INTRODUCTION TO SQL SERVER
REPORTING SEVICES
Shane Risk
Business Intelligence Consultant
INTRODUCTION TO SSRS
• Report Development
• Report Delivery
• Report Server Administration
• Exciting Developments
• Conclusion
Integrated End-to-End BI Offering
DELIVERY
SharePoint Server
Reports
Excel
Dashboards Workbooks
Analytic
Views
Scorecards
Plans
END USER TOOLS AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT APPS
Excel
PerformancePoint Server
BI PLATFORM
SQL Server
Reporting Services
SQL Server
Analysis Services
SQL Server DBMS
SQL Server Integration Services
The Microsoft BI Platform
SQL Server 2008
Integrate
Store
Analyze
Report
INTRODUCTION TO SSRS
• Report Development
• Report Delivery
• Report Server Administration
• Exciting Developments
• Conclusion
Flexible Report Layout
 What is Tablix?
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The best of Table merged with the best of Matrix
Allows for fixed and dynamic columns and rows
Enables arbitrary nesting on each axis
Enables multiple parallel row/column members at each
level
• Introduces optional omission of row/column headers
 Innovative layout capabilities
• Support for richly formatted text
• Innovative grouping capabilities
Table + Matrix
Customer
Growth
2001
Retail
Acme
Nadir, Inc.
19%
Acme
Nadir, Inc.
322%
Wholesale ABC Corp.
Wholesale
ABC Corp.
19%
XYZ, Ltd.
322%
Grand Total
Retail
56%
XYZ, Ltd.
Grand Total
2002
Total
1,115
1,331
2,446
152
642
794
11,156 13,312 24,468
1,523
6,421
7,944
13,946 21,706 35,653
Rich Visualizations
Chart Types
Rich Visualizations
Gauge Types
Inline Charts
• Greatly enhances report impact relative to a table of
values
• All reports and gauges can be embedded in tables
• Allows for interesting layouts that were previously
unsupported
• Charts are rendered to the browser as images, be sure
to test client performance prior to rolling out to users
Sparkline Chart
• Compact and concise view of
data ideal for dashboards
• Provides meaningful historical
context
• Allows understand time series
comparisons across entities
• Link to other reports for more
detail
Bullet Gauge
• Preferred over gauges and thermometers
– Easier to read
– Take less space
– More accurate
• Similar to a bar chart, but offers more information
Report
Development
Demo 1
• Tablix
• Inline Charts
Maps
• Enhance reports with spatial
data visualizations
• Incorporate Bing Map layers to
give maps a professional look
• Supports SQL Server spatial
data type
• Supports ESRI Shapefile format
• TIGER/Line Shapefiles are
preloaded from the U.S. Census
Bureau
Report Builder 3.0
• Most recent version of the Report Builder tool
• Same code base as BIDS report designer
• Additional functionality allows you to utilize Shared Datasets and
Shared Report Components not present in BIDS
• Allows end users to design their own reports
• Thin client accessible through Report Manager (Native) or
SharePoint (Integrated)
Shared Components
• Shared Datasets
– Share datasets across reports for simplified maintenance and
improved performance
– Can be cached independently from any reports
– Can be reused by end users building reports in Report Builder
3.0
• Shared Report Parts
– Share report components between reports
– Build a report visualization once and use it in many reports
– Can be reused by end users building reports in Report Builder
3.0
Report
Development
Demo 2
• Report Builder 3.0
• Shared Report Parts
• Shared Datasets
INTRODUCTION TO SSRS
• Report Development
• Report Delivery
• Report Server Administration
• Exciting Developments
• Conclusion
Deliver Personalized Reports
 Delivery to the location users want
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Pull Model for retrieval of reports when needed
Push Model for scheduling automatic delivery
Embed reports for contextual business insight
 Interactive Reports
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Interactive navigation paths
Parameterization for optimal relevancy
Ad-hoc report customizations
 Rendering in the format users want
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Rendering to Microsoft Office
Rendering in SharePoint
Rendering HTML, PDF, CSV, XML,
and Image
My Reports
• Personal folder where report publishers can deploy their own reports
• Useful for creating one-off reports from existing reports for one time
use
• Can be used as a poor man’s development environment
– Develop and QA reports deployed to My Reports prior to public
release
– System Administrators can view reports in user’s My Report
folders
My Subscriptions
• Users can subscribe to reports through the Report Manager
interface
• Report subscriptions can be viewed and maintained on the My
Subscriptions page
• Allows users to easily manage report delivery without administrative
assistance
Data Driven Subscriptions
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Table driven report delivery
Report parameters are specified via table columns
Each row in the table is a separate report instance
Reports can be delivered via email, to a file share, or to a
SharePoint list
SharePoint Portal – Key Benefits
– Single place to View, Manage, & Deliver reports with-in
SharePoint UI
– Same site access for all business documents, including reports,
report models, and shared data sources
– Deep level of database and security integration
– Easy integration with other information delivery tools &
technologies
Viewing Reports in SharePoint
• ReportViewer web part
