If you have ever filed a support incident with SoftArtisans Technical Services concerning your OfficeWriter reports, you know that one of the most important steps in resolving an issue is having a Technical Services Engineer reproduce it. While there are many components to reproducing a customer issue, one of the most critical aspects is having sample data to run the affected report with. Unfortunately, this can be a special challenge because a Technical Services Engineer does not have access to your data sources. The inability to run the report can delay or even halt Technical Service’s ability to troubleshoot an issue. However, do not fret, as CSV files can save the day!

Steps to Save Your Report Data as a CSV File

1. Download the attached template Collecting_Data_For_SA. The template will allow you to gather data for up to 10 datasources with up to 35 columns each.
2. Run this template through your application:
   1. If you have a custom web application that uses ExcelTemplate: run this template through your application.
   2. If you have a custom web application that uses  ExcelApplication or Word Application: run this template through your application using ExcelTemplate with code that looks something like this:

      ExcelTemplate xlt= new ExcelTemplate();
      
      //Open the collecting_data_for_sa template
      xlt.Open("collecting_data_for_SA.xlsx"));
      
      //Bind each of your datasources to the template
      xlt.BindData([YOUR DATA SOURCE], "Something", xlt.CreateDataBindingProperties());
      xlt.BindData([YOUR DATA SOURCE2], "Something2", xlt.CreateDataBindingProperties());
      xlt.BindData([YOUR DATA SOURCE3], "Something3", xlt.CreateDataBindingProperties());
      
      xlt.Process();
      xlt.Save("data_collected.xlsx");

   3. If you are using SSRS integration:
      1. Create a copy of your affected RDL.
      2. Open the copy RDL in the OfficeWriter Designer or OfficeWriter Designer .NET for Microsoft Excel.
      3. Click “Import Template” in the Designer tab and overwrite your existing template with the collecting_data_for_sa file.
      4. The copy rdl should now contain the collecting_data_for_sa template.
      5. Upload the rdl to SSRS and run the report.
3. Send the results to SoftArtisans Technical Services

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