ptg Microsoft ® SQL Server ™ 2008 Reporting Services UNLEASHED 800 East 96th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46240 USA Michael Lisin Jim Joseph Amit Goyal From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 Reporting Services Unleashed Copyright © 2010 by Sams Publishing All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. ISBN-13: 978-0-672-33026-1 ISBN-10: 0-672-33026-1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file. Printed in the United States of America First Printing July 2009 Trademarks All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Sams Publishing cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark. Warning and Disclaimer Every effort has been made to make this book as complete and as accurate as possi- ble, but no warranty or fitness is implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The authors and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising from the information contained in this book. Bulk Sales Pearson offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in quantity for bulk purchases or special sales. For more information, please contact: U.S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-3419 corpsales@pearsontechgroup.com For sales outside of the U.S., please contact: International Sales +1-317-581-3793 international@pearsontechgroup.com Editor-in-Chief Karen Gettman Executive Editor Neil Rowe Acquisitions Editor Brook Farling Development Editor Mark Renfrow Managing Editor Patrick Kanouse Project Editor Seth Kerney Copy Editor Keith Cline Indexer Ken Johnson Proofreader Geneil Breeze Technical Editor J. Boyd Nolan Technical Contributor Prash Shirolkar Publishing Coordinator Cindy Teeters Book Designer Gary Adair Composition Mark Shirar From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg Contents at a Glance Introduction 1 Part I Introduction to Reporting Services 1 Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) .5 2 Reporting Services 2008 Architecture .23 3 Getting Started with Reporting Services Tools .43 4 What's New in SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 55 5 Reporting Services Deployment Scenarios .79 6 Installing Reporting Services 99 Part II Report Authoring from Basic to Advanced 7 Report Server Project Wizard 111 8 Report Designer(s) .119 9 Report Definition Language .137 10 Expressions 151 11 Accessing Data 179 12 Report Parameters .197 13 Working with Report Items 207 14 Grouping, Sorting, Aggregating Data, and Working with Scope .251 15 Advanced Report Formatting 263 16 Report Navigation .283 17 Working with Multi-Dimensional Sources .295 18 Ad Hoc Reporting .327 Part III Reporting Services Management 19 Managing Reports, Data Sources, and Models .361 20 Securing Report Server Items 377 21 Report Execution and Processing .389 22 Subscribing to Reports 401 23 SSRS Administration .411 24 RS Utility .427 Part IV Reporting Services Customizations 25 Implementing Custom Embedded Functions 433 From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg 26 Creating and Calling a Custom Assembly from a Report 441 27 Using URL Access 465 28 Using Reporting Services Web Services 475 29 Extending Reporting Services .499 Part V SharePoint Integration 30 Reporting Services Integration with SharePoint 519 31 SSRS 2008 SharePoint Integration Architecture .527 32 Installation of Reporting Services Integrated with SharePoint 535 33 SharePoint Mode Administration .545 34 Tools Support for SSRS Integrated with SharePoint .557 35 Viewing Reports in SharePoint .565 36 Managing Reports in SharePoint 573 37 Ad Hoc Reporting in SharePoint 589 Part VI Appendixes A References and Additional Reading 597 B Glossary .601 C Frequently Asked Questions and Additional Information .613 D What's New in SQL Server SP1? 617 E What's New in SQL Server 2008 R2? 623 Index .624 Microsoft®SQL Server™ 2008 Reporting Services iv From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg Table of Contents Introduction 1 Part I Introduction to Reporting Services 1 Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) 5 What Is SSRS? 6 SSRS for End Users 6 Overview of Features .8 Enterprise Report Examples 9 SSRS in the Report Development Life Cycle 10 Authoring Stage .10 Managing Stage 14 Delivery Stage 18 Editions of Reporting Services 21 How Is SSRS Licensed? 21 Summary .22 2 Reporting Services 2008 Architecture 23 Removal of IIS Dependency and Impact on SSRS 24 SSRS Windows Service 25 Memory Management 26 Programmatic Interfaces .29 Report Processor 29 Command-Line Utilities .30 Reporting Services Extensions 31 Data-Processing Extensions .31 Delivery Extensions .32 Rendering Extensions 32 Security Extensions 33 Report Server Databases 33 Scheduling and Delivery Processor .34 Report Builder 1.0 .35 Report Model Designer .36 Report Builder 2.0 .36 Report Designer .37 Report Manager .38 SQL Server Management Studio .38 From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg Reporting Services Configuration Tool .39 RSPrintClient Control .39 WMI Provider 39 Performance Monitoring Objects .39 Summary .40 3 Getting Started with Reporting Services Tools 43 Report Manager .43 Business Intelligence Development Studio 44 Report Designer .46 Report Builder 1.0 .46 Report Builder 2.0 .48 Reporting Services Configuration