SQL Reporting Services 2005
Dinesh Chandrasekhar Solutions Architect CIBER Inc.
Agenda
Introduction Introduction
What is SQL Reporting Services ? Basic architecture Components of SRS What does it do?
New Features New Features
Core product enhancements Integration with other MS tools Developer benefits Business user benefits Ad-Hoc Reporting
Demonstrations Demonstrations
Product features Basic report with drill-down Add parameters to the report Report Model Designer Ad-Hoc Report Builder Other features (time-permitting)
Final Items Final Items
Next steps Questions
SQL Server 2005
A Complete Enterprise Data Management and BI Solution
Development Tools
Reporting Services Management Tools Management Tools Analysis Services
OLAP & Data Mining
Integration Services
ETL
SQL Server
Relational Engine
What is Reporting Services?
Reporting platform for both formatted and interactive data reports Embeddable client and scalable server reporting platform Integrates with Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Office applications, Microsoft Visual Studio, and other familiar tools Single platform and tools for all types of structured data (relational, hierarchical, multidimensional)
Reporting Services Highlights
Process data efficiently: filtering, sorting, grouping, aggregations, etc. Present data in a variety of ways: lists, tables, charts, matrices Add visual appeal to data: fonts, colors, border styles, background images, etc. Enable interactive reports: collapsible sections, document map, bookmarks, interactive sorting, etc. Support printing and print preview Export to multiple formats (Microsoft Office Excel, PDF, XML) Integrate with managed report server environment: security, caching, scheduling, delivery, etc.
Demo
SQL Server Reporting Services UI
Reporting Services Components
Browser Design Tools Management Studio Configuration Tool
Report Manager URL Access SOAP Endpoints WMI Win32 Service
Delivery
Web Service (IIS / ASP.NET) Shared Components
Data Retrieval Rendering
Security
SQL Server Database / SQL Server Agent
ReportServer ReportServerTempDB
Report Processing
Core Product Enhancements
Multi Value Parameters Date Picker
Core Product Enhancements
Small ActiveX control for Print Preview
Floating Headers
Similar to Excel Splitters On Table and matrix
Interactive Sort without re-query
Microsoft Office System Integration
Office Document Formats
Excel, Word, outlook Import reports from Access
HTML rendering takes advantage of OWC
Interactive Charts, PivotTables, Spreadsheets
SharePoint Portal Server Integration
Report Web Parts Report delivery to document libraries, lists Report Library Template Searchable
Integration with Sharepoint
Report Explorer provides browsing of server Report Viewer used to view reports Parts can be connected or used standalone Works in both SPS and WSS
Integration with Analysis Services
MDX and data mining query builders
Integration with Management Studio
Single point of management for all SQL Server components Superset of Report Manager functions
Richer Data Integration
Enhanced Analysis Services support including MDX builder, multiple action support, better parameterization, drill paths, etc. A report can be used as a data source connect to a report as a cube, do analysis on it, and use it as a basis for other reports Pull data from DTS directly into a report without the need of first loading it into a database Native support for Web Services and XML data sources
Reporting Services in VS 2005
Microsoft Visual Studio.NET 2005 includes Reporting Services functionality in standard editions and above Window Forms and ASP.NET report viewer controls make it easy to embed Reporting Services functionality in applications Integrated report designer for designing and embedding reports in language projects Freely redistributable with no run-time restrictions
Report Server mode requires a SQL Server 2005 license
Report Designer
Integrated into Visual Studio 2005
Supports all languages (C#, VB, J#)
Drag & drop features Use tables, charts, matrices, etc. to display data Specify grouping, sorting, filtering, etc. Style the report by specifying fonts, colors, etc. Use expressions to change style dynamically based on data values
Demo
VS.NET Report Designer Build basic report with drill-down Add/Change styles Deploy report Access from Report Server
Developer Focus on Productivity
Enhanced Expression Editor
Custom Report Items
Create controls
Developer Focus on Embedding
Controls make it easy to embed reporting functionality into applications Windows Forms (rich client) and Web Forms (ASP.NET) control Local processing mode (no server) or connected server mode
Report Viewer: Two Modes
Report Server Mode
View and interact reports that are centrally managed on a Report Server
Local Mode
For processing and viewing reports without connecting to a Report Server
Can upgrade local mode applications to server mode
Report Server Mode Architecture
Report Designer (Visual Studio) Publish Report Report Server Web Services API Report Processing and Rendering SQL Server Catalog (Metadata) Data Source Your Application Report Viewer (Remote Mode)
Report Server Mode
