How to Use Reporting Services Web Service

The emergence of web services has broadened reporting capability.

Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS) is an enterprise reporting server corporations use to develop, manage and distribute reports to the business. Reporting Services Web Service is the web-based capability, which uses Extensible Markup Language (XML), a standard for porting documents, and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), a web service or protocol to exchange information on the web. SOAP is a web alternative to Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a long-term standard used on the web. To access Reporting Services Web Services you will need to create an application in Microsoft Visual Studio.

Things You'll Need

• Microsoft Visual Studio

Instructions

Create an Application

1. Navigate to Visual Studio by clicking "Start," "All Programs," then "Microsoft Visual Studio 2005." Click "File," click "New," then click "Project." This will open the "New Projects" window.

2. Choose either "Visual Basic Projects" or "Visual C# Projects," then click "Console Application," an icon on the menu. Enter a name for the project in the text box labeled "Name," such as "SampleProject."

3. Navigate to a file path in the "Location" text box to save the project. Click "Open" and your project shows in "Project Explorer."

Add Web Reference

1. Navigate to the Project Menu and click "Add Web Reference." Type the URL that will allow you to access the Reporting Services Web Service. This URL is usually provided to you by the administrator. Click "Go."

2. Rename the web reference in the name box to a namespace you will use for the web reference. "ReportWebService" will be used in this example.

3. Click "Add Reference" to add "ReportWebService" as the web reference.

Accessing the Web Service

1. Add the "ReportWebService" to the the beginning of the Class1.cs file if using C# and Module1.vb if using Visual Basic. The method varies depending on your choice of programming language. Visit the Microsoft TechNet "Walkthrough Using Reporting Services" page (see Resources) for samples of code in each language.

2. Build and run the project by clicking "Start without debugging" from the Debug menu.

3. View the output on the console after the program executes.

Tips & Warnings

• Review Microsoft tutorials and instructions for additional tips (see Resources).

• Understanding of programming code is essential.

References

• MSDN: Tutorial: Using XML Data in a Report
• Microsoft TechNet: Reporting Services: Using XML and Web Service Data Sources

Resources

• Microsoft TechNet: Walkthrough Using Reporting Services Web Service
• MSDN: Reporting Services Tutorials