difference ways of creatin

[arunaramana]

Hello There,
I recently started learning SSRS in Visual Studio Report Designer; While trying to create Shared Data Source, I found there are two options as follows:

1. Project Pane > Right Click "Shared Data Source" folder > Add New Data Source

2. Report Data Pane > New > Data Source > selected "Use shared data source reference -- this is where I couldn't go further

My concern is, what is the difference between creating shared data source using step 1 and step 2? What does the step Use shared data source reference meant for?

would anyone please help me understand.

Thank you for giving your valuable time!

 

[MarkSweetland]

Shared data sources are just that, shared connection information for multiple SSRS reports to connect to your data. The shared data source is one method to connect your report to the data, another is to embed the connection information within the report itself. The shared data source is my preferred method. For instance, if a database server is changed, moved to a new domain, etc., only the shared data source information on the SSRS server would have to be updated with the new connection information (server name, account/password) and the reports would continue to function.


Mark

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