Breaking Change T1168500
Visible to All Users

The .repx (report definition) files cannot be opened in the Visual Studio Report Designer

What Changed

The Visual Studio Report Designer no longer supports the .repx (report definition) format in projects that target .NET. The Visual Studio Report Designer will no longer be opened by double-clicking on a .repx file, or by clicking on the "View Designer" menu item. The .repx files will be opened as text files at design time.

Reasons for Change

We changed the aforementioned behavior that causes ambiguity among users. The .repx files were intended to store the layout of the report. These files can be edited in the End-User Report Designer at runtime. Previously, the invoked Visual Studio Report Designer was generating a code-behind file that could potentially modify the original .repx file. Now, the .repx files can be opened only as text files at design time.

The Visual Studio Report Designer supports the creation and editing of the following report formats at design time:

  • XtraReport.cs
  • XtraReport.Designer.cs
  • XtraReport.resx
  • XtraReport.vsrepx

Impact on Existing Apps

This change will affect the application once a user updates the app to v23.1.

How to Update Existing Apps

You can restore the Visual Studio Report Designer functionality for existing .repx files in two ways:

  • Recommended. Add a new code-based XtraReport, import the target VSREPX layout (Store Report Layouts). Copy custom code-behind code and reattach event handlers (if any).
  • Manually change the file extension from .repx to .vsrepx.

How to Revert to Previous Behavior

The previous behavior is no longer supported.

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