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How to use Barcode Professional in Visual Studio Local Report (RDLC) - Windows Forms Product List Sample with PDF & Excel support

Technologies used
  • Neodynamic Barcode Professional 2.0 for Reporting Services or greater
  • Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or greater
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 or greater
  • Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 ReportViewer control
  • Microsoft Visual Basic .NET Express or Visual C# Express with ReportViewer add-in installed
Due to its flexible design, Barcode Professional allows you to easily add barcode images in RDLC (Report Definition Language Client-side processing) reports. You can use all Barcode Symbologies - Linear & 2D - built-in Barcode Professional.
In the following sample we'll create a RDLC report which displays barcode images into it by using Barcode Professional and Visual Studio 2005 ReportViewer controls in a Windows Forms Application.
In this sample we'll create a Product List RDLC report by using Microsoft's AdventureWorks database sample.
Follow these steps:
  • Open Visual Studio 2005 and create a new Windows Forms Application.
  • Add a new Report (RDLC) item and name it to ProductList.rdlc
    Add New Item - ReportViewerBarcodeProductList


  • Add a new Data Source from the Data Sources window. If you have the AventureWorks Database installed in a SQL Server 2005 select it and choose the pre-built view called vProductAndDescription as is shown in the below figure.
    Data Source Configuration Wizard
  • In this sample we'll use the Industrial 2 of 5 Barcode Symbology, but remember that you can use ANY Barcode Symbology built-in Barcode Professional. IMPORTANT: Industrial 2 of 5 is a barcode symbology which encodes numeric values ONLY. So if you need to encode alphanumeric values, please choose another symbology such as Code 128 or the one which is required for your project.

    Follow these steps:
    • Ensure to install Barcode Professional for Reporting Services.

      IMPORTANT: After installing Barcode Professional for Reporting Services you must register it into the Global Assembly Cache (GAC). The assembly to register is located in [BarcodeInstallDir]\bin\For SSRS 2005\Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode.dll
    • In Visual Studio 2005 and with the report opened at design-time, add a reference to the Barcode Professional assembly (Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode.dll) going to Report > Report properties… Add the reference as is shown in the following figure:
      Add Reference
      We'll need to create an instance of Barcode Professional to use it then in a custom function. To do this, add a new entry in the Classes grid as is shown in the following figure. Notice that the instance will be named objBarcode and that the full reference to the class is Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode

      Report Properties
    • We need to create a VB.NET function which will be invoked to get the appropriate Industrial 2 of 5 barcode image by using the Barcode Professional instance created in the previous step. In the Code tab write the following code:
      IMPORTANT: If you are using Barcode Professional 3.0 or greater, then modify the line objBarcode.BarHeight = 20 in the function below to objBarcode.BarHeight = 0.2 because in those new versions all barcode-related dimensions are measured in inches instead of pixel!
      					
Public Function GetBarcode(ByVal code As String) As Byte()
	'Set the value to encode
	objBarcode.Code = code
	'Set the Industrial 2 of 5 Barcode Symbology
	objBarcode.Symbology = Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Symbology.Industrial2of5
	'Set the Bar's height to 20 px
	objBarcode.BarHeight = 20
	'Hide the value to encode in the barcode image
	objBarcode.DisplayCode = False
	'Generate the barcode image
	Return objBarcode.GetBarcodeImagePng()
End Function
      NOTE: In the previous function we’re returning a barcode image in PNG format (objBarcode.GetBarcodeImagePng). You can return other image format of the generated barcode by using the other GetBarcodeImageXYZ() methods available. (For further info, please refer to Class Reference in the product help)
      This VB.NET function called GetBarcode requires a code parameter. This value will be specified with some fields of the report’s Data Source. And as you can see in this function you can set any property of Barcode Professional.
      Report Properties
      Click OK to close the dialog box.
  • Now we'll design the Product List layout. Open the report at design time and drag & drop the following controls and fields as is shown in the following figure (The control below Product Barcode header is an Image control):

    ReportViewerBarcodeProductList - Microsoft Visual Studio
    The Image control that will hold the barcode image has to have its Source property set to Database, the Sizing property to AutoSize, the MIMEType property to a image/[format] that matches with the GetBarcodeImage[format] method used in the custom function, and the Value property to an expression such as the following:
    =Code.GetBarcode(Fields!ProductID.Value.ToString)

    Properties
  • Now, it's time to display the report onto a Windows Form by using a ReportViewer control. So, open your Windows Form at design time and drag & drop a ReportViewer control onto it and specify the ProductList.rdlc report.

    ReportViewerBarcodeProductList - Microsoft Visual Studio
    The last thing to do is to add a line of code in the Form_Load event procedure. So, go to it and add the following line:
    • For Barcode Professional 2.0:
    Visual Basic .NET
    Me.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.AddTrustedCodeModuleInCurrentAppDomain("Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode, Version=2.0.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c6b33c3093a0d4cd")
    Visual C# .NET
    this.reportViewer1.LocalReport.AddTrustedCodeModuleInCurrentAppDomain("Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode, Version=2.0.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c6b33c3093a0d4cd");
    • For Barcode Professional 3.0:
    Visual Basic .NET
    Me.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.AddTrustedCodeModuleInCurrentAppDomain("Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode, Version=3.0.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c6b33c3093a0d4cd")
    Visual C# .NET
    this.reportViewer1.LocalReport.AddTrustedCodeModuleInCurrentAppDomain("Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode, Version=3.0.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c6b33c3093a0d4cd");
    • For Barcode Professional 4.0:
    Visual Basic .NET
    Me.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.AddTrustedCodeModuleInCurrentAppDomain("Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode, Version=4.0.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c6b33c3093a0d4cd")
    Visual C# .NET
    this.reportViewer1.LocalReport.AddTrustedCodeModuleInCurrentAppDomain("Neodynamic.ReportingServices.Barcode, Version=4.0.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=c6b33c3093a0d4cd");
    Ensure that you've registered or installed the Barcode Professional for SSRS 2005 assembly into the Global Assembly Cache (GAC)
  • That's it. Run your app. You'll get something like the following:

    AdventureWorks Product List

    Barcode Professional supports PDF & Excel exportation. So, if you do that onto the previous form you’ll get your report with barcode images in PDF and Excel formats.

    Adobe Reader - [ProductList.pdf]
    PDF Support

    Microsoft Excel - ProductList.xls
    Excel Support


  • Deployment

    To deploy your project on a client machine, just ensure that the Barcode Professional for Reporting Services is installed or registered in the client's Global Assembly Cache (GAC). For further details, please refer to Deployment topic in the product help.
If you need more information or assistance, please contact our .
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