Should MS Report Cache Files (*.rdl.data) be stored in Source Control?

Question

Hi.

I am working on a legacy application for a client, that uses Reporting Services. I have imported the project SVN repository, which includes a Reporting project and folder, setup in a Visual Studio Reporting solution/project.

Included in this SVN folder (but not the VS solution/project) are .rdl*files (the actual report definitions) and *.rdl.data files . I believe the .rdl.data files are used for caching reports.

From a development perspective, should these .rdl.data files be source controlled? I was thinking of deleting them from the repository, as they tend to change very often (almost everytime I preview a report), and it's making SVN report that the file/folder has changed, which is irritating.

I don't think these .rdl.data files are necessary for deveopment. Can/should I delete them from source control?

Answer 1

I never store them in source control. I think they are used for offline diagnosis of report problems. I think you could send your report and the .data file to someone and they could attempt to debug them. I think I once sent some when I had a case with microsoft.