How to import reports from Microsoft Access to Reporting Services (834306)

SUMMARY

You can import existing Microsoft Access reports to Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services by using Report Designer. Report Designer is a client tool that is used to create report projects. When you import reports from an Access database file (.mdb) or from an Access project file (.adp) to Reporting Services, Report Designer converts each report to a Report Definition Language (RDL) file and then saves the reports in the report project. This article describes how to import existing Access reports to Reporting Services.

Note When you import reports from an Access database or from an Access project, all the reports in the database or in the project are imported. You cannot import a single report from the database or from the project.

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Requirements for importing Access reports

To import an existing Access report, make sure that both of the following conditions are true:

• Access 2002 or later is installed on the computer that is running Report Designer.
• The data source for the Access reports is available when the reports are imported.

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Steps to import Access reports

You can create a new project in Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 to import existing Access reports. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Start Visual Studio .NET 2003.
2. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
3. Under Project Types, click Business Intelligence Projects.
4. Under Templates, click Report Project.
5. Click OK.
6. On the Project menu, point to Import Reports, and then click Microsoft Access.
   
   Note You can also right-click the project in Solution Explorer, point to Import Reports, and then click Microsoft Access.
7. In the Open dialog box, click the Access database file (.mdb) or the Access project file (.adp) that contains the reports, and then click Open.
8. In the Task List window, note any errors that occur when you import the Access report.
   
   To open the Task List window, on the View menu, point to Other Windows, and then click Task List.

Note Reporting Services does not support all Access report features. Therefore, when you import an Access report, Report Designer does not import the Access report features that are not supported. Additionally, you may notice that the features that are not supported appear in the Task List window. The following list includes some of the Access report features that are not supported by Reporting Services:

• Check box controls
• Command button controls
• CanGrow property
• GUIDFromString conversion function
• CreateControl database function

For a complete list of Access report features that are supported, see the "Supported Access Report Features" topic in Reporting Services Books Online.

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