International Considerations for Reporting Services

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SQL Server Reporting Services includes localized language resources for Setup, Report Designer, Report Manager, HTML Viewer, and all messages that are returned from a report server. Reporting Services is localized into all languages supported by SQL Server. The resources for all supported languages are installed during setup. You do not need to run a separate installation program to add support for additional languages.

For server-side components such as Report Manager and HTML Viewer, the language resource that is in effect for any given user is determined at run time. Both the client application (usually a browser) and the operating system of the computer running the report server play a part in determining which language resource is used. This topic explains how the browser and operating system locale settings affect language resource selection at run time.

In addition to the localization issues discussed above, this topic also provides information about report language settings and explains which items are not localized.

How Languages Are Used in Reporting Services

The following table describes how language versions are used throughout a Reporting Services installation.

Language How is it used?

Report server language

The server language determines the language for the following items:

  • Errors, warnings, and informational messages that are returned by the server.
  • Formatting in a report, if it is not otherwise set in the report definition at design time.
  • Folder names for My Reports and Users folders created for the My Reports feature.
  • Predefined roles and descriptions. Predefined roles include Browser, Content Manager, Publisher, Report Builder, My Reports, System User, and System Administrator. Names and descriptions for predefined roles appear in Report Manager and in other client tools that can be used to set report server permissions.

Support for all 10 of the SQL Server languages is provided in a single Reporting Services installation (there are no language packs to install).

The server language that is used depends on the language of the operating system. If an exact match cannot be found, a close match will be used instead. If a close match is not available, report server language is U.S. English.

Browser language

Language and Locale settings in the browser determine the language resource used for:

  • Report Manager
  • Report toolbar
  • Static elements of the report server folder hierarchy and report server content types, when the Report Server Web service is accessed through a browser window. Note that Reporting Services does not provide language conversion features. User-defined names for folders, reports, models, shared data sources, and resources appear in the language in which they were defined.

Report language

Reports use language settings for labels and formats:

  • Labels are articulated in the language version of Visual Studio that you are using.
  • Formats for date, currency, and numbers are determined by the server language at run time.
    To override the formatting provided through the server language, you can set the Language property within the report when you design it. If you want to vary the formatting based on the language or local settings of the browser or client application, you can set the Language property to an expression that includes the User!Language variable.

Database language

Data that appears within a report is determined by the actual data values within the database and by database server collation settings.

Note

SQL Server Setup is available in specific localized languages. Reporting Services supports all SQL Server localized languages, regardless of the language version of Setup that you use.

Language Settings for Reports and Report Designer

In Report Designer, you can set the language on a report to show the formatted values (such as dates, currency, and numbers) of a specific language. Setting the language on a report is recommended if you deploy the report in a multilingual environment. If you do not set a language, the server language determines the formats that are used. For example, if you are running a French version of the operating system, the report will use French data formats and delimiters, even if the browser locale and culture settings are set to a different language. If you want to vary the locale and culture for specific users, you can set the locale by setting the report language to the expression =User!Language. For more information, see Working with Expressions in Reporting Services.

For Report Designer itself, the language resource that is applied to the report-authoring environment is determined by the language of the installation of Microsoft Visual Studio. For example, if you are running a Japanese version of Visual Studio, the Japanese language resource for Report Designer is used. If you are running a language version of Visual Studio that is not supported by SSRS, the neutral resource language is used instead. For more information about neutral resources, see "Operating System Language Settings" later in this topic. For more information about neutral resources in general, see Microsoft Visual Studio product documentation.

Browser Language Settings

The browser language setting is the primary factor in determining which language resource is used by the report server for that client connection. For example, a user who accesses a Japanese report server using a French version of Internet Explorer will work with French versions of Report Manager, HTML Viewer, and the report server folder namespace. In addition, all errors, warnings, and informational messages will be returned in French.

Note that only the user interface components are affected by client language settings. The reports that you view and manage retain the language settings that were previously set for the report. In a multilingual environment, these factors may combine in such a way that multiple languages are displayed to a user within the same browser page. For example, if you use a French client to access a Japanese report, both French and Japanese characters are displayed to the user in the following ways:

  • Report Manager and the report toolbar will be in French because the client application is in French.
  • The report will be in Japanese (as will any report history snapshots of the report, parameter properties, or subscription properties that are set for the report) because the report language property is set to Japanese. For more information about setting locale, see Working with Expressions in Reporting Services.

Operating System Language Settings

The language of the operating system determines the neutral resource that is used if a match cannot be found between a client application and a Reporting Services language. If a client application connects to a report server in an unsupported language, the neutral resources are returned to the application.

A few items are always articulated in the language that corresponds to the operating system language setting, regardless of client application locale. The following table describes these items.

Item Description

Predefined roles

Reporting Services installs with several predefined roles (Browser, Publisher, Content Manager, My Reports, System Administrator, and System User) that are articulated in the language resource of the operating system that runs the report server.

Users folder, and MyReports folder

These folder names are reserved when the My Reports feature is enabled. This feature requires a fixed folder structure. Because the report server manages reserved names, reserved folder names are articulated in the language resource of the operating system that runs the report server.

Nonlocalized Items

Reporting Services does not include multi-language support for log files, the AdventureWorks sample database, sample reports, and sample applications. These items are available only in English.

See Also

Concepts

Administering Reporting Services

Other Resources

Deploying Reporting Services

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance

Change History

Release History

14 April 2006
New content:
  • How to change language settings for a report.
Changed content
  • Server language, not client application, sets report language.