Creating a Data Source (Report Builder 2.0)

When you create a report in Report Builder 2.0, you first create a data source definition. A data source definition provides details about how to connect to an underlying data source.

There are two types of data sources: embedded and shared. Each data source specifies the data source type, a connection string, and credentials; or a reference to an existing data source definition that is available on a report server. Each type of data source requires different connection information. For examples of connection strings, see Example Connections (Report Builder 2.0).

Report Builder 2.0 provides data processing extensions to support retrieving data from relational databases, multidimensional databases, report models, and XML web services or documents. By using shared data sources from a report server, you can additionally access any custom data providers that are installed and registered on the report server. For more information, see Working with and without a Report Server (Report Builder 2.0).

If you are working in local mode, you can create embedded data sources from the data source types installed with Report Builder 2.0, to retrieve and process data on your local computer. If you are connected to a report server, you can select a shared data source of any data source type that is installed on the report server, to retrieve and process data on the report server. A single report can contain any number of data sources, both embedded and shared.

Data sources on the report server can be secured through role-based security. The system administrator for a report server can set security on a shared data source item to control access to it in the report server. For more information, see "Securing Shared Data Source Items" in the Reporting Services documentation in SQL Server Books Online.

After you save a report to the report server, you might need to adjust credential or connection information for the data sources that are used to in your report. For more information, see "Setting Data Source Properties in Reporting Services" in the Reporting Services documentation in SQL Server Books Online.

After you have defined the data sources for your report, you define datasets that contain the specific fields you will use in your report. For information about datasets, see Query Designers and Data Sources (Report Builder 2.0) and Creating a Report Dataset (Report Builder 2.0).