So we have a unique situation. I have 2300+ RDLs that we have in TFS that our team works on. These are deployed to 100+ different folders on the SSRS Server, and must stay that way as each folder is secured with it's own AD Group so users can't see each others folders/reports.
The problem with Visual Studio is that each folder has to be it's own project to manage the RDLs in Visual Studio. So my workaround is that I have a project in VS but then made my own folder with all of these RDL's and their own subfolder via Source Code Explorer. So when I try to edit the rdl with Visual studio it just opens it as xml and not the report designer. My work-around is that we associate the .rdl file with Report Builder, but I'd rather just use Visual Studio.
Any way to get VS to open the report designer this way? I am only interested in editing the rdl's this way, not using VS To deploy the reports.
You could try VS extension Microsoft Reporting Services Projects, which can be downloaded from website below:
https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ProBITools.MicrosoftReportProjectsforVisualStudio
Or try the solution in case How to open .rdl file in visual studio :
In order to see a designer you need to give Visual Studio a bit of
context about what sort of file it is by making it part of a Report
Server Project.
Install SSDT for Visual Studio if you haven't already done so
Create a new project using the 'Report Server Project' template
Copy/move the .rdl file(s) you have into the folder for the newly created project (eg ..\Visual Studio 2015\Projects\My Report
Project\My Report Project)
Use the "Add Existing Item..." context menu option in Solution Explorer to add the .rdl to the project
Open report designer by double-clicking the newly added report project item(s)
There is one tool available in market IDSNext-Gen. The company name is Agnisys Inc.
Related
I have an .rdl file that I need to open in Visual Studio. When I try to open this file, I got an XML file. However, I am unable to see the designer format.
I don't know which version of Visual Studio is used to create this .rdl file.
Is it possible to open a random .rdl file in Visual Studio and see the designer format and, if so, how can I do that?
Correct, the Report Definition Language is just XML. And, as with any other file, you can just open it (File/Open/File...) in Visual Studio, just like in a text editor. In order to see a designer you need to give Visual Studio a bit of context about what sort of file it is by making it part of a Report Server Project.
Install SSDT for Visual Studio if you haven't already done so
Create a new project using the 'Report Server Project' template
Copy/move the .rdl file(s) you have into the folder for the newly created project (eg ..\Visual Studio 2015\Projects\My Report Project\My Report Project)
Use the "Add Existing Item..." context menu option in Solution Explorer to add the .rdl to the project
Open report designer by double-clicking the newly added report project item(s)
For opening RDL file in designer make sure you have "
Microsoft Reporting Services Projects" Installed.
Refer this : https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ProBITools.MicrosoftReportProjectsforVisualStudio
Once you have the needed extensions (Microsoft Reporting Services, Report Designer) installed and everything updated, what worked for me was to open the .rptproj project, and then open the needed .rdl.
In my case, I was opening the folder and not the project file.
Once I opened the project directly, the reports were opening with the report editor, not the xml editor.
The standard method of implementing a Reporting Services report template is to create an .RDL (report file) and place it in the Visual Studio Report Project template folder at C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 10.0\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies\ProjectItems\ReportProject
Since this is a purely local approach, is there a way to implement a shared and source controlled template that can be used from the new item menu?
Our current solution for this issue is to store our templates in our report solution, and copy/paste them for new reports. Just wondering if there's a better alternative.
You need to create this as a .vsix extension and then share it. If you update the package and version all Visual Studio instanced that have it installed will prompt the user to update.
How to: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/vsx/2014/06/10/creating-a-vsix-deployable-project-or-item-template-with-custom-wizard-support/
Although you can setup your own repo to load it from, It's much easyer to use http://marketplace.visualstudio.com for distribution.
Visual Studio seems to consist of a single solution file (*.sln) along with one or more project files (a C# project would have the *.csproj extension).
I have been playing around with a console application that parses existing directory entries to create solution files with the associated project files.
It works, but every time I run into a new project here at work I find myself spending a week or more debugging my console project so that it can churn out a solution for that particular work project.
Is there something out there already that can create a VS solution out of an existing file structure?
As you can tell from my screen capture below, these projects are nested very deep, so it would take a very long time to do this with the apps folder below with the "by mouse" technique in the Visual Studio IDE.
I created the custom console application that is posted in this post:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/22153536/153923
I invite others to contribute how they approached this solution, though.
So, I found out today that this feature already exists in Visual Studio.
Link 1: How to: Create a Project from Existing Code Files
Link 2: How to: Create a Project from Existing Code Files
Basically, though, it says this (just in case the MSDN links get changed or deleted):
You can create a Visual Studio project from an existing app—for example, an app that you obtained from an online source. Project and solution files are created on your computer and the other relevant files are added. A project can be created from Visual C++, Visual Basic, or Visual C# code files.
