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Browser Support in Reporting Services

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In Reporting Services, you use a Web browser to view reports and run Report Manager. Not all report functionality is supported by all browsers. The following table describes report functionality restrictions for the supported browsers.

Browser Requirements for Report Manager

To run Report Manager and use Report Manager to view reports, you can use Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 with SP1 or Internet Explorer 7.0. Scripting must be enabled.

Note

Scripting is enabled by default. However, if you are using Internet Explorer, you can modify script settings in the Security tab of the Internet Options dialog box. In the Security tab, when you select the zone through which you access Report Manager (in most cases, this is the Local intranet zone), you can click Customize Level to enable or disable different types of script functionality.

Browser Requirements and Recommendations for Viewing Reports

To view reports separately from Report Manager, you can choose from a variety of supported browsers. The following table describes feature availability for specific browser types.

Browser type Description

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0 for Windows, with all service packs applied and scripting enabled.

Internet Explorer is recommended if you want to use all the available report functionality. Although you can use other browsers to view a report, Internet Explorer for Windows is the only browser that is guaranteed to support the complete set of features for working with reports.

Netscape 7.2, Mozilla 1.7, Firefox 1.0.3, Safari 1.3, and Safari 2.0

The following features are not supported in third-party browsers:

  • Document map
  • Searching within the report
  • Zoom
  • Fixed table headers

The following additional features are not available when viewing reports in Safari:

  • The Calendar control that is used to select dates on a parameterized report that runs on a report server has been disabled for Safari. Users must type the dates that they want to use.
  • Image source files that are retrieved from remote computers do not display correctly in Safari.
  • The client-side print control used for printing HTML reports.

Note

If you are accessing a report server from a Macintosh computer, we recommend that you use Safari. Reporting Services does not support Internet Explorer 5.0 for the Mac.

Script Requirements

To use the report toolbar functionality with a report, you must configure your browser to run scripts. Scripts are used in the report toolbar to support zoom, search, refresh, and export operations.

If scripting is not enabled, you receive the following message when you open a report: "Your browser does not support scripts or has been configured to not allow scripts to run. Click here to view this report without scripts". If you choose to view the report without script support, the report is rendered in HTML without report viewer capabilities such as the report toolbar and the document map.

Reporting Services does not return an error if you are using a browser that is incompatible with the default HTML rendering extension. In many cases, Reporting Services suppresses features that do not work. In other cases, the feature may be available to the user, but does not function correctly. Each browser type handles report features differently. Before you deploy a report, you should always test it in the browser you plan to use.

Note

The report toolbar is part of the HTML Viewer component and it appears at the top of every report that is rendered in a browser window. The report toolbar provides features that let you search the report for information, scroll to a specific page, adjust the page size for viewing purposes, and so on. For more information about the report toolbar or HTML Viewer, see HTML Viewer.

Using Other Browsers and Applications

In some cases, you might be able to use other browsers that are not specifically listed in this topic. The following list provides tips and guidelines for excluding browser-dependent functionality, and provides suggestions for using alternative viewers:

  • Use a fully qualified report URL that includes parameters for specifying the rendering extension. Specifying an Excel rendering extension, for example, opens the report in the Excel viewer of the browser. Using the Excel rendering extension, or some other rendering extension that is not HTML, lets users use the features of the associated viewer to scroll pages, search the report content, and perform other tasks that would otherwise be performed by using the report toolbar. For more information, see Specifying a Rendering Format in a URL.
  • Use a fully qualified report URL that includes parameters for suppressing the report toolbar. If you have a simple HTML-based report and you do not need the features in the report toolbar, you can suppress the toolbar so that only the report content is visible to users. For more information about suppressing the toolbar, see Using URL Access Parameters.
  • Avoid browsers completely by using the file share delivery extension to save the report to the file system. Choose a rendering extension that is not HTML (for example, Excel or PDF). For more information, see File Share Delivery in Reporting Services.

See Also

Concepts

Viewing Reports
Reporting Services Component Overview
Report Manager
Finding and Viewing Reports in Report Manager
Finding and Viewing Reports with a Browser
Designing for HTML Output

Other Resources

HTML Viewer (Reporting Services)
Using URL Access Parameters
Accessibility Issues in Reporting Services

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance

Change History

Release History

12 December 2006
Changed content:
  • Support for Internet Explorer 7.0. Removed support for Internet Explorer 5.5.

5 December 2005
Changed content:
  • Supported functionality for third-party browsers.
  • Message when scripting is not enabled.