Report viewer control for VB.Net1.1

Question

Good morning fellow stack overflow people, I have a question that sounds like the start of something from the daily wtf.

The company that I work for is not so much sacred of new technology they just seem to let things slip, you know the type, “It worked 5/6+ years ago so I don’t see why we should change it”

Despite this I have managed by hook or by crook to get an installation of SQL server 2008R2 to develop on which has the reporting services. Excellent I think, I can finally start moving some of the access applications to VB.net and use SSRS to provide some embedded reports, everyone is happy.

But not so fast, it turns out the standard build of desktop here only has .net1.1. I have managed to dust off a copy of visual studio 2003 (The last edition that could target 1.1) and built a few little tests to check DB connectivity. The problem I am having is the report viewer control is only available in .net2.0 and above.

So what options do I have for displaying my SSRS reports in a VB.net1.1 thick client application?

Before anyone asks the following options are out

• Going anything web based (Farrrrrrrrrr too modern for the company + no web server)

• Upgrading to a version of .net released after George Bush the 2nd lost an election but still became president

• Changing jobs

Sorry for the long question but I thought some background would help

Answer 1

I would go for a browser control but I think they only started including that in 2.0. But I think you can still do something like that in 1.1 (it has been to long to be sure).

I think if you install SSRS on the sqlserver you could turn on IIS on that server and then use that to make your reports and show them in the browser control.

SSRS (I'm pretty sure it came out somewhere around 2005) is not old enough to have many other options.

Answer 2

If you work with VB.NET 1.1 all the time then it is strange question. How did you program in it before?

Use any available dataview control (I already do not remember - DataGrid, DataList, Repeater) from .NET1.1. There is nothing in ReportViewer that could not be done before its appearance, in .NET1.1.
What is the problem?

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Update:
I remember seeing code projects reproducing ReportViewer in .NET1.1 few years ago though I cannot find it now. Anyway, it seems to me the problem of just reading .NET1.1 docs and searching internet.

Answer 3

Sorry if this is a blunt statement but sometimes, you've got to bite the bullet and do the right thin.

If you really want to use reports and you've found the minimum version of the .NET framework is 2.0 then go ahead, find an internet connection somewhere and upgrade the computers.

If you can't do that, forget about it and go back to your VB6 or whatever you're using. Besides, .NET Framework 2.0 sp1 is less than 30MB. If you can't find a decent internet connection (either at your workplace or somewhere else) to download it then you might as well abandon it.

And I'll add as well. VS2003 IS OLD! Get yourself minimum VS2005, even if it's Express edition, it's good enough and stop whining.

Answer 4

Someone had the same question back in Feb. Maybe this might send you down the right path:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/566133/using-ssrs-in-asp-net-1-1