Viewing SSRS Reports with FlexViewer
Having a viewer to preview SSRS reports is the most crucial requirement for any reporting tool. FlexViewer not only takes care of this requirement, but it also supports a number of SSRS report features. In addition, it provides an extensive API to customize the viewer per user needs.
How to Bind FlexViewer with SSRS Report Server
To view SSRS reports that are hosted on a report server, follow these basic steps to bind the server with FlexViewer:
- Create a Windows application in C# or Visual Basic.
- Under C1WinForms 4.0 toolbox tab, locate C1FlexViewer and C1SSRSDocumentSource and drop them on the form.
FlexViewer Toolbox SSRS DocumentSource Toolbox Observe that C1SSRSDocumentSource drops in component tray. 3. Select C1SSRSDocumentSource and set the DocumentLocation and Connection > Credentials properties as per the Report server on which your SSRS reports are hosted. FlexViewer SSRS Document Location SSRS FlexViewer Credentials
Select C1FlexViewer and set DocumentSource to c1SSRSDocumentSource1.
Run the project and the SSRS report is previewed in FlexViewer.
Adding Parameter Value to SSRS Reports
Now let's see how to add a parameter value to existing report parameter:
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
c1SSRSDocumentSource1.DocumentLocation =
new SSRSReportLocation("http://ssrs.componentone.com:8000/ReportServer", "AdventureWorks/Sales Order Detail");
c1SSRSDocumentSource1.ValidateParameters();
c1SSRSDocumentSource1.Parameters[0].Value = "SO43661";
c1FlexViewer1.DocumentSource = c1SSRSDocumentSource1;
}
private void c1SSRSDocumentSource1_SecurityError(object sender, C1.Win.C1Document.SecurityErrorEventArgs e)
{
var ds = (C1.Win.C1Document.C1SSRSDocumentSource)sender;
ds.Credential = new System.Net.NetworkCredential("ssrs_demo", "*");
e.Retry = true;
}
}
This is how the parameter appears in the Parameter panel at runtime: Parameter in FlexViewer
FlexViewer Compared with Microsoft Report Viewer
Here's a feature comparison of FlexViewer with MS Report Viewer w.r.t. SSRS reports:
Viewer Features
FlexViewer
MS Report Viewer
UI Look
Modern Ribbon-based UI
Traditional UI WinForms Style
Print Layout
✔
✔
Refresh Report
✔
✔
Stop Report Processing
✔
✔
Interactivity with SSRS Report
Parameters
✔
✔
Outlines (Bookmarks)
✔
✔
Thumbnails
✔
-
Drill-through to other report
✔
✔
Drill-down reports
✔
✔
Jump within report
✔
✔
Sorting reports with Sort button
✔
✔
Page Navigation
Previous Page
✔
✔
Next Page
✔
✔
First Page
✔
✔
Last Page
✔
✔
History Back button
✔
-
History Forward button
✔
-
Zoom
Zoom In/Out Buttons
✔
-
Set Report to Page Width
✔
✔
Set Report to Whole Page
✔
✔
Set Report to Actual Size
✔
-
Custom Zoom (Set Zoom Percentage)
✔
✔
Facing Pages, Cover on Right
✔
-
Continuous
✔
-
Page Columns
✔
-
Export SSRS Report
PDF (.pdf)
✔
✔
Excel (.xls)
✔
-
Excel (.xlsx)
-
✔
Word (.doc)
✔
-
Word (.docx)
-
✔
Web Archive (.mhtml)
✔
✔
CSV (.csv)
✔
✔
Tiff Image (.tiff)
✔
✔
BmpImage (.bmp)
✔
-
Enhanced Meta file(.emf)
✔
-
Gif Image (.gif)
✔
-
Jpeg Image (.jpg)
✔
-
Png Image (.png)
✔
-
XML File
-
✔
Set Page Orientation Directly in Viewwer
Portrait button
✔
-
Landscape button
✔
-
Page Setup
✔
✔
Find
Find string Textbox
✔
✔
Next/Previous Occurrences
✔
✔
Match Case
✔
-
Whole word
✔
-
Tools
Hand Tool
✔
-
Text Selection
✔
-
Copy Text
✔
-
Note: In FlexViewer, zoom options like Facing, Portrait, Landscape, Page setup, Print, and Thumbnails are available only when Print Layout mode is turned on.