Report definitions published to Report Server Application specifies Report Server URL and path to report Viewer prompts for parameters and passwords
Can be implemented by host application
Data is retrieved and report is processed on server, only resulting output is returned to client Drilldown, drillthrough, etc. are automatically handled Export to all formats supported by Report Server, including Excel, PDF and MHTML
Local Mode Architecture
Report Viewer (Local Mode) Report Processing Report Designer (Visual Studio) Embed Report
Data Source Report Definition Report Data Retrieve Data
Your Application
Local Mode
Host Application
Supplies report definition and data for the report Implements parameter UI Connects to databases and executes queries Supplies data as ADO.NET DataTables or as a collection of business objects
Designed to be secure
Code embedded in the report cannot access file system or network without explicit coding
Same engine as SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Supports printing and export to Excel or PDF
Demo
ReportViewer control Local and Server mode
New Report Builder
Report Builder - A new ad-hoc report design tool for Reporting Services Targeted at Business Users Developers/IT define a model to hide complexity Complements the Visual Studio Report Designer
Report Builder Client
Based on familiar Microsoft Office UI Reports built via report templates (table, matrix, chart, etc.) Create new or modify existing reports Finished reports can be saved on the server
Report Builder Model Designer
Hosted in Visual Studio (new project type) For editing models used by Report Builder Auto-generation of models from relational and analytical data sources
Demo
Report Model Designer Report Builder Ad-Hoc Reporting
Demo
Report Manager Management options
Report Caching
Execution Sessions
Automatically created for each report execution Keeps consistency between server round trips (images, paging, exporting) Session timeout set in server properties
Cache Snapshots
On-demand reports can be cached between users Cache index is based on parameter values Cache valid for a specified time after execution or cleared on schedule Limitations User-specific expressions (User ID, Language), stored credentials
Tip: Use Null Delivery Provider to deliver reports to cache
Snapshots and History
Execution Snapshot
Report execution is scheduled, all users get same data Single instance of processed report Limitations: No query parameters or user-specific expressions, stored credentials
History Snapshots
Multiple instances of report snapshots for archiving, auditing purposes Stored independently of data source, report definition System and report-specific retention policy
Scheduling
Management events can be scheduled on the report server
Caching, Subscriptions, History
Schedules are stored in database and integrated with SQL Agent
When triggered, Agent adds entry to queue
Scheduled events are queued in database and polled by Windows service
Subscriptions
Subscription triggered by an event (schedule, snapshot creation, external) Delivery extension (e-mail, file share) specifies how report is delivered
E-mail delivery requires an SMTP server Extensible delivery architecture
Can specify output format (HTML, XLS)
Can deliver links as well as rendered reports
Two types of subscriptions
Standard Data Driven
Standard Subscriptions
Single report sent to a fixed set of addresses
End user wants to customize his/her own report delivery
How it works
Set up by a user with Manage Individual Subscriptions permission User creates a standing request to run a report at a specific time and delivered in a certain format Can be triggered based on a schedule or snapshot generation Specify report, execution conditions, parameters, rendering format, delivery location, etc.
In SQL Server 2005, users can subscribe to reports with User!UserID and User!Language
Data Driven Subscriptions
When to Use
Delivery of a report to a dynamic list of destinations with customized content for each destination
How it works
Set up by a user with Manage any Subscriptions permission Define delivery query to return list of destinations and parameters Specify delivery settings and parameter values as a static or field from delivery query Set to run according to a defined schedule or trigger from snapshot
Upgrading From SSRS 2K
Setup supports upgrade of default SQL 2000 Reporting Services installations
No changes to virtual directories, custom extensions
SQL 2005 Reporting Services supports use of SQL Server 2000 relational database
Caveat: Setup upgrades all components in default instance
Existing reports will continue to work
Published reports and snapshots will continue to work on upgraded Report Server SQL 2000 reports can be published to SQL 2005 Report Server Opening reports in the Report Designer will upgrade them to the new RDL schema
Reporting Services Web Service supports existing SOAP endpoint
New endpoints for management and report execution WMI object model has changed
Where do you want to go tomorrow ?
Install SQL Reporting Services 2005 on a VPC and play around with it Subscribe to the SRS newsgroups A lot is happening there. Experts like Teo Lachev answer questions to your problems New Books coming out next month
