SSRS 2005 Not Always Refreshing

When you are editing a report in BIDS you have a subtly different kind of access to the data when compared with access to a report that is served from a report server. The data tab executes the query to the data source when you request a refresh, the preview tab is different again, in that when you run it the data can be cached in your BIDS project (you will see a file in the same folder as the report, with the same name but with a .data file extension) so that the preview tab loads more quickly. This can lead to you seeing 'old' data while you are developing the report.

As Daniel Ross has already suggested, the best way forward for you is to deploy the report to a report server so that it can be serving up-to-date data when it is required.

If you are viewing the report locally via visual studio / business intelligence development studio, then the following applies:

1. Go to the directory of your solution (where the .rdl files are stored)
2. Delete all files with a ".rdl.data" extension
3. Refresh the preview.

I have sometimes found it necessary to rebuild the reporting service project after deleting all the .rdl.data files, but I'm fairly sure that only applies when I've actually changed the report itself.

It is designed to do that, and I don't think it can be changed. You could create a macro and map it to a shortcut, but I think it would be more work than simply clicking refresh when you open the preview tab.

It sounds like you are using visual studio to run the reports? I would deploy the report (if you have SSRS installed on a server) and make sure that "Do not cache temporary copies of this report" in the report execution properties on the server is ticked.