Security note Security Note
We recommend that you determine the trustworthiness of existing code files before you import them into Visual Studio, because Visual Studio will execute some of the code in a fully trusted process when you open the newly created project.
To create a project from existing code files
On the menu bar, choose File, New, Project From Existing Code.
The Create New Project from Existing Code Files wizard opens.
Use the wizard to specify the details of the existing code files that will be added to the project and the application that will be created when you build the project.
Another good answer was given by cbp in Visual Studio: Create a web application from existing code:
--
OK I figured it out. It's weird, but the following steps will work:
Open fresh copy of Visual Studio
File->New Project, select Web Application
Use the following settings:
Name: Website (this is the name of the existing folder with the website files in it)
Location: C:\Temp\ (anywhere will do for now)
Solution Name: TheProject (name of the existing project's root folder)
Check "Create directory for solution"
Delete the auto-created Default, Global and Web.config files
Save All and close Visual Studio
In Windows Explorer, copy the new folder on top of the existing folder so that the files are merged.
Double click on the sln file to open Visual Studio again.
Select "Show all files" (at the top of Solution Explorer)
Right click on any files or folders you want to add and select Include in Project.
Great idea!
I have Visual Studio 2012 solution with multiple BI projects. One of the SSIS projects do not show all the ssis packages in the Solution Explorer (checked in by another teammember). But the missing files are in the TFS (Source Control Explorer) and are visible in the physical folder.
I tried "Show all files" did not work.
I tried adding the file again but the project does not allow that saying "file with same name exists".
Any idea what is going on here
The authoritative source of what's in a project is going to be the ProjectName.dtproj file.
Inside of that will be entries for the packages that comprise the project. For a non-package deployment model, it's trivial to edit the file by hand and make your stuff show up.
It's way too much effort to do that by hand for a 2012+ project deployment model. Open the Project in Visual Studio (ssdt/bids) and right click on the project. Click Add Existing Item (not add package) and then click the "missing" package. Check your .dtproj file in and all is right with the world.
I had the same issue in 2020, I managed to solve it by building the solution.
On the menu select Build-> Build Solution OR Ctrl+Shift+B
Visual Studio 2012 (and 2010, too) has a Start Page that has links and streamed videos. Is it possible for my package to provide content on this page, e.g., create a separate section next to Welcome/Windows 8/etc.?
I finally got a custom start page working in VS2012 - my issue was I could not install the Start Page Project Template in 2012 as the extension only installs on 2010 (which I don't have access to) and my My Documents folder is mapped to a network drive, so putting the raw XAML file in My Documents/Visual Studio 2012/Startpages didn't work as Visual Studio refused to use this "untrustworthy file".
Download the Start Page Template from here.
Rename the file to .zip and extract it.
Copy the "\Solution\CSharp\Extensibility\StartPage.zip" file to your project template folder (by default "My Documents\Visual Studio 2012\Templates\ProjectTemplates\Visual C#").
Create a new project using this template.
Follow the instructions here to upgrade from 2010 to 2012 start page.
Update the project properties target framework to 4.5.
Update the project references in the Control project by removing the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.10.0 reference and adding the Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.11.0 and Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Immutable.11.0 references.
Update the namespaces references in the xaml file by replacing the existing ones with the two below.
xmlns:vs="clr-namespace:Microsoft.VisualStudio.PlatformUI;assembly=Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.11.0"
xmlns:vsfxim="clr-namespace:Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell;assembly=Microsoft.VisualStudio.Shell.Immutable.11.0"
Replace the references to vsfx:VsBrushes keys to vs:EnvironmentColors keys, e.g. vsfx:VsBrushes.StartPageBackgroundKey to vs:EnvironmentColors.StartPageTabBackgroundBrushKey
In the VSIX project, make the following changes to the source.extension.vsixmanifest file (values depending on if 2010 support is desired, it is not for me):
Add an author, the default empty tag is not allowed: <Author>Ken</Author>
Change/add the visual studio support version to 11.0: <VisualStudio Version="11.0">
Change the supported runtime edition to include 4.5: <SupportedFrameworkRuntimeEdition MinVersion="4.5" MaxVersion="4.5" />
The VSIX solution should now build and spit out a VSIX file in the project bin folder. Install this and you can now choose your Start Page from the drop down list in the visual studio options.
I haven't actually developed my custom start page beyond this, but hopefully it is a helpful to people wanting to get started developing them with VS2012
EDIT: A project which includes a basic 2012 start page, custom control and can be deployed via VSIX: template
Custom Start Pages, via google:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa991992.aspx