What is Shared Data Sources?
Shared data source is a collection of the data source that can be used to multiple reports, report models, and subscriptions etc. We can create shared date source and run on the Reporting service into Report Server.
Prerequisite
We should have some basic knowledge in SQL Server Query and Visual Studio Tool for creating an SSRS Reports using Visual Studio 2015.
- SQL Server Basic Query
- Visual Studio 2015
How to create a Shared Data Source using Wizard
After creating an SSRS Project successfully, Go to Shared Data Source folder, right-click the Shared Data Source folder and point to Add New Data Source and click the Add New Data Source.
The Shared Data Source window will open and click the Edit button
The Connection Properties window will open and type the Server Name, Select the Authentication, User Name, Password, Select or Enter a database name and finally you can check the database connection succeed, followed by clicking the Test Connection button. Then Click the OK button.
The Shared Data Source window will open. Select the new data source, connection string and click the OK button
After creating new data source file, you can see the shared data source folder structure as shown in below screen shot
How to create a Shared Data Source using without Wizard
Go to the Shared Data Source folder, right-click the Shared Data Source folder and point to Add -> New Item, then click the New Item.
The Add New Item window will open and choose the Data Source template. Then, type the Data Source Name as ProductDataSource and click the Add button.
The Shared Data Source window will open and click the Edit button
The Connection Properties window will open and type the Server Name, Select the Authentication, User Name, Password, Select or Enter a database name and finally you can check the database connection succeed, followed by clicking the Test Connection button. Then Click the OK button.
The Shared Data Source window will open. Select the new data source, connection string and click the OK button
After creating new data source file, you can see the shared data source folder structure as shown in below screen shot
How to modify Shared Data Source
Go to the Shared Data Source folder, click the ProductDataSource.rds data source name. Then, The Shared Data Source window will open as shown in below screen shot
Now, you can change the name, type, connection string and data source credentials.
How to delete Shared Data Source
Go to the Shared Data Source folder, right-click the ProductDataSource.rds and point to Delete context menu item, then click delete the item.
The Microsoft Visual Studio window will open and prompting delete confirmation option. If Click the OK button for deleting the data source file else click the Cancel button for canceling the delete process as shown in below screen shot
After deleting the ProductDataSource.rds file, you can see the shared data source folder structure as shown in below screen shot
Conclusion
I hope you understood how we can create a Shared Data Sources in SQL Server Reporting Services 2016, how to create a shared data source using the Report wizard, how to create a shared data source using without the Report wizard, how to modify shared data source, and how to delete shared data sources. I have covered all the required things. If you find anything which I missed in this article, please let me know. Please share your valuable feedback or comments and suggestions to improve future articles.