Page History

...

If you do not see the toolbar:

...

• Make sure that you ran the installer for the OfficeWriter Designer, which is a separate installer from OfficeWriter.
• If you do not see the toolbar after running the installer, the toolbar may have been disabled. Please see this OfficeWriter Answers Post for more information.

Opening a Report File

An a RDL file is an xml-based report definition file. We will open an RDL file In this tutorial we will assume the RDL was created in Visual Studio . The file contains a database connection and a query. The query fields will appear in a drop-down list on the OfficeWriter toolbar. You will be able to insert these fields as merge fields (data placeholders) in the report template. You will not be able to create additional queries.

...

or Report Builder. If you are interested in creating RDLs with the OfficeWriter Designer, read Working with MS Query in the OfficeWriter Designer.

1. Open Microsoft Excel
2. Go to the OfficeWriter Designer tab and click Open Report
3. If your report defintion file was saved on a local or network drive, navigate to the folder containing the file, select it, click Open, and continue to step 2. Adding Fields to your report
   If your report defintion RDL file was deployed to Reporting Services, click the Retrieve on the bottom right corner of the dialog box, and continue to step 3.
   !xlw_FirstfromRDL1.jpg!
   # In the Report Browser dialog box, type in your report server's URL or Domain name and click Refresh. This will load all the available report folders into the list box. Navigate to your report file, select it, and click Ok.
   !xlw_FirstfromRDL2.jpg!

Adding Fields to Your Report

For this demonstration we will use a report file When you open the report, the Designer parses the RDL for information about the data sets and makes that information available while you are working in Excel. Data sets will appear in a drop-down list and you will be able to insert fields from those data sets into the Excel template as data placeholders called data markers.

For this tutorial we will use an RDL that was created in Visual Studio containing a data set with the following query:

After

opening #Place your report curse in Excel with the OfficeWriter toolbar, you should find your query listed under the Select Query button.

...

the cell A2 and click inside it. This is where we will insert the data marker.

1. Click Data Markers on the Designer toolbar and locate your data set from the drop-down list.
   !xlwexcel_FirstfromRDL4designer_datasets.jpg!
   # Place your cursor in cell A2 cell and click inside it.
   # Click Insert Field on the OfficeWriter toolbar and select the ProductID fieldHover over your data set to see the fields that are available.
2. Select the ProductId field to insert the data marker into cell A2. Your template should now look like this:
   !xlw_FirstfromRDL6.jpg!
   # Place your cursor in cell B2 cell and click inside it.
   # Click Insert Field again Data Markers again, hover over your data set, and select the Name field. Your template should now look like this:
   !xlw_FirstfromRDL7.jpg!
   # Place your cursor in cell C2 cell and click inside it.
   # Click Insert Field Data Markers, hover over the data set, and select the ListPrice field.
   # Place your cursor in cell D2 cell and click inside it.
   # Click Insert Field Data Markers, hover over your data set, and select the Days to Manufacture field.
   # In cell A1 type Product ID, in cell B1 type Product Name, in C1 type List Price, and in D1 type Days to Manufacture.

...