Thread: creating reports in VB .net

I would create it in a console app in VB.net if it is going to be run on a task scheduler and doesnt need user events. Also I would suggest creating typed datasets that match your report fields, fill the datasets with data from the database and then pass the filled datasets to each of your reports as its source.

Writing to Excel can be done one of two ways, you can use odbc functionality to export the dataset right to the file without the need or intervention of automating Excel. This is definitely easiest but since your not automating excel, you lose some formatting options, resizing the columns, bolding fonts, must adhere to table structure etc... Fully automating Excel gives more control but needs to be customized for each of your reports and also needs to be updated whenever there are any changes to your data structure.

I would suggest looking into crystal reports, again you can design the reports based on your dataset and passed the filled dataset to it as your source. You can then export the results as a pdf file.

Bahhh to java