Manager .50 SQL Server Management Studio .51 Summary .53 4 What’s New in SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 55 Report Server Architecture Changes .56 Reporting Services Configuration Manager .58 SQL Server Management Studio Updates for Administrators 58 Report Manager Update 62 Report Engine Architecture Changes .63 Report-Processing Scalability Enhancements .65 Report-Rendering Enhancements .67 ReportViewer Control Enhancements .69 Report Designer Enhancements .69 Report Builder 2.0 .69 Tablix .70 Data-Visualization Controls 71 Rich-Text Support .73 RDL Enhancements .73 Teradata as a Data Source .74 SharePoint Integration Enhancements .74 Programming and API Changes .75 Upgrading from Earlier Versions 76 Summary .77 5 Reporting Services Deployment Scenarios 79 High-Availability Deployment Considerations 81 Overview of Deployment Scenarios .82 Advantages/Disadvantages of the Standard Model .83 Advantages/Disadvantages of the Scale-Out Model .85 Microsoft®SQL Server™ 2008 Reporting Services vi From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg Requirements for a Standard Deployment .85 Requirements for a Scale-Out Deployment 86 Overview of Report Server Initialization .86 Internet Deployment Considerations .87 Internet Deployment Option 1: Enable Report Server for Anonymous Access .88 Internet Deployment Option 2: Deploy Report Server with Windows Authentication 88 Internet Deployment Option 3: Use the Programmatic Approach 89 Enabling a Report Manager for Internet Access 90 Minimum Hardware Requirements 91 Software Requirements .92 Key Features of SSRS 2008 Editions 95 Licensing .97 Summary .97 6 Installing Reporting Services 99 Summary .109 Part II Report Authoring from Basic to Advanced 7 Report Server Project Wizard 111 Sample Database Setup .111 Using the Report Server Project Wizard to Create a Simple Report 112 Summary .118 8 Report Designer(s) 119 Three Main Report Designers from Microsoft 119 Visual Studio Haves Versus Have Nots .121 Solution, Project, File Hierarchy .121 Generating Reports with Visual Studio 122 Design Screen .131 Summary .135 9 Report Definition Language 137 Language: A Way to Communicate 137 Use of XML .138 Declarative Programming .138 Report Elements 139 Report Element 140 ReportParameters Element .140 DataSets Element .144 Contents vii From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg ReportItems Element 148 Data Regions 150 Summary .150 10 Expressions 151 What Is an Expression? .151 Expression Syntax .152 Adding Expressions .155 Collections 158 DataSets Collection (New in 2008) 158 DataSources Collection (New in 2008) 159 Fields Collection 160 Globals Collection 161 Parameters Collection .162 ReportItems Collection .163 User Collection 163 Variables Collection (New in 2008) 164 Using Functions 165 Visual Basic Runtime Functions 165 Aggregate Functions 170 Other Functions 173 Expression and Built-In Function Security .174 Using Expressions to Change Report Item Properties 175 Emphasizing Certain Values .176 Summary .177 11 Accessing Data 179 Data-Processing Extensions 180 Types of Data Sources .180 Report-Specific Data Sources .181 Shared Data Sources .181 Data Source Expressions 181 Data Source Credentials 182 Connection Strings .183 Querying Data .186 Graphical Query Designer .186 Generic Query Designer 187 Data Set Properties .188 Command Type .189 Parameters 190 Querying XML .192 Fields 193 Microsoft®SQL Server™ 2008 Reporting Services viii From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg Fields and XML 194 Filters 195 Adding a Data Source 195 Summary .195 12 Report Parameters 197 Setting Up Parameters .198 Parameter Properties .199 Data-Driven Parameters 200 Expressions with Parameters 201 Dynamic SQL with Parameters .202 Parameter Dependencies .202 Using Multivalue Parameters 203 Example of Using Multivalue Dependent Parameters .203 Summary .206 13 Working with Report Items 207 Data Regions, Containers, and Independent Report Items .208 Report Designer’s Toolbox 210 Line Report Item .211 Rectangle Report Item .211 Image Report Item 211 Textbox Report Item (Improved in 2008) 214 Tablix (New in 2008) = Table, Matrix, List .219 Formatting Tablix 230 Practical Application of Report Items .232 Chart Report Item (Improved in 2008) 235 Chart Data (Value) .236 Chart Series 239 Chart Category 240 Chart Areas 240 Chart’s RDL 241 Best Practices 242 Practical Application of a Chart .243 Gauge Report Item .246 Report Body Versus Page Header/Footer 248 Summary .248 14 Grouping, Sorting, Aggregating Data, and Working with Scope 251 Grouping Data on a Report 251 Sorting, Including Interactive Sorting and Data Source Sorting .254 Data Source Sorting .254 Contents ix From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. ptg Data Region and Group Sorting 255 Interactive User Sorting .256 Scope Parameter of Aggregate Functions .258 Level and InScope Functions 260 Summary .261 15 Advanced Report Formatting 263 Formatting-Related Report Item Properties 264 Formatting Numeric and Date/Time Values 267 Standard Numeric Format Strings .268 Custom Numeric Format Strings .270 Standard Date/Time Format Strings 272 Custom Date/Time Formatting .273 Creating Alternating Colors for the Lines on a Report 276 Paging Report (Improved in 2008) .277 PageHeight and