Monday, March 19, 2007

Reporting tools for .Net

Although the Crystal reports components we get for free with the Visual studio are OK for some uses, some time ago I reviewed a number of reporting components for .Net framework with more advanced capabilities.
I came up with these requirements:

  1. Support for framework 2.0
  2. Written in native .Net language
  3. Source code included (may be with "professional" version)
  4. Ability to work with databases, especially SQL server
  5. Ability to work with data objects (IList)
  6. Run time customization (change the look/content of the report during run time)
  7. Execute non-report code during execution of the code (for example: display a message box)
  8. Report wizard for the end-user (should be royalty-free)
I was left with DevExpress's XtraReports and Uniswift's SwiftReports, both answering to all requirements, and both with an affordable price tag.

While the report wizard is a powerful tool, but not always required, I was amazed to discover some component makers still think that including the source code with their product is optional.

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