You can add self-service ad hoc reporting without building every report by embedding a reporting product that provides an end-user report designer and viewer. Your team still needs to integrate that product, define which data users can see, and enforce authentication and authorization for reports and their underlying data.
What self-service reporting adds—and what it does not
An embedded reporting product gives users a way to create or edit reports and, through a viewer, preview, print, or export them. The designer and viewer are distinct capabilities: some users may only need to consume reports, while others need permission to author them. DevExpress documents both an ASP.NET Core report designer and document viewer, with end users able to create or edit reports and preview, print, and export them. DevExpress Reporting
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The product supplies report-authoring and rendering features; it does not decide which application users may access a report or which rows and fields are safe to expose. Those boundaries remain part of your application’s design and implementation.
Products to evaluate
These are documented options, not a universal ranking. Compare the current release documentation and product requirements against your app before choosing.
#1 Best Overall
| Product | What its documentation establishes | Questions to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Progress Telerik Reporting | ASP.NET Core integration, a web report designer, a REST service integration path, report viewers, and exports. The web designer is a client-side jQuery widget that depends on a Report Designer REST service; the documentation describes an implementation in the Telerik services package. Telerik ASP.NET Core implementation Telerik supported document formats | Does the service and designer model fit your hosting and deployment? Confirm package versions, service configuration, report storage, and required export formats for the release you plan to use. |
| DevExpress Reporting | ASP.NET Core report designer and document viewer. The documented viewer supports preview, printing, and export. DevExpress ASP.NET Core reporting | Does the end-user workflow fit your users? Check product prerequisites and platform limits against the app. |
| Bold Reports | A browser-based ASP.NET Core designer for RDL reports, with drag-and-drop authoring, parameters, and documented SQL Server, Oracle, OLE DB, and ODBC data providers. Bold Reports ASP.NET Core Report Designer | Is RDL a suitable report definition format? Do its providers and authoring controls fit your data layer and intended authors? |
To compare candidates fairly, check framework and deployment compatibility, browser-based authoring, report-definition format and portability, supported data sources, preview and export formats, authorization integration, operational service requirements, and licensing. The cited documentation does not establish comparable licensing costs, so it cannot support a total-cost ranking.
Design the reporting data surface before embedding a designer
Start with three decisions: which users may create reports, which fields they may discover, and which rows they may query. Build a curated reporting surface—such as approved views, models, or provider-specific data access—instead of exposing unrestricted application tables or arbitrary database access. That is an architectural recommendation; Microsoft’s authorization guidance supports controlling access to resources but does not prescribe a reporting-specific data model.
Keep sensitive fields out of the reportable surface unless there is a defined business need and an authorization rule for them. A report parameter can shape a query or presentation, but it should not be treated as an authorization boundary: enforce access on the server against the signed-in user and the requested report or data resource.
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Integrate the designer and viewer in ASP.NET Core
- Choose the product and release. Confirm the current vendor documentation for your ASP.NET Core version, hosting model, browser requirements, report format, data providers, and deployment environment.
- Configure the product’s server-side components. Follow the version-specific integration guide. For Telerik, the documented web designer is a client-side jQuery widget that communicates with a Report Designer REST service; verify the actual service implementation, package versions, configuration, and report storage for your selected release. Telerik REST service implementation
- Choose the authoring and viewing experience. Expose the designer only to users who may create or edit reports. Provide the viewer to report consumers as appropriate; validate the supported preview, print, and export behavior rather than assuming every product or version behaves the same.
- Connect only approved reporting data. Configure the selected product’s supported providers or data access path to use the curated reporting surface. Avoid letting end users supply unrestricted connection details or query arbitrary production tables.
- Protect every operation. Apply the application’s authorization rules to report listing, opening, saving, editing, execution, and export—not just the page that hosts the designer.
Authentication is not report authorization
A signed-in user is not automatically authorized to access every report or data row. Microsoft distinguishes authentication from authorization and documents policies and handlers for deciding whether a user may access a resource. ASP.NET Core endpoints without authorization metadata do not automatically require authorization unless the app configures a fallback policy. Microsoft policy-based authorization Microsoft authorization overview
Use policies or resource-based authorization when permission depends on the specific report, tenant, owner, or data resource. Ensure the same rules cover the reporting service endpoints and data access path; hiding a report in the UI alone does not protect an endpoint that can still retrieve or export it.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Validate the implementation before release
Test with representative roles and tenants, including both authors and read-only consumers. Exercise sensitive columns, report parameters, large result sets, and exports. Check that a user cannot open, save, run, or export another tenant’s report by changing an identifier or calling a service endpoint directly. These are prudent implementation checks; product documentation alone does not establish how your particular app will behave.
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What to compare beyond the demo
- Data and format fit: Confirm that the product’s report definition format and data providers match your architecture and any portability requirements.
- Operational fit: Identify services, storage, configuration, deployment, and version dependencies introduced by the embedded reporting stack.
- User fit: Verify that intended authors can build the reports they need and that consumers have the required preview, print, and export options.
- Security fit: Determine how your identity, report-level permissions, and row- or tenant-level access rules will be enforced across all operations.
- Commercial fit: Obtain current licensing terms for your deployment and user model; the cited product pages do not provide a comparable basis for ranking cost.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
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