Non-Unicode CSV Export from SQL Server Report Server

Question

I am using the SQL Server Report Server from Microsoft SQL Server 2005.

In the report server report viewer control, there is a CSV download option. The CSV download option is currently downloading a Unicode CSV file, which does not load into Microsoft Excel with the correct column formatting.

If I save the Unicode CSV file and convert it to a ASCII file it works fine in Excel.

How can I can I set a report or the SSRS Report Viewer to export CSV as ASCII instead of Unicode?

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

Answer 1

Go to the RSReportserver.config file (should be in the root of your reportserver virtual directory e.g. "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.3\Reporting Services\ReportServer")

Find the CSV Extension - should look something like below. Change the Encoding node to read ASCII instead of Unicode or whatevr you have in there.

        <Extension Name="CSV" Type="Microsoft.ReportingServices.Rendering.CsvRenderer.CsvReport,Microsoft.ReportingServices.CsvRendering">
            <Configuration>
                <DeviceInfo>
                    <Encoding>Unicode</Encoding>
                </DeviceInfo>
            </Configuration>
        </Extension>