Reporting software recommendations for .net environment

Question

I'm looking for some good recommendations for reporting software for an ASP.net, web application focused shop.

Whatever it is, it needs to easily be able to export results to multiple formats (PDF, RTF, TIFF, etc.)

Also, it has to be able to easily tie in with our data access layer (Nhibernate).

Thanks!

Answer 1

I'd recommend Active Reports. There is also Telerik Reporting. I'm currently using the DevExpress controls, which are good, and they also have a reporting offering.

Answer 2

I have used the Telerik reporting before and it works quite well!

Answer 3

Especially if you're using SQL Server, SQL Server Reporting Services.

It has the usual features of report creation and query generation. Plus, Microsoft seems to be committed to enhancing it.

One of the areas where it offers more functionality than some competing tools is in report distribution. Users can go to a reporting website to see a report catalog. Or you can embed the report directly into an ASP.Net page using a report viewer. Users can subscribe to reports, even get them in emails. And there's plenty of admin features for setting permissions and such.

Here's a developer starting point.

Answer 4

I have had very good luck with ceTe Dynamic PDF but it won't work for anyone who needs export in RTF, TIFF, etc. (it just outputs PDF files).

I've tried Telerik Reports and liked it although you'll want to take time to evaluate the data handling aspects as I found this aspect of the product a bit clumsy. However, Telerik's overall reputation is very good and their other products (which I do use) are top notch. Overall, my sense is that, once you are used to it, you'll find Telerik Reporting to be very good.

I also tried the DevExpress product and, as of October 2008, it seemed as if it wasn't quite ready for prime time. Their Grid products are very good but I could not in good conscience recommend their reporting product.

I am not a fan of the Microsoft Reporting Services (which I also evaluated at length). While I respect the scaleability of the product, it simply should not take that much effort to get the reporting infrastructure up and running. It is very much overkill for most web applications.

Finally, someone else recommended Active Reports. I tried it briefly but didn't find much advantage over Telerik and it is very expensive.

Answer 5

Try the Visual Studio ReportViewer control. It exports to Excel and PDF. (see: ReportViewer)

Answer 6

Data Dynamics Active Reports for .NET is a great tool. It is similar to Crystal Reports but much more powerful

Answer 7

Two years ago I had not answer. Because I have example of good advanced reporting tool for Delphi (FastReport VCL), but all for .Net was not so powerfull. Now we use FastReport.Net. Excellent .Net reporting tool for reasonable price.

Answer 8

1.Whatever it is, it needs to easily be able to export results to multiple formats (PDF, RTF, TIFF, etc.)

Check how FastReport.Net does the exporting of reports.
Export filters allow you to export your report to many supported formats (PDF, RTF, XLS, XML, HTML, JPG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, TXT, CSV, Open Document Format).

Also, it has to be able to easily tie in with our data access layer (Nhibernate). See database support in FastReport.Net

.Or see the Frash demo for data support