Store Report Layouts and Documents

• Feb 18, 2026
• 2 minutes to read

The topics in this section describe how to store and distribute report layouts and published report documents.

Store Report Layouts

The following topics explain the main principles of report serialization and demonstrate how to save, store, and load report layouts:

• Store Report Layouts
• XML Serialization
• CodeDOM Serialization
• Save Report Layouts
• Load Report Layouts
• Custom Report Storage

Tip

See the following topics to learn about other important aspects of storing and distributing report layouts:

• Globalize and Localize Reports
• Convert Third-Party Reports to DevExpress Reports

Store Report Documents

The following topics contain basic information about publishing reports and storing created report documents:

• Store Report Documents
• Save and Open Report Documents
• Combine Reports by Alternating Pages

Tip

See the following topics to learn about publishing report documents:

• Export Reports
• Print Reports

Tasks and Solutions

How to Store Reports in a Database

Implement a report storage based on your application type and store report layouts in a data table. Review the following help topic for more information: Custom Report Storage.

How to Move Reports from One Application to Another

A general recommendation is to store all reports in a separate class library project that can be referenced from applications.

If your project includes reports as classes, do the following in the Visual Studio IDE:

1. Save the report layout in an XML report definition file (.REPX). Review the following help topic for more information: Save Report Layouts.
2. Create a new (blank) report.
3. Open (Import) the report definition file using the newly created blank report. Review the following help topic for more information: Load Report Layouts.
4. Save the report class file.

In code, you can use the XtraReport.LoadLayoutFromXml(String) method to load a report from an .REPX file.

You can also use a file or database report storage shared between applications. Review the following help topic for more information: Custom Report Storage.

Refer to the following help topic if you migrate reports created in .NET Framework applications to .NET Projects: Migrate DevExpress Reports to .NET Applications.