An offline, source-preserving RDLC designer for desktop Visual Studio Code. Original code is MIT licensed. The implementation is under development; public release acceptance and publishing credentials are not yet verified.
Build a local VSIX using CONTRIBUTING.md, then install it:
code --install-extension dist/rdlc-code-0.2.0.vsixVS Code 1.142.0 or newer is required. Windows has local automated evidence; the configured CI matrix covers Windows, macOS and Linux. Initial developer dependency and test-harness downloads need network access. Installed authoring uses bundled assets and needs no server, .NET runtime or data connection.
- Use RDLC Code: New Report to create an untitled report; use native Save As.
- For an existing
.rdlc, select Reopen Editor With → RDLC Designer, or run RDLC Code: Open Designer. - Select an item and explicitly apply its property form. Native save, undo and redo operate on the same text document as source edits.
- Use RDLC Code: Open Source for XML, unsupported content or diagnostics.
Open RDLC Code in the Activity Bar for Report Structure, Report Data
and Components, including before opening a designer. Open Report uses a
local .rdlc picker. VS Code owns view placement, hiding and restoration.
- Structure follows accepted XML, including cells, members, groups and preserved report items. Activate a row to select its associated designer target; use Properties or Code XML from its context menu. Eligible body items also expose Copy, Cut and Duplicate. Delete, Table Properties and Group Properties open the existing inspector workflow; deletion still requires its contained-content acknowledgement and reference checks.
- Data lists datasets/fields, parameters, embedded images and data sources. Tooltips contain allowlisted metadata, never image payloads, query text or connection strings. Parameters, images and data sources remain inspection-only.
- Components shares the compact designer's eleven-kind catalog. Textbox, Table and Dataset activate existing automatic creation. The title Filter Components action matches labels without case sensitivity; Escape retains the previous filter, and Clear Filter recovers an empty result.
- The designer starts with its duplicate navigation closed. Its Components toolbar button explicitly opens the compact fallback, including existing HTML drag insertion, even when native views are hidden. Explicit saved navigation preferences remain respected.
Native-tree drag delivery is unavailable in the executed Windows probe, so the native views advertise activation rather than dragging. Every installed functional journey passes locally on Windows with VS Code 1.142.0, including the selection-latency gate. The native sidebar is not yet acceptance-complete: pinned Linux visual references, monitored offline/security capture and the cross-platform CI matrix remain outstanding.
Each accepted gesture or command is one host-validated edit and one native Undo step; cancelled, refused and no-op actions leave the document and history unchanged.
| Action | Pointer / keyboard |
|---|---|
| Select, add/remove | Click; Shift+click; marquee on blank canvas; item list; Ctrl/Cmd+A selects all |
| Move / resize | Drag an item; drag one of eight handles (textboxes and whole tables) |
| Align / distribute | Toolbar: six alignments to the primary item; horizontal/vertical distribution (≥3) |
| Nudge | Arrow keys 1pt, Shift+arrow 10pt (canvas focus; snapping ignored) |
| Snap bypass | Hold Alt while dragging; grid and guide visibility/snapping toggle independently |
| Zoom / pan | Zoom controls 25–400%, Fit Page/Body, Reveal Selection, Ctrl/Cmd+wheel, Space+drag |
| Copy / Cut / Paste / Duplicate | Ctrl/Cmd+C/X/V and Ctrl/Cmd+D on the canvas, or the labeled buttons |
| Cancel | Escape cancels a preview, marquee or nudge; otherwise clears the selection |
Shortcuts apply only on the canvas; form fields keep their normal typing, clipboard and arrow behavior. Numerical property forms remain available for precise sizing. Zoom, scroll, unit, grid and guide preferences are per view and never written to the report. Paste offsets 10pt, then 20pt, per successful paste; Duplicate offsets 10pt and does not touch the clipboard. Clipboard reuse works within one VS Code window and refuses selections whose dependencies, scopes, names or foreign metadata cannot be proven safe; Copy then explains why.
- RDL namespace
http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2016/01/reportdefinition, exactly one report section, page/body dimensions and margins. - Body textboxes with one paragraph and one text run: names, literal or expression text, geometry, local fonts, size, bold/italic, color and horizontal alignment.
- Local datasets/fields with text, Boolean, Int32, Int64, decimal, double and date/time metadata. No data is loaded or queried.
- Supported unmerged, static-column tables: cell text/bindings, columns, row groups, group subtotals and explicitly dataset-wide report totals using Sum.
- Keyboard-accessible authoring controls and normal VS Code document services.
The XML TextDocument is authoritative. Visual changes use validated, minimal, atomic patches; untouched source, namespaces and unsupported content stay in place. Referenced or potentially referenced destructive changes are refused. See the compatibility contract.
This is an authoring surface, not a report renderer: expressions, embedded code, queries and external resources are not executed. Images, charts, rich text, matrices, spanning cells, unknown field types and unsupported structures are preservation-only. Unsupported versions, multiple sections, required unknown extensions, malformed XML and parser-budget limits retain source access. Visual parsing currently has 16 MiB / depth 256 / 100,000-element budgets; they do not truncate source or restrict native source editing.
External RDLC designer/runtime acceptance is separate from XML authoring support; no universal consumer-compatibility claim is made. Browser-hosted and remote workspaces are not supported targets. Native dialog, installed isolation, performance/usability and multi-OS evidence still have outstanding obligations; interactive-designer installed acceptance is closed by owner acceptance (see the interactive validation record). See validation records and release requirements.
Use CONTRIBUTING.md. Architecture and acceptance scenarios are
in the feature specification and the
interactive designer specification.
Microsoft reference material in vendor/ is read-only and retains its own
notices; see THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.