Manually setting up the WPF Report Viewer in .NET Framework

This article explains the steps needed to manually create an application which uses the WPF report viewer.

Add the WPF Report Viewer to the application

1. Create a new WPF Application project in Visual Studio. Target .NET Framework 4.0 or higher.

2. Add references to the following Telerik UI for WPF NoXaml assemblies:

   • Telerik.Windows.Controls.dll
   • Telerik.Windows.Controls.Input.dll
   • Telerik.Windows.Controls.Navigation.dll
   • Telerik.Windows.Data.dll

   In case you are still not prepared to migrate to Implicit Styling, you can use the binaries that include the XAML. However, you will still have to merge all the XAML files mentioned in the next step, otherwise, the Report Viewer will not show up as it will have no styling.

   In case Telerik UI for WPF is used only for the WPF Report Viewer, reference the Telerik UI for WPF assemblies available with Telerik Reporting. They are internally unlocked for the WPF Report Viewer but can only be used with the report viewer. The .NET Framework assemblies containing Telerik UI for WPF are located in %programfiles(x86)%\Progress\Telerik Reporting 2024 Q4\Bin\WpfViewerDependencies\Framework.

   The WPF ReportViewer is build with the latest official release of Telerik UI for WPF. In this way we provide a trouble-free upgrade for most of the users. This means that you can use the latest version of Telerik UI for WPF in your project and report viewer. It is possible that the Telerik UI for WPF assemblies have a greater version (service pack or internal build) than the one with which the WPF report viewer control targets. In this case, assembly binding redirects are required (see Binding Redirects topic below).

3. The Telerik UI for WPF XAML files are located in %programfiles(x86)%\Progress\Reporting 2024 Q4\Wpf\Themes).

4. Drag and drop the ReportViewer control from the toolbox in a WPF window. If the ReportViewer is not available in the toolbox, you can add it using the instructions from the How to add the WPF ReportViewer to the toolbox topic below.

5. Add reference to the following Telerik.Reporting assemblies in your project:

   • Telerik.Reporting.dll
   • Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.dll
   • Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.Themes.dll

6. The next step is to merge these ResourceDictionaries in the App.xaml file:

   <Application x:Class="WpfApplication1.App"
            xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
            xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
            StartupUri="MainWindow.xaml">
       <Application.Resources>
           <ResourceDictionary>
               <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
                   <ResourceDictionary Source="/Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.Themes;component/Themes/Fluent/System.Windows.xaml" />
                   <ResourceDictionary Source="/Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.Themes;component/Themes/Fluent/Telerik.Windows.Controls.xaml" />
                   <ResourceDictionary Source="/Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.Themes;component/Themes/Fluent/Telerik.Windows.Controls.Input.xaml" />
                   <ResourceDictionary Source="/Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.Themes;component/Themes/Fluent/Telerik.Windows.Controls.Navigation.xaml" />
                   <ResourceDictionary Source="/Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.Themes;component/Themes/Fluent/Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf.xaml" />
               </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
           </ResourceDictionary>
       </Application.Resources>
   </Application>
   

   For the above sample, we have used the Fluent theme. The WPF Report Viewer supports all the Telerik UI for WPF themes. In order to style the viewer with another theme, change the above XAML snippet Fluent with the desired theme name.

7. Set the ReportSource for the report viewer. For more information, see How to Set ReportSource for Report Viewers. This can be done either declaratively or programmatically:

   • Specifying a report source declaratively, we would use type report source for this example:

     <Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.Window1"
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         Title="Window1" Height="451" Width="683"
         xmlns:telerik="clr-namespace:Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf;assembly=Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf"
         xmlns:telerikReporting="clr-namespace:Telerik.Reporting;assembly=Telerik.Reporting">
         <Grid>
             <telerik:ReportViewer Name="reportViewer1">
                 <telerik:ReportViewer.ReportSource>
                     <telerikReporting:TypeReportSource TypeName="Telerik.Reporting.Examples.CSharp.Invoice, CSharp.ReportLibrary">
                         <telerikReporting:ReportSource.Parameters>
                             <telerikReporting:Parameter Name="OrderNumber" Value="SO51085"/>
                             <telerikReporting:Parameter Name="ForYear" Value="2003"/>
                         </telerikReporting:ReportSource.Parameters>
                     </telerikReporting:TypeReportSource>
                 </telerik:ReportViewer.ReportSource>
             </telerik:ReportViewer>
         </Grid>
     </Window>
     

