Reporting Services Problem Rendering RTF

Question

Hi all,

I'm using VS.NET 2005 and SQL Server 2005. My development computer is running Windows XP SP2. SQL Server 2005 database and reporting services are running on Windows 2003 Server.

My business requirement is to develop and deploy a report which takes rich text (RTF) stored in the database (datatype = TEXT) and converts it to an image at runtime using a custom assembly (source can be found here http://blogs.digineer.com/blogs/jasons/archive/2006/10/03/520.aspx). I am able to generate and view the dynamic image containing the RTF on my local (i.e., developer) computer both using the ReportManager web interface and using the Render method. When I deploy this to our test server, I end up with a broken link image.

To recap, I have taken the following steps.

Created custom assembly using VS.NET 2005 which converts RTF to bitmap image. Custom assembly has a strong name.

On local developer machine

1. Copied custom assembly to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE**PrivateAssemblies**.
2. Modified C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies**RSReportDesigner.config** to include a CodeGroup which grants FullTrust to custom assembly based on StrongNameMembership (NOTE: ReadMe.txt doesn't mention adding an entry to this file).
3. Modified C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies**RSPreviewPolicy.config** to include a CodeGroup which grants FullTrust to custom assembly based on StrongNameMembership (NOTE: ReadMe.txt doesn't mention adding an entry to this file).

Modified report using VS.NET 2005 as follows

1. Added reference to custom assembly and System.Drawing.
2. Added image control with type=Database, MimeType=image/bmp, Value = call to custom assembly method; method is passed value of database field which contains RTF.
3. Deployed report.
4. Viewed report successfully both via HTML and via Render method of WebService using EXCEL as output format. HTML for image

On local developer machine and server

1. Copied custom assembly to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.3\Reporting Services\ReportServer\bin
2. Modified C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.3\Reporting Services\ReportServer**rssrvpolicy.config** to include a CodeGroup which grants FullTrust to custom assembly based on StrongNameMembership (NOTE: source code indicates permissions should be granted based on UrlMembership).
3. Deployed report.
4. Viewed report unsuccessfully both via HTML and via Render method of WebService using EXCEL as output format. HTML for image

Initially, I got error messages when exporting to Excel along the lines of ,"data is missing" but these appear to have been resolved by granting permissions in .config files which we not mentioned in ReadMe.txt. I've have run out of things to try and am at my wits end. I am convinced the solution has something to do with permissions since this works on my computer but not on the server.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.

Regards,

Bill

Answer 1

Did you grant your assembly the necessary permissions to access the DB on the test server? (Looks like you did.)

If so, then check to see whether you're actually creating the image on the test server. If not, then it's a write permission issue. If it's being created but can't be viewed, then it's a read permission issue.