Generate a rdlc Report using an Object not a Table or View

Question

Hi All,

I am creating a ASP.NET MVC 2 application where I want to generate a PDF report I have this code in my Report controller:

using System;

using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Linq; using System.Web; using System.Web.Mvc; using System.Web.Mvc.Ajax; using System.Text; using System.Linq.Expressions; using Microsoft.Reporting.WebForms; using BournemouthUniversity.Domain.Abstract; using BournemouthUniversity.Domain.Entities;

namespace BournemouthUniversity.WebUI.Controllers { public class ReportsController : Controller { private ISqlStudentRepository sqlStudentRepository;

    public ReportsController(ISqlStudentRepository sqlStudentRepository)
    {
        this.sqlStudentRepository = sqlStudentRepository;
    }

    //
    // GET: /Reports/

    public ActionResult Index()
    {
        return View("Index");
    }

    public ActionResult ALNReport()
    {
        var ReportPath = Server.MapPath("~/Views/Reports/StudentReport.rdlc");
        object studentProblems = sqlStudentRepository.Students.Where(s => s.AssistedLearningNeeds == true).ToList();
        string dataSet = "StudentProblems";
        string filename = "ALN Problem Report " + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
        RenderReport(ReportPath, studentProblems, dataSet, filename);
        return View();
    }

    public ActionResult StudentReport(int studentId)
    {
        var ReportPath = Server.MapPath("~/Views/Reports/StudentReport.rdlc");
        object student = sqlStudentRepository.GetStudent(studentId);
        string dataSet = "StudentProblems";
        string filename = "Student Problems " + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
        RenderReport(ReportPath, student, dataSet, filename);
        return View();
    }

    public ActionResult AllStudentsReport()
    {
            var ReportPath = Server.MapPath("~/Views/Reports/StudentReport.rdlc");
            object studentProblems = sqlStudentRepository.Students.ToList();
            string dataSet = "StudentProblems";
            string filename = "All Student Problems Report " + DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
            RenderReport(ReportPath, studentProblems, dataSet, filename);

        return View();
    }

    private void RenderReport(string ReportPath, object Model, string dataSet, string filename)
    {

        var localReport = new LocalReport { ReportPath = ReportPath };

        //Give the collection a name (EmployeeCollection) so that we can reference it in our report designer
        var reportDataSource = new ReportDataSource(dataSet, Model);
        localReport.DataSources.Add(reportDataSource);

        var reportType = "PDF";
        string mimeType;
        string encoding;
        string fileNameExtension;

        //The DeviceInfo settings should be changed based on the reportType
        //http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms155397.aspx
        var deviceInfo =
            string.Format("<DeviceInfo><OutputFormat>{0}</OutputFormat><PageWidth>8.3in</PageWidth><PageHeight>11.0in</PageHeight><MarginTop>0.5in</MarginTop><MarginLeft>1in</MarginLeft><MarginRight>1in</MarginRight><MarginBottom>0.5in</MarginBottom></DeviceInfo>", reportType);

        Warning[] warnings;
        string[] streams;
        byte[] renderedBytes;

        //Render the report
        renderedBytes = localReport.Render(
            reportType,
            deviceInfo,
            out mimeType,
            out encoding,
            out fileNameExtension,
            out streams,
            out warnings);

        //Clear the response stream and write the bytes to the outputstream
        //Set content-disposition to "attachment" so that user is prompted to take an action
        //on the file (open or save)
        String date = DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString();
        String fileDate = date.Replace('/', '-');
        filename = filename + fileDate;
        filename = filename.Replace(' ', '_');

        Response.Clear();
        Response.ContentType = mimeType;
        Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", "attachment; filename=" + filename + "." + fileNameExtension);
        Response.BinaryWrite(renderedBytes);
        Response.End();
    }      
}

}

I have used code similar to this to produce PDF reports before but using a View in a database not an object. I am not able to select a student object as my datasource in the RDLC template. Is their any solutions for this?

Thanks,

Jonathan