InMemoryDataProviderWrapper: Data Provider on Steroids

The features of different data providers vary widely. Depending on the data source, sorting, native aggregate functions or filters at database level may be available directly. Or not. For example, none of this is available in file-based formats such as JSON or XML, or even in “web” formats such as REST. These are typically read “front to back” and therefore cannot offer sorting or native aggregation. With List & Label 29, we have something new to offer.

New Service Pack 28.006 for List & Label and the Report Server

The latest service pack for List & Label 28 delivers enhanced functionality and security improvements to streamline your reporting needs. With key updates like support of images in crosstab column and row labels in XHTML export as well as support for Embarcadero RAD Studio 12 (BDE & FireDAC). For a detailed list of changes, see the ServicePack.pdf in your installation and the Service Pack download area.

New Service Pack 29.001 for List & Label and the Report Server

The new Service Pack 29.001 brings several new features and improvements. The .NET Sample Center user interface has been completely redesigned to provide additional information and links to the samples. Also new are special “signed” NuGet packages that contain signed List & Label assemblies. The OdbcDataProvider now supports a custom ParameterMarkerFormat to override or correct the format provided by the driver.

New Service Pack 28.004 for List & Label and the Report Server

The latest service pack 28.004 for List & Label and the Report Server brings a new chart type in the Web Report Designer and Windows 11 23H2 support. Experience improved user interfaces alongside significant performance upgrades especially for horizontal gauges. For a detailed list of all changes, see the ServicePack.pdf in your installation or in the service pack download section.

New Service Pack 28.003 for List & Label and the Report Server

The new service pack 28.003 for List & Label extends your reporting with support for Embarcadero RAD Studio 11.3 and new chart types in the Web Report Designer. In addition, the corresponding Enterprise NuGet packages are now available for all .NET assemblies for a smooth integration into your projects. For a detailed list of all changes, see the servicepack.pdf in your installation or in the service pack download section.

New Data Provider for Azure Cosmos Database

Azure Cosmos DB is a fully managed Microsoft NoSQL database for modern app development, which is growing in popularity. Various APIs are available for connecting to Cosmos DB, as for example SQL API, Cassandra API or MongoDB API. Since we’re already able to connect to MongoDB or Cassandra through their own data providers, we’ll use the SQL API for the provider.

Service Pack 28.001 for List & Label and the Report Server

This is a summary of the major new features and improvements in Service Pack 28.001, including new export features and bar charts for the Web Report Designer. For a detailed list of all changes, see the ServicePack.pdf in your installation or in the Service Pack download section.

What’s New for .NET in List & Label 28?

List & Label 28 provides some new features and improvements for .NET developers. Most important, we’re now supporting the just released .NET 7. Performancewise, the optimized use of byte arrays for images makes a noticeable difference. And there’s also news regarding the support of new data sources. Here’s a list of the new features.

Web Report Viewer for Preview in Web Applications

Up until version 27, you were able to use the HTML5 Viewer in your own .NET web applications in order to display a report preview directly in the browser. Interactive user actions such as drill down, filtering data using report parameters and much more were already possible. But the technology that was utilized for this is getting older now, as for example the jQuery framework. With the new Web Report Viewer, we have created a modern, highly compatible replacement, which has been available since version 27 (year 2021).

Deploy Report Server on an Azure Container Instance and using it from an Azure Function

Report Server Azure Container

As we keep getting requests to support calling List & Label from an Azure Function, and – due to several restrictions like e.g. GDI sandboxing – List & Label can’t be used directly in this context, I thought it might be interesting to explore another way to the cloud, this time using the Report Server. Using its REST-API, you can even create reports from an Azure Function. But let’s walk through the process step by step.