PageWidth : Physical Page Sizing .278 InteractiveHeight and InteractiveWidth .278 PageBreak (New in 2008) 279 Columns Property: A Way to Multicolumn Reports .280 Advanced Group Properties: RepeatOnNewPage , KeepTogether (New in 2008), KeepWithGroup (New in 2008), and HideIfNoRows (New in 2008) .281 Summary .282 16 Report Navigation 283 Hyperlink (Go to URL) Navigation 284 BookmarkLink (Go to Bookmark) Navigation 285 Drillthrough (Go to Report) Navigation .286 Document Map .287 Hide and Toggle Items 288 Practical Application of Action Items .289 Implementation .289 Summary .294 17 Working with Multidimensional Data Sources 295 Analysis Services Concepts .295 Data-Mining Concepts 298 Creating a Data-Mining Model .298 MDX and DMX .300 Advanced OLAP Concepts 300 Creating Data-Mining Reports 323 Summary .326 Microsoft®SQL Server™ 2008 Reporting Services x From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. [...]... 597 SQL Customer Advisory Team Technical Notes 597 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Samples 598 SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 Forum .598 Blogs 598 White Papers .599 SharePoint Integration Links 599 Additional Books .600 B Glossary 601 C Frequently Asked Questions and Additional Information 613 D What’s New in SQL Server SP1? 617 What’s New in SP1?... years, with 10 of those years working with Microsoft Most of his career, Michael has been consulting on SQL Server and business intelligence solutions for Microsoft s enterprise customers He has worked with SQL Server Reporting Services since the product’s first pre-beta version in 2002 and has taught Reporting Services classes and presented topics related to SQL Server at various events Michael earned... “Visual Studio creates a project with a single class Class1 Let’s rename file Class1.cs in Solution Explorer to MainClass.cs.” Pathnames: Report Server (the default directory is C:\Program Files \Microsoft SQL Server\ MSRS10.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\ReportServer\bin) Error numbers, codes, and messages: “[rsRuntimeErrorInExpression] The Value expression for the textrun ‘Textbox1.Paragraphs[0].TextRuns[0]’... management Conventions Used in This Book SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services is frequently abbreviated as SSRS, and where appropriate we may distinguish between versions of the product such as SSRS 2005 or SSRS 2008 Business Intelligence Development Studio is frequently abbreviated as BIDS New features available in SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services as compared to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services are labeled... watermark From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN 16 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) FIGURE 1.8 Reporting Services Configuration Manager Using SQL Server Management Studio, shown here in Figure 1.9, an administrator can perform most of the operations that she would otherwise perform through Report Manager SQL Server Management Studio can access the SSRS catalog directly and does... strictly nontechnical This chapter focuses on the following: Capabilities of SSRS How it fits into the Microsoft Business Intelligence platform Report development life cycle as it relates to SSRS Editions of SSRS Licensing SSRS NOTE This book abbreviates SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services as SSRS and SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services as SSRS2K5 New features available in SSRS and not in SSRS2K5 are labeled... Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI) platform Combined, those components provide an excellent platform for enterprise data analysis The Microsoft BI platform includes the following: SQL Server: The traditional database engine, which also stores SSRS catalog data SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS): A component for online analytical processing (OLAP) and data mining OLAP performs data aggregation and... developer to database administrator Amit Goyal is a senior lead manager for the SQL Server Reporting Services team at Microsoft Before joining Microsoft, Amit was a director at Yahoo! and worked on development of the Panama search monetization platform He has 14 years of industry experience at high-tech companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo!, Oracle, and Broadbase Software He earned his bachelor of science... Setting Report History and Snapshots 371 Report Server Settings to Affect Report History 371 Creating Snapshots 372 Deleting Snapshots 373 My Reports 373 Enabling My Reports 374 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN xii Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Disabling My Reports... Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark From the Library of STEPHEN EISEMAN 6 CHAPTER 1 Introduction to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) What Is SSRS? SSRS is Microsoft s answer to business reporting It provides a unified, server- based, extensible, and scalable platform from which to deliver and present information Its scope extends from traditional paper reports . in SQL Server SP1? 617 What’s New in SP1? 617 E What’s New in SQL Server. D What's New in SQL Server SP1? 617 E What's New in SQL Server 2008 R2? 623