– Full page or Dashboard view
– Connects with Filter web parts
– Connects with Reports Library, Doc. Library web parts
– URL Access Parameters
• Toolbar, HeaderArea, DocMapAreaWidth, AsyncRender
• PerformancePoint Dashboard Viewer
– Embed Reporting Services reports within a PerformancePoint
dashboard
Report Delivery
Demo
• My Reports
• My Subscriptions
INTRODUCTION TO SSRS
• Report Development
• Report Delivery
• Report Server Administration
• Exciting Developments
• Conclusion
Reporting Services Security
• Users are granted role based access to
specific folders
• There are a number of predefined roles
that come out of the box
• New report roles can be created through
SQL Server Management Studio
• Roles: Browser, Publisher, My Reports,
Content Manager, System User, System
Administrator
Data Source Administration
• Manage data sources through the report manager interface
• Configure reports to use a proxy account or Windows Integrated
Security
• View subscriptions that rely on the data source
• View dependent reports
Report Caching
• A report optimization technique that caches report data
• Set a report to keep a temporary copy of the report when
executed or refresh the cache on a schedule
• Report caches can be expired after a number of minutes
or according to a schedule
• Caching requires the use of stored data source report
credentials
Report Snapshots
• Used to retain point in time reports
• Report snapshots can be configured to run on a
specified schedule
• Snapshots store report data in the Report Server
database
• Render at runtime using stored snapshot data
• Requires stored report credentials
Linked Reports
• Reports can show up in multiple folders but are only deployed to one
• Simplifies report maintenance because report updates only need to
be applied to a single report
• Linked reports can have their own default parameters, allowing
linked reports to display their own discrete data
Linked
Report
Linked
Report
Report
Linked
Report
Manage, Deliver & Publish
– Manage Report Items in SharePoint
• Report parameters, Data sources, Processing Options,
Snapshots etc.
• Data Sources, Dependent Items
• Model Item Security
– Report Delivery from / to SharePoint
• Report subscriptions & Shared Schedules
– Publish to SharePoint
• Report Builder, Report Designer, Model Designer
SSRS Features NOT Supported in SharePoint
Integrated Mode
• Custom SSRS Security Extensions
• Report Manager Administration of Reports
• Linked Reports
• My Reports
• My Subscriptions
• SSRS Batching Methods
Report Server
Administration
Demo
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Roles
Data Source Administration
Report Snapshots
Report Caching
Linked Reports
INTRODUCTION TO SSRS
• Report Development
• Report Delivery
• Report Server Administration
• Exciting Developments
• Conclusion
Azure Reports
• Cloud based access to Reporting Services
• Alleviate the overhead of hosting your own
SSRS servers
• Provide per user access to reports via the
internet
Azure Reports – Supported Features
Capability
SQL Server Reporting Services
SQL Azure Reporting
Developer design tool
Business Intelligence Design Studio
(BIDS)Report Builder
Business Intelligence Design Studio
(BIDS)
Report Builder (Authoring only deployment to SQL Azure Reporting
through BIDS)
Supported data sources
Diverse data sources
SQL Azure databases
Report
Embed reports into your apps
Embed hosted reports into your apps
Management and delivery
Report Manager or SharePoint Portal
display reports
rendering to multiple formats
subscriptions
scheduled delivery
SQL Azure Development Portal
display reports
rendering to multiple formats
Developer Extensibility
Extensible for custom data sources,
assemblies, report items,
authentication, etc.
Extensibility is not yet enabled
Security Model
Windows Authentication
SQL Azure Username/password
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlazure/reporting.aspx
Project Crescent
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Silverlight Ad Hoc Reporting tool coming in SQL “Denali”
Enhanced self service BI offering for PowerPivot
Supports drag and drop report building for the end user
Features highly interactive visualizations and animations
Allows visualizations to be embedded in PowerPoint
presentations for powerful real time presentations
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bi/archive/2010/11/09/datavisualization-done-right-project-crescent.aspx
INTRODUCTION TO SSRS
• Report Development
• Report Delivery
• Report Server Administration
• Exciting Developments
• Conclusion
Conclusion
• Reporting services is
– a powerful enterprise reporting
platform
– capable of meeting your report
delivery needs
– simple to administer
– constantly evolving to become
even more powerful
Additional Resources
• Books
– Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services by Brian Larson
– Applied Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services by Teo
Lachev
• Web Sites
– http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/cc511478.aspx
• Blogs
– Reporting Services Team Blog http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlrsteamblog/
– Robert Bruckner - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/robertbruckner/
Questions?
Shane Risk
Business Intelligence Consultant
BlueGranite
srisk@blue-granite.com
Phone: 734 478 5905
www.blue-granite.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/shanerisk
http://twitter.com/srisk