In the past, I have developed SSRS reports using Visual Studio (BIDS/SSDT). Unfortunately, a company server migration has made it impossible for me to deploy my reporting projects using that technology, so it appears I have to resort to Report Builder now.
Others have claimed that the SSRS project-building capabilities of Visual Studio far exceed those of the Report Builder in SQL Server.
What I'd like to know is: Can I develop a Reporting Services project in Visual Studio and then upload it to Report Builder so that it is deployable there? If so, what are the steps to accomplish this, and what, if any, are the drawbacks?
I was able to use my uploaded.RDL file by opening it in Report Builder.
FYI, the steps to upload the .RDL file are:
Start Report Manager (SSRS Native Mode).
In Report Manager, navigate to the Contents page. Navigate to the folder in which you want to add the report.
Click "Upload File".
Click "Browse" to select the .RDL file to upload. You can also upload image files, or other resources that you want to make available to other reports on the server, rather than embedded in your report.
Type a name for the new item.
If you want to replace an existing item with the new item, select Overwrite item if it exists.
Click OK.
Just note that you may have to modify login credentials in the properties of data source's in your report. In order for the report server to access a database used by your report, you may also need to grant it some privileges in the database.