Report Definition Language
Encyclopedia
Report Definition Language (RDL) is a standard proposed by Microsoft
for defining reports.
RDL is an XML
application primarily used with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
. RDL is usually written using Visual Studio, although there are also third-party tools; it may also be created or edited by hand in a text editor. SQL Server Reporting Services
or other 3rd party reporting frameworks use RDL to define charts, graphs, calculations, text, images (through links) and other report objects and render them in a variety of formats.
There are three high-level sections in a typical RDL file:
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
for defining reports.
RDL is an XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
application primarily used with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
SQL Server Reporting Services
SQL Server Reporting Services is a server-based report generation software system from Microsoft. It can be used to prepare and deliver a variety of interactive and printed reports. It is administered via a web interface...
. RDL is usually written using Visual Studio, although there are also third-party tools; it may also be created or edited by hand in a text editor. SQL Server Reporting Services
SQL Server Reporting Services
SQL Server Reporting Services is a server-based report generation software system from Microsoft. It can be used to prepare and deliver a variety of interactive and printed reports. It is administered via a web interface...
or other 3rd party reporting frameworks use RDL to define charts, graphs, calculations, text, images (through links) and other report objects and render them in a variety of formats.
There are three high-level sections in a typical RDL file:
- Page style - The objects to display including fields, images, graphs, tables.
- Field definitions - The extended attributes of fields which are populated with formulas, dynamic data, or Database derived data.
- Parameters and Database connections - Parameters that may be furnished by the user or passed in from another application; and database connections and queries for pulling data into the report.