Testing goal: as rapidly as possible create and deploy a report to a clean machine (one that does not have DevExpress installed on it).
Build a new virtual machine
Install Visual Studio
Install the DevExpress demo (complete)
Create a stored procedure to power the report
Create a project
Add a new report using the Report Wizard pictured below
Choose data bound report
Choose Database as the data source type
If no connections exist, create a connection to a database
Choosing Stored Procedure in the dialog below will list all the stored procedures in the database. Choose the stored procedure for the report
Our sample stored procedure did not have parameters
Add all the fields to the report
Add grouping
Choose any required aggregation
Choose the layout template
Choose the report styles
Choose a report title
This shows the report surface after a small amount of editing
Add a form to the project
Add a Document Viewer control to the form
Add this code to the report
Run the project, the report should run.
To deploy, copy the bin debug folder to the target machine
Notes:
In testing the DevExpress reports I could think of two issues that I have with other reporting tools: changing the fields in the stored procedure after the report had been created and deployment difficulties. I did not have a problem with either of these using DevExpress.
Telerik reporting requires that I edit an XML file to add fields after the report has been created
SSRS requires that I separately run an install to get all the components installed when deploying reports to a clean machine.