Add reports to the process template

By using the Reporting plug-in, you can specify the folder structure and set of reports that will appear under the Reports node for a new team project.

You specify two main tasks by using the Reporting plug-in. First, you create the reporting site by using the site element. Second, you specify the folder structure and the reports to be uploaded to the site by using the folder and report elements. The reports that you upload have an .rdl extension and are designed for use with Reporting Services. For an overview of the reports that the TFS process templates provide, see Reports (SQL Server Reporting Services).

After a team project is created from the process template, you can add, remove, rename, and change the folder structure for reports. For more information, see View, upload, and organize reports (Reporting Services Reports).

Reporting plug-in name and location

The following table summarizes the names of the file, the folder, and the plug-in for the MSF process templates.

In the XML file, you specify one or more tasks and their dependencies. For an example of a task that specifies a set of reports, see the ReportsTasks.xml file in the MSF for Agile Software Development process template.

Reporting plug-in syntax structure

The Reporting plug-in file must conform to the schema definition for ReportingServices, which is defined in the Rosetta.xsd file, and be specified in its own file.

The following syntax shows the structure of the Reporting plug-in. For a description of each element, see ReportingServices Child Elements later in this topic.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<tasks>
  <task id="Site" plugin="Microsoft.ProjectCreationWizard.Reporting" completionMessage="Project Reporting site created.">
    <dependencies />
    <taskXml>
      <ReportingServices>
        <site> </site>
      </ReportingServices>
    </taskXml>
  </task>
  <task id="Populate Reports" plugin="Microsoft.ProjectCreationWizard.Reporting" completionMessage="Project reports uploaded.">
    <dependencies>
      <dependency taskId="Site" />
    </dependencies>
    <taskXml>
      <ReportingServices>
        <folders> . . . </folders>
        <reports> . . . </reports>
      </ReportingServices>
    </taskXml>
  </task>
</tasks>

Creating the Reports site

For the reports to run correctly, you must create a reporting site. The reporting site will have a link to it on the project portal home page, and the link will be labeled Reports. To create the reporting site, use the site element, as the following example shows:

<taskXml>
   <ReportingServices>
        <site></site>
   </ReportingServices>
</taskXml>

Defining folders

You can create folders on the reporting site by using the folder element. Use the path attribute to specify the relative path name of the new folder. The folder appears on the project site and under the Reports folder in Team Explorer.

The following example creates four top-level folders and two sub-folders on the reporting site. The top-level folders are labeled Bugs, Builds, Project Management, and Tests. The two sub-folders are located under Project Management and are labeled Visual Studio and Visual Studio ALM.

<taskXml>
   <ReportingServices>
      <folders>
         <folder path="Bugs" />
          <folder path="Builds" />
          <folder path="Project Management" />
          <folder path="Project Management/Visual Studio" />
          <folder path="Project Management/Visual Studio ALM" />
          <folder path="Tests" />
      </folders>
   </ReportingServices>
</taskXml>

Specify the reports to upload

Reports are defined by .rdl files. To add reports to the reporting site, copy the report .rdl files into a folder under the Reports folder in the process template. Then use the report element to describe the necessary properties and data sources for the report.

The following example specifies that the Remaining Work.rdl file will be uploaded to the Project Management folder. You must specify the ExplicitProject parameter and the data sources for each report. The data sources in the following example correspond to the names that are automatically assigned to the Analysis Services cube and data warehouse relational database.

<taskXml>
   <ReportingServices>
     <reports>
        <report name="Remaining Work" filename="Reports\Remaining Work.rdl" folder="Project Management" cacheExpiration="30">
       <parameters>
          <parameter name="ExplicitProject" value="" />
       </parameters>
       <datasources>
          <reference name="/Tfs2010OlapReportDS" dsname="TfsOlapReportDS" />
          <reference name="/Tfs2010ReportDS" dsname="TfsReportDS" />
       </datasources>
    </report>
 . . . 
     </reports>
   </ReportingServices>
</taskXml>

ReportingServices element reference

The following syntax shows the structure of the ReportingServices element and its child elements. You specify these elements within the taskXml container element and only for the Reporting plug-in.

<ReportingServices>
   <folders>
      <folder />
 . . . 
   </folders>
   <reports>
      <report>
         <parameters>
            <parameter />
         </parameters>
         <datasources>
            <reference />
         </datasources>
      </report>
 . . . 
   </reports>
</ReportingServices>

The following table describes the elements that you use to specify a report to upload to a team project and that can be accessed through SQL Server Reporting Services.

<datasources>
   <reference />
</datasources>

<folder path="FolderName" />

<folders>
   <folder path="FolderName" />
</folders>

<parameter name="ParameterName" value="ParameterValue" />

<parameter name="ExplicitProject" value="" />

<parameters>
   <parameter />
</parameters>

< properties >
   < property />
</ properties >

<property name="PropertyName" value="PropertyValue" />

<reference name="RelationalDBName" dsname="OLAPDBName" />

<report name="ReportName" filename="ReportFilePathName" 
folder="FolderName" cacheExpiration="CacheDuration">   <folders>
   <parameters>. . .</parameters>
   <datasources>. . .</datasources>
   <properties>. . .</properties >
</report>

<reports>
   <report />
   . . .
</reports>

<ReportingServices>
   <folders>. . .</folders>
   <reports>. . .</reports>
</ReportingServices>

<site> </site>

See Also

Concepts

Customize a process template

Overview of process template files