should now have built your project and are successfully running reports in your application with Visual Studio. When you publish up to a website, you may run into another issue. If you have not installed Visual Studio 2010 on your web server (hopefully you did not), you will need to install the Report Viewer runtime. You can download the 2010 version here from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/confirmation.aspx?FamilyID=A941C6B2-64DD-4D03-9CA7-4017A0D164FD). Reboot your web server and you should now have running reports.

You should now be ready to take advantage of all of the new features of SSRS 2008!

Adding custom palettes to Dundas pie charts in .NET 3.5x

One of the new features in Dundas 6.x and above, is the ability to create custom palettes of colors and apply them to pie charts. This way you no longer have to settle for Dundas’s default fluffy colors. In order to change the color palette, create a Color array and assign it to the series like this:

Color[] clrSteps = new Color[] {
Color.Red,
Color.Green,
Color.Magenta,
Color.Blue,
Color.LightBlue,
Color.Coral,
Color.LightCyan,
Color.Goldenrod,
Color.Gray,
Color.GreenYellow,
Color.Honeydew,
Color.Ivory,
Color.Khaki,
Color.Lavender
};
yourPieChart.PaletteCustomColors = clrSteps;

Now your pie chart will start with red for the first slice, then continue to use the clrSteps array for each slice’s color. If there are more slices than colors you’ve provided, don’t worry, Dundas will start at the beginning color in the array and continue through all of the colors as many times as needed.