In the Report Manager site settings one can set the URL to the Report Builder as shown here. While this URL works with Peter’s system, it does not work with mine. The difference (I think) is that he has installed Reporting Services on the SQL Server default instance and I have installed it on a named instance.

One of the problems I’m having is the ambiguity on the recently posted help topics in MSDN. For example,

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms181194.aspx says:

Custom Report Builder launch URL

Specify a custom URL when the report server does not use the default Report Builder URL. This setting is optional. If you do not specify a value, the default URL will be used, which launches Report Builder 2.0 or Report Builder 1.0 as a ClickOnce application. The default URL for Report Builder 2.0 is http://<computername>/ReportServer//ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder_2_0_0_0.application and for Report Builder 1.0 it is http://<computername>/ReportServer/ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder.application.

This implies one needs to add http://<computername> to the URL. It does not indicate if HTTPS should be used in SSL-protected implementations. However, no URL that begins with HTTP works (it’s rejected by the Report Manager).

However, http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms365173.aspx leads one to: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd795295.aspx which states:

 

To change the default ClickOnce application in Report Manager

1.     Start Report Manager.

2.     Click Site Settings.

3.     Click General in the left pane.

4.     In Custom Report Builder URL, type /ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder_2_0_0_0.application.

5.     Click OK.

This URL is accepted by Report Manager, but when I click on Report Builder in Report Manager, I get an exception that implies that Reporting Services is looking for Report Builder in the 64-bit Program Files.

Reporting Services Error

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• The report server could not transmit the file because the file /ReportBuilder/ReportBuilder_2_0_0_0.application is not installed or you do not have the correct permissions to access it. (rsReportBuilderFileTransmissionError) Get Online Help

• For more information about this error navigate to the report server on the local server machine, or enable remote errors

SQL Server Reporting Services

I clicked on the “Online Help” button and was taken to a “We’re sorry, we didn’t bother to link to any helpful content” website.

 

Details ID: rsReportBuilderFileTransmissionError                                              Source: Microsoft.ReportingServices.Diagnostics.Utilities.ErrorStrings                                                  We're sorry There is no additional information about this issue in the Error and Event Log Messages or Knowledge Base databases at this time. You can use the links in the Support area to determine whether any additional information might be available elsewhere.

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I would really like to include the new Report Builder in an upcoming SQL Server Magazine article but until I can get it to work, I’ll have to pass.