Product Overview

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Aspose.Cells for Reporting Services – product overview{: .align-center .mb-4 }

Aspose.Cells for Reporting Services – Product Overview

Aspose.Cells is an award‑winning spreadsheet component that lets developers read, write, and manipulate Excel files without requiring Microsoft Excel.
The Aspose.Cells for Reporting Services solution extends this capability to Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), enabling you to design, render, and export Excel‑based reports directly from SSRS.

📖 Table of Contents

  1. Why Use Aspose.Cells for Reporting Services?
  2. Key Components
  3. Designing Reports
  4. Sample Report
  5. Getting Started Quickly
  6. Further Reading

Why Use Aspose.Cells for Reporting Services?

  • No Excel installation required – All operations are performed server‑side.
  • Full Excel feature set – Leverage formulas, charts, pivot tables, conditional formatting, and more.
  • Seamless SSRS integration – Works as a native rendering extension; reports can be published to Report Server like any other SSRS report.
  • Two‑stage workflow – Design in Excel (familiar UI) and render in SSRS (robust reporting platform).

Key Components

1. Aspose.Cells.Report.Designer

  • Add‑in for Microsoft Excel – Provides a visual designer ribbon inside Excel.
  • Report template creation – Build the layout, add placeholders, and define data‑binding expressions directly in Excel.
  • Embedding into RDL – The designed template is packaged into an SSRS RDL file, ready for deployment.
  • Preview & Export – Test the report inside Excel before publishing.

2. Aspose.Cells.Renderer for Reporting Services

  • SSRS rendering extension – Implements Microsoft’s Rendering Extension interface.
  • Supports RDL from Visual Studio or Designer – Handles reports created with either tool.
  • Multiple output formats – Export to XLSX, CSV, PDF, HTML, and image formats.

Designing Reports

You can create reports using one of two approaches:

Option 1 – Start from a Blank Excel Template

  1. Open Excel → Aspose.Cells → New Report.
  2. Define data sources, create queries, and bind Excel cells to those data fields.
  3. Save the workbook; the add‑in automatically generates the accompanying RDL file.
  4. Publish the RDL to Report Server.

Option 2 – Use an Existing RDL Report

  1. Create the RDL in Visual Studio with all required data sources and queries.
  2. In Excel, open Aspose.Cells → Attach to RDL and design the layout using the existing dataset.
  3. Save – the Excel template is embedded into the RDL, preserving the original queries.

Tip: Use Option 2 when you want database experts to manage queries while designers focus solely on the visual layout.

Sample Report Rendered with Aspose.Cells for Reporting Services

Sample Aspose.Cells for Reporting Services report{: .align-center .mt-4 }

The image above shows a typical Excel‑styled report rendered in the SSRS web portal, complete with charts, conditional formatting, and data tables.

Getting Started Quickly

Step Action Details
1 Install the add‑in Download from the Aspose website and run the MSI on any workstation with Excel.
2 Add the renderer extension Copy Aspose.Cells.Renderer.dll to the <ReportServer>\bin folder and edit RSReportServer.config to register the extension.
3 Create a template Open Excel → Aspose.Cells → New Report, then design your layout.
4 Publish Deploy the generated RDL to the Report Server using the SSRS web portal or Visual Studio.
5 Run & Export View the report in a browser, export to XLSX, PDF, or any supported format.

For a step‑by‑step walkthrough, see the Getting Started Guide.

Further Reading

Installation