# Moving from SSRS or Crystal | DRE

> Port reports from SSRS, Power BI paginated, Crystal Reports or SQL scripts with the dre-port agent skill, and prove each one matches with a parity check.

You're reading the docs for DRE 0.6 (v0.6.1). [This page for 0.11](https://getdre.com/docs/moving-from-ssrs-or-crystal/)

# Moving from SSRS or Crystal

Most teams that adopt DRE already have reports somewhere else: SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), Power BI paginated reports, Crystal Reports, or a SQL script and a spreadsheet someone fills in by hand. The [`dre-port` agent skill](https://github.com/get-dre/dre/blob/v0.6.1/skills/README.md) moves them over with you, one report at a time, and finishes each one with a **parity check**: the new report’s rows compared with an export of the old one, for the same parameters. _New in skills 4.0._

DRE has no converter command. Your coding agent reads the old report, translates it with the skill’s mapping reference, asks you about anything the files don’t say, and writes ordinary DRE files you can read and change.

## What it reads

You have

What the agent reads

SSRS, Power BI paginated or Report Builder `.rdl` / `.rdlc` files

datasets (query text or stored procedure), parameters, groups, expressions, page header and footer

SSRS subscriptions

a csv you export from the report server’s catalog database (the skill has the read-only query)

Crystal Reports

an XML export of the report definition, or a “Report Definition” text export. Not a binary `.rpt`: Crystal’s file format needs SAP’s SDK, so export it first

anything else (Jasper, BI Publisher, Access, an Excel macro)

the SQL, a screenshot or PDF of the output, its parameters, and who gets it when; the agent asks for the rest

## Where your data lives

DRE reads DuckDB, Postgres, Databricks, Snowflake, BigQuery and ClickHouse, and **has no SQL Server source**. A report that reads SQL Server can be ported when the same tables are in one of those (replicated, or moved): the agent translates the T-SQL to that warehouse’s dialect. When the data is only in SQL Server, the agent says so and moves on to the next report.

## How a report maps

Old report

DRE

a dataset’s query

a `.sql` file in the report folder

a stored procedure

its logic as SQL (temp tables in a setup file)

parameters, with defaults and available values

[variables](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/templates/) with `var_schema`; “last month” defaults come from `run.date`

a table or list

an xlsx tab, or a table in a [PDF template](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/plugin-document/)

groups with subtotals

`ROLLUP` in SQL, or a PDF template with a heading and subtotal per group

expressions and formulas (`IIf`, `Format`, Crystal `{@formulas}`)

SQL columns, and column formats in the output

page header, footer, “Page N of M”

the PDF template’s `@page` rules

“no rows” message

[`on_empty`](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/building-reports/#when-theres-no-data)

email and file share subscriptions, schedules

destinations and `schedules.yml`

data-driven subscriptions, bursting per customer

[per-row outputs](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/per-row-outputs/) (`for_each`)

one copy of a report per region or client

one report with [Sets](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/building-reports/)

interactive sort, drill-through, toggles, charts

no direct equivalent: DRE makes files. The agent asks what to do instead

## The parity check

For each report you export the old one for one set of parameter values (the last complete month, say) as csv or xlsx. The agent runs the DRE report with the same values, writing its rows with `dre run <report> --no-deliver --output-json parity`, and compares the two with a small script bundled with the skill. It reports:

-   **row counts** on each side;
-   **column totals** for every numeric column;
-   a **cell diff** keyed on the columns that identify a row, each difference explained as a real _value_ difference, _rounding_ (within a tolerance), _formatting_ (the same date or number written another way) or _order_;
-   rows only on one side, and duplicate keys.

Real differences are fixed (or one of the two reports is shown to be wrong) and the check runs again, until it matches. For a PDF or a styled workbook you also compare the old and new files side by side.

## A whole estate

Pointed at a folder of `.rdl` files and Crystal exports, the skill first lists every report: its sources, parameters, subscriptions and an effort estimate (S to XL, with the reasons, such as stored procedures, custom code or charts). It groups near-duplicates (a copy per region) as candidates for one report with Sets, and suggests an order, simplest first. Then reports are ported one at a time.

## Practices

The skill follows the porting rules in [DRE practices](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/practices/#porting-reports-from-other-tools): logic in SQL, not templates (PORT-1); parity before switching over, with the old report running for one more cycle (PORT-2); one report at a time, simplest first (PORT-3); first deliveries held or on dev (PORT-4); and a record of where each report came from (PORT-5).

## Try it

Install the [agent skills](https://github.com/get-dre/dre/blob/v0.6.1/skills/README.md), then ask your agent something like “port this SSRS report to DRE” with the `.rdl` file in your project, or “list the reports in ./ssrs-export and suggest where to start”.

[Previous  
Upgrading to 0.2](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/migrating-to-0.2/)[Next  
New in 0.3](https://getdre.com/docs/v0.6/new-in-0.3/)
