ReportServer as a separate component

Can the ReportServer web services application be installed without installing SQL Server?

Let me explain a little further what I'm trying to do and if I need to take a different path, I'm open to suggestions.

I am going to be using XML files for data input and RDL files to describe the reports themselves. That being said, I am not in need of a database of any kind (and don't want to be required to use one), but I want to take advantage of Microsoft's rendering capabilities. I have looked into the ReportViewer control, but that control doesn't support all of the rendering extensions that ReportServer does (mostly HTML). I know that ReportServer stores its metadata in a database on the local SQL Server, but I didn't know if there was maybe a standalone installation that I could get my hands on that exposed the SOAP API, but didn't require an SQL Server (or any other database for that matter) for it to exist.

Thanks,
Ken

In order to run the Report Server, you do need a SQL Server database engine to be deployed somewhere on your network - not strictly on the local computer.

To get all the rendering capabilities of the report server, you will need to deploy a report server.

If you don't want to use a report server at all, then the ReportViewer control that ships with Visual Studio 2005 is your best bet.

If you don't want to deploy a report server for every instance of your application, you might choose to use a remote report server. In SQL Server 2005, reporting services provides a method for loading a report on the server without saving it in the report server namespace. To do this you use the LoadReportDefinition SOAP API. You'll also need to add any users of your applications to the System User role on the report server, at the system scope (Site Settings in Report Manager, then edit site wide security settings). Your application would then use the LoadReportDefinition method and privision any information needed through the report server execution SOAP endpoint.

Otherwise, you're stuck iinstalling a report server and then choosing either to have a local sql server relational database or a remote one.

-Lukasz