Managing Report History

Report history is a collection of previously run copies of a report. You can use report history to maintain a record of a report over time. Report history is an extension of a report. If you move a report, report history moves with it. However, if you modify a report or delete its data source, existing report history is preserved.

Report history is not intended for reports that contain confidential or personal data. For this reason, report history can include only those reports that query a data source using a single set of credentials (either stored credentials or credentials used for unattended report execution) that are available to all users who run a report.

Report history consists of report snapshots: instances of a report that contain layout information and data obtained from an external data source at specific points in time. Each snapshot in report history captures a report as it was when the snapshot was created. If you change the layout or delete the data source, snapshots in report history remain intact. For more information about report snapshots, see Types of Reports.

Note

Report history is not supported in SQL Server Express with Advanced Services. For more information about features in this edition, see Reporting Services in SQL Server Express with Advanced Services.

Viewing and Managing Report History

To view or manage report history, use Report Manager. You can view report history through the tabbed History page that appears when you navigate to a report in Report Manager.

Report history uses the security settings of the report with which it is associated. You cannot secure individual report snapshots. Any user who has access to a report can view report history for that report. These permissions are provided by the "View reports" task. You can only view report history for one report at a time. You cannot view in one place all the history of all reports stored in the report server database.

You can manage report history by setting properties that determine how report history is created and stored. You can set properties at the server level or for individual reports. Managing report history is supported through the "Manage report history" task. For more information, see Configuring Report History Properties.

Viewing Report History Snapshots Through a URL

You can isolate a single snapshot from report history to view it separately or to send it to a recipient through e-mail. To do this, you must access the report through its URL and attach a rendering parameter that identifies the snapshot you want. For more information, see Rendering a Report Using URL Access.