By far, the most popular posting on this site is Visual Studio 2008 & Business Intelligence Development Studio (Troubleshooting). The post currently has over 60 comments. It seems that here’s a lot of confusion about ways in which developers and report designers can get the tools they need to create and manage SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) reports. If you’re trying to work with the Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) with SQL Server 2005 or SQL Server 2008, or you’re planning to use Report Builder 2.0, that post should point you in the right direction.
So now that SQL Server 2008 R2 has been released, what’s the story for report development? Fortunately, it’s not quite as confusing. The primary tool you’ll use for developing reports is Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Report Builder 3.0. You can download it manually using the link to the Microsoft Download site, or you can install it using ClickOnce by loading your Reporting Services web site (e.g., http://localhost/Reports). The download is also available as part of the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Feature Pack (along with a wide variety of other tools and utilities). Report Builder 3.0 supports the creation of reports for both SQL Server 2008 and the R2 version.
If you’re moving to (or testing) the RTM version of SQL Server 2008 R2, Report Builder 3.0 is likely the best way to get acquainted with the new features of this release. And, thankfully, the migration process should be much simpler than it was for previous versions of SSRS. A great resource for more information is the MSDN SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services Forum. Or, if you have any questions, feel free to post them here.
#1 by Aruna on July 13, 2010 - 6:48 pm
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Hi Anil,
I recently installed MS SQL Server 2008 R2 on my computer. I’m taking the SQL Server 2008 courses and wanted to practice at home. I am not able to find Business Intelligence Development Studio. I see Visual Studio on my computer but no BIDS. what am I doing wrong here? Let me know, thank you.
Aruna
#2 by Anil Desai on July 14, 2010 - 8:39 am
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Aruna: I believe the first link in the post above describes your problem and the solution. You should just be able to re-run SQL Server 2008 R2′s setup process and make sure that the Workstation Components option (also called “Client Tools”) is installed. I hope this helps!
- Anil
#3 by Aruna on July 14, 2010 - 11:26 pm
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Thank you Anil. I did see this link before but I had only read a few of the notes. I had to reinstall and choose BIDS
Thank you.
#4 by Pavan on July 31, 2010 - 11:29 pm
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Hello Anil,
I am new to Reporting Services (SSRS) and I am trying to develop an application wherein I need to display the .rdl files in the ReportViewer Control but I get an Error Message as below: “RDL version may not be compatible with ReportViewer version. To view 2008 RDLs you need Visual Studio 2010.”
I am using VS 2008 & SQL Server-2008.
Any help on this would really be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
PavanKumar Sriramula
#5 by Anil Desai on August 1, 2010 - 7:27 am
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Hi, Pavan. Though I have used the ReportViewer control in both ASP.NET and Windows Forms applications in the past, I haven’t run into this issue before. I know that there might be some issues between SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2′s report formats and features, but your configuration looks pretty common. I suggest you post your question to the Microsoft Reporting Services forum at http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/sqlreportingservices/threads. Hopefully, someone there will have some better information. I hope that helps!
- Anil
#6 by Pavan on August 2, 2010 - 2:14 am
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Thanks for the information Anil. . .
#7 by Poonam on August 18, 2010 - 9:34 am
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HI Anil
I have just started using ReportBuilder 3 for the first time, are there any books out there for ‘beginners’. I am interested in learning how to create subqueries and subreports etc
#8 by Anil Desai on August 18, 2010 - 9:41 am
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Poonam: I would recommend starting with some the built-in help that’s included with Report Builder 3.0. It’s designed more as a reference than as something you’d read cover-to-cover, but it does include a lot of helpful information that goes beyond the basics of report design. If you’re completely new to reporting in general, though, there are several books on SQL Server Reporting Services which should provide a good background. I can’t recommend any specific titles, though. I hope this helps!