Another possible scenario is one where you want to allow certain users to see the reports, but you don't want to give them any special authorizations or information about where the data is stored.

There are two simple ways to achieve this with C1Report. One is by using embedded reports. Load the report definition into your application at design time, using the Load Report dialog box, and the report will be embedded in the application. This way, you don't have to distribute a report definition file and no one will have access to the data source information.

The second way would be for your application to define a set of connection string aliases. The report definition file would contain the alias, and your application would replace it with the actual connection string before rendering the reports. The alias would be useless in any other applications (such as C1ReportDesigner). Depending on how concerned you are with security, you could also perform checks on the RecordSource property to make sure no one is trying to get unauthorized access to certain tables or fields in the database.

The following code shows how you might implement a simple alias scheme:

To write code in Visual Basic

Private Sub RenderReport(strReportName As String)

  ' load report requested by the user        
  c1r.Load("c:\Reports\MyReports.xml", strReportName)

  ' replace connection string alias        
  Dim strConn$        
  Select Case c1r.DataSource.ConnectionString
    Case "CUSTOMERS"        
    Case "EMPLOYEES"        
       strConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & _         
                "Data Source=C:\SecureData\People.mdb;" & _        
                "Jet OLEDB:Database Password=slekrsldksd;"        
    Case "$$SALES"        
      strConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" & _        
                "Data Source=C:\SecureData\Numbers.mdb;" & _        
                "Jet OLEDB:Database Password=slkkdmssids;"         
  End Select

  ' set connection string, render report         
  c1r.DataSource.ConnectionString = strConn        
  ppv1.Document = c1r      
  
End Sub

To write code in C#

private void RenderReport(string  strReportName) {

  // load report requested by the user        
  c1r.Load("c:\Reports\MyReports.xml", strReportName);       
     
  // replace connection string alias        
  string strConn$;        
  switch (i) { c1r.DataSource.ConnectionString;
  
    case "$$CUSTOMERS";        
    case "EMPLOYEES";        
      strConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" + _         
                "Data Source=CSALES";
      strConn = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;" +         
               "Data Source=C:\SecureData\Numbers.mdb;" +        
                "Jet OLEDB:Database Password=slkkdmssids;";        
  }

  // set connection string, render report         
  c1r.DataSource.ConnectionString = strConn;        
  ppv1.Document = c1r;        
}