   • Setting a report source at run time. The following code snippet illustrates how to assign a report source to the WPF ReportViewer in the Window.Loaded event handler:

     <Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.Window3"
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         Title="Window3" Height="328" Width="618" xmlns:my="clr-namespace:Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf;assembly=Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf" Loaded="Window_Loaded">
         <Grid>
             <my:ReportViewer Name="reportViewer1" />
         </Grid>
     </Window>
     

     namespace WpfApplication1
     {
         using System.Windows;
     
         /// <summary>
         /// Interaction logic for Window3.xaml
         /// </summary>
         public partial class Window3 : Window
         {
             public Window3()
             {
                 InitializeComponent();
             }
     
             private void Window_Loaded(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
             {
                 var typeReportSource = new Telerik.Reporting.TypeReportSource();
                 typeReportSource.TypeName = "Telerik.Reporting.Examples.CSharp.ListBoundReport, CSharp.ReportLibrary";
                 //typeReportSource.Parameters.Add("ReportParameterName", ReportParameterValue);
                 this.reportViewer1.ReportSource = typeReportSource;
             }
         }
     }
     

     <Window x:Class="Window3"
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         Title="Window3" Height="489" Width="687" xmlns:my="clr-namespace:Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf;assembly=Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf" Name="Window3">
         <Grid>
             <my:ReportViewer Name="ReportViewer1" />
         </Grid>
     </Window>
     

     Imports System.Windows
     
     ' Interaction logic for Window3.xaml
     Partial Public Class Window3
         Inherits Window
         Public Sub New()
             InitializeComponent()
         End Sub
     
         Private Sub Window_Loaded(sender As Object, e As RoutedEventArgs)
             Dim typeReportSource = New Telerik.Reporting.TypeReportSource()
             typeReportSource.TypeName = "Telerik.Reporting.Examples.CSharp.ListBoundReport, CSharp.ReportLibrary"
             'typeReportSource.Parameters.Add("ReportParameterName", ReportParameterValue)
             Me.ReportViewer1.ReportSource = typeReportSource
         End Sub
     End Class
     

Setting DataContext

Setting a DataContext to a parent element of ReportViewer leads to BindingExpression path errors, which can be safely ignored. This happens because ReportViewer, internally, uses a view model and the DataContext gets propagated to the control before the view model is initialized. This leads to mismatch between the properties expected by ReportViewer and the ones in the DataContext. At a later stage, the DataContext of ReportViewer's child elements is set to the expected view model (ReportViewModel), the bindings in the control get evaluated, therefore the errors get resolved. To avoid the binding errors you can set the DataContext of the parent element in the Loaded event handler of ReportViewer.

Binding Redirects

In case you use Telerik UI for WPF version greater than the latest official release (service pack or internal build), you have to redirect all assemblies required by the Telerik WPF ReportViewer to their latest versions. To do this, add the following bindingRedirects to your app.config and replace the 2010.1.421.35 with the exact version of Telerik UI for WPF assemblies:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <runtime>
    <assemblyBinding xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1">
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="Telerik.Windows.Controls" culture="neutral" publicKeyToken="5803cfa389c90ce7"/>
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" newVersion="2010.1.421.35"/>
      </dependentAssembly>
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="Telerik.Windows.Controls.Input" culture="neutral" publicKeyToken="5803cfa389c90ce7"/>
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" newVersion="2010.1.421.35"/>
      </dependentAssembly>
      <dependentAssembly>
        <assemblyIdentity name="Telerik.Windows.Controls.Navigation" culture="neutral" publicKeyToken="5803cfa389c90ce7"/>
        <bindingRedirect oldVersion="0.0.0.0-65535.65535.65535.65535" newVersion="2010.1.421.35"/>
      </dependentAssembly>
    </assemblyBinding>
  </runtime>
</configuration>

Redirecting Assembly Versions is a standard .NET technique for resolving assembly versions conflicts. Visual Studio 2013 and newer, allows automatic binding redirects. For more details, please check How to: Enable and Disable Automatic Binding Redirection.

How to add the WPF ReportViewer to the toolbox

1. Select a WPF window file (e.g. Window1.xaml).
2. Open the toolbox and add your own tab or click on the General tab.
3. Right click in the selected tab area and select Choose Items… from the context menu.
4. The previous step will open Choose Toolbox Items dialog. Select the WPF Components tab and find the ReportViewer component from the Telerik.ReportViewer.Wpf assembly.
5. Click OK.

See Also

• Adding Report Viewer to a WPF .NET Framework Project