Upgrading and Transforming Reports in Dynamics NAV. Limitations of Dynamics NAV RDLC Reports. Want to know how to solve this?

Starting with the Microsoft Dynamic NAV 2009 version, platform of reports technology has been changed. Classic reports were combined with RDLC reports in NAV 2009 version and in newer versions classic reports were replaced by RDLC reports. RDLC reporting contains a lot of simplified and great features: automatic totals calculations, full matrix functional behavior, simple management of various properties and a lot more. It allows to create better and higher quality solutions for clients.

Despite all RDLC features there also exist some negative aspects. Upgrading classic report to RDLC is not as easy as it could look at first time. RDLC reports have some limitations and these limitations require smaller or bigger re-implementations to get the same report behavior for data aggregation and print preview as in classic version.

Limitations of Dynamics NAV RDLC Reports

Before explaining special cases with re-implementations let’s have a short review of RDLC report limitations:
• Report RDLC layout has only one “Page Header” and one “Page Footer”.
• Report RDLC layout “Page Header” and “Page Footer” are static and reserves the same report page space in all printed pages.
• Page number could be displayed only in report “Page Header” or “Page Footer”.
• “TransHeader” and “TransFooter” features of the Classic report directly are not supported in RLDC layout. This feature was used to display subtotals of details records at the end (“TransFooter”) and beginning (“TransHeader”) of a new report page when displayed report generated data do not fit in one page.
• RDLC report directly does not support dynamic report behavior (page break, sorting, grouping) when it is controlled by client selection.
• RDCL report requires special solutions for resetting and displaying page number according to the special conditions, for example:
o The first document or document copy page contains specific information without page number (like address, logo, archive register information and etc. – similar to cover page which could be use in various way).
o The second and other document pages contains document information with page number and page numbering starts from one.

Solutions for Upgrading and Transforming Dynamics NAV RDLC Reports

If you want to learn how to solve the specific cases of upgrading classic report to RDLC, follow the topics below:

1. Classic report upgrade to RDLC: List with two tables and two different page headers. (Tips&Tricks/Practical Case/Best Practices and Tips)
2. Classic report upgrade to RDLC: List with “TransHeader” and “TransFooter”. <>
3. Classic report upgrade to RDLC: List with dynamic report behavior when it is controlled by client selection. <>
4. Classic report upgrade to RDLC: Complex List conversion to matrix report. <>
5. Classic report upgrade to RDLC: Document report with two different headers for first and other pages. <>
6. Classic report upgrade to RDLC: Document report with cover page and two different headers for first and other pages.