Chapter 42. Developing sharable managed code expressions in SSRS
Anyone who’s been tasked with creating a customized report knows that it’s all about the expressions. Once the parameters are defined, the datasets built, the groups configured, and the columns laid out, it’s the expressions that give the report the readability and functionality customers demand. As the number of reports grows, the need to reuse common expression code grows with it. This chapter is about sharing expression code. As I walk you through how you can apply bits of logic to report expressions, I’ll point out ways to build strategies that make it easier to update several reports when the expression code has to change.
Although the report processor (the engine that interprets the Report Definition Language [RDL]) only understands how to compile and execute Visual Basic, I’ll discuss how to execute report expression code written in other .NET managed languages—even C#. I’ll show you how to create a managed code dynamic link library (DLL), move it to a secret location, and tell the report processor how to identify it at runtime.
Note
This material can be reinforced by attending my 9-hour lecture/lab webinar on the same subject. Consult my website (http://betav.com) for more details.
