Use .NET CLI Template to Create a Reporting App with Report Designer

• Nov 24, 2023
• 4 minutes to read

You can use the .NET command-line interface (CLI) tools to create a sample application with the End-User Report Designer control.

Prerequisites

You need a configured private DevExpress NuGet source to create an application using the .NET CLI Tools.

If you have already configured a private DevExpress NuGet source, proceed to step 1. Otherwise, add a private DevExpress NuGet source as described in the following help topic: Manage Packages with .NET CLI.

Step 1. Install DevExpress CLI Templates

Open the console and enter the following command:

dotnet new install DevExpress.DotNet.Web.ProjectTemplates::23.2.5

The console displays the list of templates installed on your machine from this package.

Step 2. Create a Web Reporting Application

Run the following command to create a new designerapp project with a Report Designer.

dotnet new dx.reporting --name designerapp --add-viewer false --add-designer true --add-data-source true

For information about available options, run:

dotnet new dx.reporting -h

The following command line parameters are available:

-nf, --nuget-feed <nuget-feed>

Specifies the NuGet Feed URL. Refer to https://nuget.devexpress.com/#feed-url and login to your account to obtain your Feed URL.

-ad, --add-designer

Specifies whether to create a web page with the Report Designer. The default value is true.

-av, --add-viewer

Specifies whether to create a web page with a Document Viewer. The default value is true.

-ads, --add-data-source

Specifies whether to create a sample connection string and register it in the Report Designer to create SQL Data Sources in the Report Wizard and Data Source Wizard. The connection string is also used to register a predefined data source. The default value is true.

-ajs, --add-json-data-connection-storage

Specifies whether to create a storage and register it to create JSON Data Sources in the Report Wizard and Data Source Wizard. For the storage to work correctly, ensure that the Newtosoft.Json package is installed. The default value is false.

-ao, --add-data-object

Specifies whether to add a sample data object to an application and register this data object to create Object Data Sources in the Report Wizard and Data Source Wizard. The default value is false.

-rte, --enable-rich-text-editor

Specifies whether to add an in-line Rich Text Editor for the RichText control. The default value is false.

-dfb, --Dockerfile <None|Debian|...>

Creates a Dockerfile based on the selected OS. Review the following online example for more information: How to Use the DevExpress CrossPlatform Drawing Engine in an ASP.NET Core Application. Select None to not enable Docker support.

None (defaut)

Skip docker support.

Debian

Debian-based Dockerfile.

Alpine

Alpine-based Dockerfile.

Ubuntu

Ubuntu-based Dockerfile.

openSUSE

openSUSE-based Dockerfile.

Amazon Linux

Amazon Linux based Dockerfile.

-f, --framework <net6.0|net7.0|...>

Specifies the target framework for the project.

net6.0 (default)

The target framework is .Net6.0

net7.0

The target framework is .Net7.0

net8.0

The target framework is .Net8.0

-D, --DocumentStorage <InMemory|XPO|...>

Specifies the storage type to cache documents that the report creates. For more information, review the following help topic: Web Document Viewer Cache Management.

InMemory (default)

Default cache that stores objects directly in memory without serialization, optimized for frequent operations.

XPO

Implements database cache based on the XPO library, designed for multi-instance applications to prevent cache data loss.

File

Configures the reporting engine to store documents generated by reports on disk instead of in memory.

DistributedCache

Enables cache as external service that uses ASP.NET Core distributed caching mechanism and can be shared by multiple application servers.

Azure

Configures the application to use Azure caching services.

Step 3. Run the Project

Navigate to the newly created application folder and use the following command to restore dependencies, run the application, and display the application’s URL:

cd designerapp
dotnet run

The command output contains the application URL, which can be different on different hosts:

Now listening on: http://localhost:2009

Open your browser and navigate to the URL to see the result.