Is it worth the effort?

• Advantages
  • Can encapsulate a set of defaults. Pre-configurations of a very general report, for example.
• Disadvantages
  • Links between reports take users to the master source folder.
  • (!) Dynamic parameter defaults don’t survive linking.  Instead the value of those defaults at the time the linked report is created will be saved as literal values.

It is useful to keep “master” reports (.rdl) files in a restricted area and present reports as linked reports for users to browse.  The linked report mechanism allows distinct parameter defaults to be set.

There are some challenges:

Permissions

Permissions are those of the folder that is linked from.

If the master report contains a subreport, the subreport will be referenced from its original location.  Permissions are not transferred by the linking mechanism to the subreport.  Hence it is necessary to give the user View report permissions (only?) on the subreport.  Do this with a new ‘View report’ user role.

Open Report Action

Linked Reports are also run from their original location.   (Proof:  create a set of reports with Open Report actions established between them.  Create a link from another folder to one only of these reports.  Open the linked report and click the Open Report action object:  the click-through will work, and the new report is being served from the master location.