C# in.
Reports out.

An open-source RDL engine for .NET 8 & 10. PDF, Excel, HTML, CSV and more — from SQL, JSON, or pure C#. Apache 2.0 licensed.

Get started Quick start guide

$ dotnet add package Majorsilence.Reporting.RdlEngine.SkiaSharp

Program.cs in

var parser = new RDLParser(rdlXml);
using var report = await parser.Parse();
await report.RunGetData();
await report.RunRender(ofs,
  OutputPresentationType.PDF);

→

report.pdf out

Sales Summary — Q2 2026

Generated 2026-06-11 · page 1 of 4

RegionUnitsRevenue

North America12,408$1.24M

Europe9,112$0.97M

Asia-Pacific7,654$0.81M

Total29,174$3.02M

PDF XLSX HTML CSV XML TIFF MHT

Output formats

10+

Data sources

Barcode / QR types

.NET 8 & 10

Cross-platform

Apache 2.0

Open source

Capabilities

Everything you need for .NET reporting

From simple PDF invoices to complex multi-page reports with barcodes, charts, and dynamic data — all from a single library.

📄

Multi-Format Export

Render any report to PDF, Excel (xlsx), HTML, CSV, RTF, and XML from a single data fetch. One call, every format.

PDF XLSX HTML CSV RTF

🗄️

Flexible Data Sources

Connect to SQLite, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Firebird, JSON files, XML, or inject data directly from C# objects.

Microsoft.Data.Sqlite · Json · SQL · PostgreSQL

📦

Barcode & QR Codes

10 built-in CRI barcode types via ZXing.Net: QR Code, Code 128, Code 39, Data Matrix, Aztec, PDF417, ITF-14, and more.

Custom Report Items (CRI)

🖥️

Visual Designer

Drag-and-drop report designer on Windows. Design RDL files visually, then render them server-side on any OS.

Windows Designer · Cross-Platform Render

🌐

Cross-Platform

Server-side rendering runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. Works great in Docker containers and cloud deployments.

Linux · macOS · Windows · Docker

⚡

RDL Report Format

Based on the open RDL (Report Definition Language) standard. Reports are XML files — version-control friendly and portable.

Open Standard · XML · Portable

Comparison

The modern alternative to legacy reporting

Crystal Reports requires .NET Framework and a commercial license. SSRS requires SQL Server and a dedicated Windows server. Majorsilence Reporting is a NuGet package that runs anywhere .NET runs.

	Majorsilence This library	Crystal Reports	SSRS	FastReport / DevExpress
License	✓ Apache 2.0 core, MIT/BSD-tri-licensed add-ons — free	Commercial, per-seat	Requires SQL Server license	Commercial, per-seat
.NET 8 / 10	✓ Full support	✗ .NET Framework only	Render only (partial)	✓ Supported
Linux / Docker	✓ Cross-platform	✗ Windows only	✗ Windows Server only	Varies by product
Deployment	✓ NuGet package	Runtime redistributable	Dedicated report server	NuGet package
Report format	✓ Open RDL (XML)	Binary .rpt (proprietary)	✓ Open RDL (XML)	Proprietary
Output formats	PDF, XLSX, HTML, CSV, RTF, XML, TIFF, MHT	PDF, Excel, Word, HTML	PDF, Excel, Word, HTML, CSV	PDF, Excel, Word, HTML
Inject C# objects	✓ `SetData()`	Limited	Limited	Varies
Built-in report portal	Build your own	Crystal Reports Server (extra cost)	✓ Included	Some products include one
Open source	✓ GitHub	✗	✗	✗

🔄

Migrating from Crystal Reports or SSRS?

SSRS reports use the same open RDL format — many will render with Majorsilence Reporting without modification. Crystal Reports .rpt files need conversion, but straightforward tabular reports migrate cleanly.

Read the migration guide →

Add to your project

Available on NuGet. Add the engine, then optionally the CRI package for barcode support.

$ dotnet add package Majorsilence.Reporting.RdlEngine.SkiaSharp

$ dotnet add package Majorsilence.Reporting.RdlCri.SkiaSharp

$ dotnet add package Majorsilence.Reporting.RdlCreator.SkiaSharp

Getting Started

Up and running in minutes

Call RdlEngineConfigInit() once at startup, load an RDL file, and render to any format.

Render a SQLite-backed report to PDF C#

using Majorsilence.Reporting.Rdl;

// Call once per application instance
RdlEngineConfig.RdlEngineConfigInit();

var baseDir = AppContext.BaseDirectory;
var dbPath  = Path.Combine(baseDir, "mydata.db");
var outPath = Path.Combine(baseDir, "report.pdf");

var rdlXml = (await File.ReadAllTextAsync("Report.rdl"))
    .Replace("mydata.db", dbPath);

var parser = new RDLParser(rdlXml) { Folder = baseDir };
using var report = await parser.Parse();

await report.RunGetData();
var ofs = new OneFileStreamGen(outPath, true);
await report.RunRender(ofs, OutputPresentationType.PDF);

Export to PDF, Excel, CSV, and HTML in one pass C#

// RunGetData once, then RunRender for each format.
await report.RunGetData();

foreach (var (filename, format) in new[] {
    ("report.pdf",  OutputPresentationType.PDF),
    ("report.xlsx", OutputPresentationType.Excel2007),
    ("report.csv",  OutputPresentationType.CSV),
    ("report.html", OutputPresentationType.HTML),
}) {
    var ofs = new OneFileStreamGen(filename, true);
    await report.RunRender(ofs, format);
}

Read data from a local JSON file RDL + C#

/* In the RDL DataSource */
<ConnectionProperties>
  <DataProvider>Json</DataProvider>
  <ConnectString>file=employees.json</ConnectString>
</ConnectionProperties>

var rdlXml = (await File.ReadAllTextAsync("Employees.rdl"))
    .Replace("employees.json", Path.Combine(baseDir, "employees.json"));

var parser = new RDLParser(rdlXml) { Folder = baseDir };
using var report = await parser.Parse();
await report.RunGetData();
await report.RunRender(new OneFileStreamGen("out.pdf", true), OutputPresentationType.PDF);

Add a QR Code or barcode to a report (CRI) RDL + C#

/* QrCode · BarCode128 · BarCode39 · DataMatrix · AztecCode · Pdf417 · ITF-14 */
<CustomReportItem Name="ProductQR">
  <Type>QrCode</Type>
  <CustomProperties>
    <CustomProperty>
      <Name>Code</Name>
      <Value>=Fields!ProductName.Value</Value>
    </CustomProperty>
  </CustomProperties>
</CustomReportItem>

var parameters = new Dictionary<string, string>
    { ["BarcodeType"] = "DataMatrix" };
await report.RunGetData(parameters);

Inject data from C# objects instead of a live query C#

record SaleRecord(string Product, string Region, decimal Amount, int Quantity);

var salesData = new List<SaleRecord>
{
    new("Widget A", "North", 1250.00m, 50),
    new("Widget B", "South", 840.50m,  33),
};

await report.DataSets["Data"].SetData(salesData);
await report.RunGetData();
await report.RunRender(ofs, OutputPresentationType.PDF);