Copying reports in the Reporterver DB

[RRinTetons]

I have a report server with several hundred reports in a dozen and a half top level folders and several folders in each. I want to create a new folder with some subfolders and COPY (not MOVE) some of those reports. I can do it through Visual Studio by opening the RDL for each into a project, changing the destination and redeploying, but that's a bit laborious.

First, I may have missed some trick using the manager on the reporting server that would allow me to copy rather than move a report. Is so, someone please point me at it.

If it really isn't possible to copy a report in the manager, then I thought of this workaround:

Looking in the table Catalog in the ReportServer DB I see the structure of my reporting folders down to the report level, including an image column named Content. None of the FK's appear to be things that would have to change for the copied report. The PK in Catalog is ItemID and it's a big ugly string, probably a GUID? Is there a safe way to just insert that same data into the table with a new GUID as the PK and a new path and accomplish my goal that way?

-
Richard Ray
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort

 

[andrea96]

You can create linked reports, which I usually find preferable to copying. If you create linked reports, you only have to update the original to get updates to all of the linked reports. If you copy them, you would have to update each copy.

To link reports in Report Manager, go to the report properties, and you will see the button to create a linked report. You can also use this tool:

http://www.sqldbatips.com/showarticle.asp?ID=73.

I find that the tool does some things a little bit better than Report Manager.

Andrea

 

[RRinTetons]

Very nice. Much better to use a tool that works than try to figure out how to hack around in the DB! Thanks.



-
Richard Ray
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort