Deploy the ADO.NET Provider for Azure Table on an SSRS Report Server

In this article, we will guide you through the deployment process of the CData ADO.NET Provider for Azure Table on an SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) report server. Additionally, you will learn how to establish a shared data source, which facilitates connectivity to real-time Azure Table data from various reports. You can then access these shared data sources from the Report Designer within Visual Studio. For detailed instructions on creating datasets in Report Designer using ADO.NET, please refer to the "Using ADO.NET" section in the help documentation.

Deploy the ADO.NET Provider

The provider installation automatically deploys the provider on report servers in native mode. On report servers in SharePoint mode, you can use the install-sprs.ps1 PowerShell script to deploy. Simply run the script from the lib subfolder in the installation directory, or pass in the "path" parameter.

Create a Shared Data Source for Azure Table

You can create shared data sources directly from a report server or SharePoint site. Alternatively, you can use Report Designer to create shared data sources.

Report Designer

You can use Report Designer to create shared data sources on native mode report servers and report servers on a SharePoint server farm.

1. In a Report Server Project in Visual Studio, right-click Shared Data Sources in Solution Explorer and click Add New Data Source.
2. Enter a name for the data source and in the Type menu select CData AzureTables Report.
3. In the Connection String box, enter the connection string to connect to Azure Table. A typical connection string is below:

   AccessKey=myAccessKey;Account=myAccountName;

   Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

   When you configure the connection, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

   👁 Properties to define a shared data source in Report Designer. (Salesforce is shown.)
   
4. Set the folder and server URL in your project properties. If you are publishing to SharePoint, the values for all properties must be fully qualified URLs. For example:
   • Report Server: http://MyServerName/ReportServer
   • SharePoint: http://MyServerName/MySite/MySubsite
5. Right-click the shared data source and click Deploy.

Report Manager

On native mode installations of report server, you can use Report Manager to create shared data sources. You must have permissions to manage data sources on the report server.

1. From the Home page in Report Manager, click New Data Source. The New Data Source page is displayed.
2. Enter a name for the data source and in the Data Source Type menu, select CData AzureTables Report.
3. In the Connection String box, enter the connection string to connect to Azure Table. A typical connection string is below:

    AccessKey=myAccessKey;Account=myAccountName;
    

   Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

   👁 Properties to define a shared data source in Report Manager. (Salesforce is shown.)
   

SharePoint

Follow the steps below to create a shared data source on a SharePoint site. Note that this step has the following prerequisites in SharePoint 2013:

• The Reporting Services add-in for SharePoint
• The Report Server Integration site collection feature

Follow the steps below to add the report server content types to your library:

1. Log into SharePoint and open the library where you want to save the .rsds file.
2. Click Library on the ribbon and then click Library Settings.
3. In the General Settings section, click Advanced Settings.
4. In the Content Types section, select Yes to allow the management of content types. The Content Types section is added to the Library Settings page.
5. On the Library Settings page, click Add from existing site content types.
6. In the Available Site Content Types list, select Report Data Source and click Add.

You can then create the shared data source. You will create an .rsds file that contains the connection information to Azure Table.

1. Log into SharePoint and open the library where you want to save the .rsds file.
2. On the ribbon click Documents -> New Document -> Report Data Source.
3. Enter a name for the data source.
4. In the Data Source Type menu, select CData AzureTables Report.
5. In the Connection String box, enter the connection string to connect to Azure Table. A typical connection string is below:

   AccessKey=myAccessKey;Account=myAccountName;
   

   Specify your AccessKey and your Account to connect. Set the Account property to the Storage Account Name and set AccessKey to one of the Access Keys. Either the Primary or Secondary Access Keys can be used. To obtain these values, navigate to the Storage Accounts blade in the Azure portal. You can obtain the access key by selecting your account and clicking Access Keys in the Settings section.

   👁 Properties to define a shared data source in SharePoint. (Salesforce is shown.)