Accessing binary data from SQL reporting services

Question

Hi, ive had some experience working with SQL server and reporting services for standard data types however i am now trying to develop a report that contains binary data.

Example - i have a table with approximately 5 fields and the last field is a binary data field that contains a pdf inside it.

I want to have a report that shows the first 4 columns and a fifth that when clicked will open the pdf.. is this possible?

or do i need to do it all in asp.net and use datagrids and the like...

Thanks.

Answer 1

I think the 'usual' way to implement this is as a separate web service that extracts the PDF from the database and streams it back to the requester, then have the report include a hyperlink which calls the web resource passing the appropriate key to find the record (and appropriate authentication token, if required).