Description:
Why does Report Designer need to run again when exporting data, the data is already in the RD window? The export is NOT exporting the data on the screen in Report Designer... When I RUN the report and display in Report Designer and then export to text, it runs the entire report again. It takes the same amount of time to export as it took to run. Also, If I simply click the Excel icon to export, instead of running the report first, it runs the report, meaning the export process executes running the report whether I have already “RUN” it and displayed it on the report designer or not. Why so?
Solution:
Generating report data to HTML, CSV or PDF is not the same as generating a report to the report grid. Hence, the report must be re-run in order to ensure proper export.
If the user just wishes a hard copy of the information in the report grid, then they can select “File | Print Preview” and the report will not be run again. (Output will accurately reflect the report grid. Also, this technique and printing to a PDF driver will create PDF output of the report grid.)
Additionally, data in the report grid may not be full if the data exceeds the limit that one page of the grid can store. In that scenario, more pages are added, but the extra pages do not contain data. The data is populated once the user tries to go the 2nd page of the grid (pagination concept is applied) and, therefore, when we save the report in .CSV or HTML, we run it again to get the entire data set.
