Hi all,
I'm having a little trouble configuring my system to allow me to create custom SSRS reports with Visual Studio in conjunction with CRM 2011 Online.
(I know you're busy, feel free to jump to the actual question below all this background info)
So far I tried three approaches unsuccessfully:
Option 1: SQL Server 2008 R2 SP1 / Visual Studio 2008 / Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Report Authoring Extension (with SQL Server Data Tools support)
The problem I'm having here is that I'm having trouble installing BIDS with SQL Server 2008. Keeps failing. Initially I was running SQL Server Express, then learned that this does not support BIDS. Now I have SQL 2008 Express with Advanced services (v10.1.2531.0) "BIDS" and "Management Tools - Basic" didn't install on first attempt though the rest of the software did. I installed SP1 as I was informed by the system to do so then tried again installing by selecting to add feature to existing installation, fails again. I have viewed the log file but cannot ascertain the problem.
Option 2: SQL Server Data Tools / Visual Studio 2010 / Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Report Authoring Extension (with SQL Server Data Tools support)
I successfully installed SQL Server Data Tools extension to VS2010. I don't however see the report templates as I do when logging into other versions of Visual Studio. The report authoring extension (with SQL Server Data Tools support) fails on installation as it says I do not have BIDS installed. I was under the impression that you can either use VS2008 with BIDS OR VS 2010 with SQL Server Data Tools.
Option 3: Visual Studio 2012 / Microsoft SQL Server 2012 / SQL Server Data Tools for Visual Studio 2012
This would be my preferred option. I see all the report templates I require in VS2012. I am aware the CRM 2011 Report Authoring Extension does not support doing it this way. I would like to create a manual data connection to CRM 2011 online, I don't have the connection option in VS2012 to select Dynamic CRM as I've seen in tutorials relating to previous versions (Type: Microsoft Dynamic CRM Fetch).
Other info: Dell Latitude E6510 / Windows 7
So, finally... my questions:
1. Can I use Visual Studio 2012 to create custom SSRS reports with Dynamic CRM online?
1. (a) Can I connect directly from VS2012 to CRM Online by providing the correct Connection string and credentials without needing the Report Authoring Extension?
2. Is it silly to have SQL Server 2008 and 2012 on the same machine, could this be causing my installation issues?
Any other thoughts/comments welcome. (I'm not particularly familiar or experienced with SQL Server-side stuff, so please take it easy.)
Many thanks in advance, Alex,
