I have a database connection string hard-coded in a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services custom assembly. Since the connection string is environment-specific (dev/prod), I would like to read the connections string from a settings file, like is typically done for web.config. Using the shared data source is also a good option.
How do I accomplish this?
I looked into trying to use DataSourceReference(), but that does not seem to be allowed inside of a custom assembly. Thank you.
Only private data sources can be expression-based. You can think of the Report Server as a web application since it runs under IIS. Therefore, you can put your config settings in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.3\Reporting Services\ReportServer\web.config just like you would do with a regular ASP.NET app. Assuming you've deployed your report to the report catalog, you can read these settings at runtime . Additional considerations:
1. This technique is not supported.
2. Since there is no HttpContext in in the VS.NET Report Designer, you need to check for this condition and default your settings so you report works in design mode. I have a report in this download that demostrates how you can do this.
