WPF reportviewer control

Question

Hello i saw some similar question has been asked before but it was about .net 3.5. At the moment we are developing wpf application which uses alot of reports. Currently we are using .rdlc. I have looked around for any good 3-rd party controls but with little success. My questions are if someone can propose some good wpf report control and if we are going to see some build in report controls in newer versions of the WPF. I must admit that wpf has progressed alot for the past 2 years but for big buisness application an native report control is necessary. Thank you in advance.

Dimitar.

Answer 1

Have you looked into the new XPS specifications?  This is MSFTs PDF killer.  So while it could cost some development work, it has some very good features.  The nice thing about it is that it can integrate all .NET controls like charting, buttons, etc into a document.  The documents then become living in a sense becuse those controls will function when document is in proper state.

The easiest way to see XPS specifications in WPF is to look into the Flowdocument and FlowdocumentReader controls.

---

JP

Answer 2

Hello there

I saw the flowdocument, it looks pretty decant for displaying text, but as i see it doesnt support databinding or any kind of tool for faster creating reporting. As i said we are generating at the moment .rdlc reports from classes/datasets, and the .rdlc wizard is helping alot. It will be really nice if we have such control for that purpose(with some wpf effects and styling). Thank you about your info for the flowdocument, it gave me something to thing about in our next applications.

Answer 3

Yes there is always a problem with supporting older technology and integrating it into new.  Of course the biggest question will always be "How much new plumbing do we put in".  That's answered best by your team's analysis of what to do.  Sometimes, you can create Mediators or interfaces to "Leave the old" and "Integrate the new".  Good Luck!

---

JP

Answer 4

Hi DimitarGeorgiev,

How about your main concern?

 

Best regards,

---

Sheldon _Xiao[MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us
Get or Request Code Sample from Microsoft
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.

Answer 5

Hi DimitarGeorgiev,

I am marking your issue as "Answered", if you need further discussion, please let me know.

 

best regards,

---

Sheldon _Xiao[MSFT]
MSDN Community Support | Feedback to us
Get or Request Code Sample from Microsoft
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help.

Answer 6

Dimitar's main concern is: can (you) propose some good wpf report control and if we are going to see some build in report controls in newer versions of the WPF.

What is confusing about that? I am wondering the same thing. What are the best (managed / native .NET WPF) UI tools that are intended for classic reports. those that display large tabular data sets dynamically with modern graphical adornments. basically, something like the ReportViewer that is native to WPF without need to use the WindowsHostControl.

I am also very impressed by the advances in WPF but find it odd that i cannot find a good reporting mechanism built in.

Regards, Wes

Answer 7

You may have noticed that Crystal reports is now not included in VS2010.

It's relatively recently been made available by SAP, and it includes a native report viewer.

http://atikpassion.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/wpf-crystal-report-viewer-using-sap.html

I would particularly call your attention to the requirement for full .net framework rather than just client.