Developing Rich Reporting Solutions with Microsoft SQL

Server 2008 R2Stella Chan

Principal Program Manager Microsoft Corporation

Increase your productivity with SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services

• Creating reports‒ Report components and shared data set‒ New data visualizations‒ Connectivity to SharePoint List

• Managing reports via self-service‒ SharePoint 2010 Integration

• Delivering reports‒ Rendering enhancements‒ Better cross browser support‒ Visual Studio 2010 Report Viewer Controls

Limitations in custom report

engines

Data stored in multiple data

sources

Pervasive delivery of information

Expensive, 3rd party reporting

tools

Scalability and reliable report

processing

Steep learning curves for new

tools

Report development

processes

Delivery of contextual

business insight

Reporting Challenges

How Do You Deal With:

Management Delivery

XML

Embedded Reporting

Authoring

Web Report2007 Sales

Typical Report Life Cycle

Authoring ReportsMany types of visualizations

Stepped or Block grouping

Pivot CustomSubtotals

Non-pivotcolumns

Nested controls Multi-Pivot

CustomHeaders

Authoring ReportsMany types of layouts

Managing Reports

• Enterprise Scale Platform- Scalable report processing

• Central Deployment- Simplified deployment and host

processes- Central deployment to SharePoint- OR Native Mode

• Strong Manageability- Central manageability of report server

content - Advanced report scheduling- Cache handling- Extensible security model

SQL Report BuilderHTML

CSV

TIF

XML

ATOM

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Acrobat PDF

Delivering ReportsMany rendering targets

Delivering ReportsViewing the report

Report ServerReport Manager

Sh

are

Poin

t

Embedding Report in LOB app Windows Forms and ASP .NET

Management Delivery

XML

Embedded Reporting

Authoring

Web Report2007 Sales

What’s new in SQL Server 2008 R2?

Componentizing ReportsSharing and reusing report parts

• Publish report items to the catalog for re-use

• Users can mix & mash different report items for their desired views

• Report authors can treat datasets & report items as building blocks

• Users are notified when updates are available

Shared Datasets

• Share queries between reports with new .rsd file type

- Create in Report Builder and BIDS- Save/deploy to report server

• Reports and report parts can reference shared datasets

- Pass parameters- Add own filters and calculations

• Dataset query results can be cached - Faster execution during design or view- Use for long-running queries with non-volatile data

Grab-and-go reporting

SSRS Data Visualization

SQL 2005 SQL 2008 SQL 2008 R2

Chart Chart Chart

Multiple areasNEW! Multiple areas

Multiple axesNEW! Multiple axes

Calculated seriesNEW!

Calculated series

GaugeNEW! Gauge

Bullet graphNEW! Bullet graph

MapNEW!

SQL spatialNEW!

Bing™ supportNEW!

SparklineNEW!

Data BarNEW!

IndicatorNEW!

Sparklines and Data Bars

Sparklines

• Sparklines- “Data intense, word-sized

graphics” – Tufte- Automatic axis alignment.

All charts can have the same data points, regardless of source data

- Convert into full charts to support additional small multiple scenarios

• Data Bars- Show a single value in a cell.- Min and Max are

automatically determined, but are configurable

Data Bars

• Icons used to depict the status against a value, goals or a trend

• Report authors can create their own sets or choose from several pre-configured sets

• Color, icon and size can be changed based on data

• Automatic support for comparing each member of a group against siblings

• Can also be placed inside gauges

Indicators

Indicators

MAPS

Key Map Features

• Maps contains one or more… - Point Layers (Cities, Customers)- Line Layers (Routes, roads)- Polygon Layers (Countries, States)- Tile Layers (based on Bing™ Maps)

• Support ESRI shape files and SQL spatial• Show analytical data using size and color

- Built-in distribution formulas• Wizard for building common scenarios

Map Components (Example 1)

Polygon Layer

Color Rule

Bubble w/size Rule

Map LegendsAnalytical Data

Map Components (Example 2)

Point Layer

Tile Layer

Polygon Layer

SQL Spatial Query

SQL Spatial Query

Map Example

Misc authoring enhancements

• Lookup functions - “joining” 2 datasets• Interlaced rows for nested group

- Via read/write report variables• Better page numbering and naming support

via new global variables• Rotating Text 270 degrees• Expression based page breaks

Using the Map Visualization

Stella ChanPrincipal Program Manager

SQL Server Reporting Services

demo

Management Delivery

XML

Embedded Reporting

Authoring

Web Report2007 Sales

What’s new in SQL Server 2008 R2?

Microsoft BI Offering

Microsoft Confidential

BUSINESS USER EXPERIENCE

DATA INFRASTRUCTURE & BI PLATFORM

& 2008 R2Reporting Services

& 2010

BUSINESS MIDDLE TIER

Reports Dashboards

SSRS Add-In Install

WSS or MOSS WFE

SharePoint Object Model

Report Server

Report Server in SharePoint Mode

Security Extension

Data Management

SharePoint Object Model

Reporting Services Add-in

Report Viewer web

part

Report manageme

nt UI

SSRS Proxy

Report Server DBSharePoint Config / Content DB

SharePoint Integration Architecture

Preloading caches

• Caches can be preloaded ad-hoc or on a schedule• Available for reports and shared datasets• New “cache refresh plan” concept

- Each plan consists of a description, schedule and one combination of parameter values for which cache entry needs to be generated

• Many cache refresh plans per report or shared dataset

Programmability for SharePoint integration

• New 2010 centralized management web service endpoint for both SharePoint integrated and native mode

• AJAX enabled Report Viewer Web Part

Management Delivery

XML

Embedded Reporting

Authoring

Web Report2007 Sales

What’s new in SQL Server 2008 R2?

• Exports report data as ATOM data feeds- Compliant format- Also used by SQL Server Data Services and

SharePoint 2010 lists• Each leaf data region has one or more data

feeds• Clients that consume ATOM feeds (e.g., PowerPivot) can pull data directly from SSRS

ATOM Renderer

• Improved Browser Compatibility- IE6-8, Firefox 3, Safari- Improved feature parity- Fixed standards mode rendering problems

• Renderer specific output- Via Globals!RenderFormat.Name to control

visibility of report items for specific renderers• Naming the Excel worksheet tabs

Rendering enhancements

Visual Studio 2010 Report Viewer Controls

• ASP.NET AJAX and Windows Forms• Free redistributable runtime components

Key features in Visual Studio 2010 Report Viewer Controls

• SQL 2008 based local mode- On-demand processing- Support for 2008 RDLC (tablix, chart/gauge, rich

text)• Support for ASP.Net AJAX

- Viewer contains its own UpdatePanels- Interactivity is flicker free- Scroll position is maintained across interactivity- No more frames – async/sync mode no longer

impacts rendering• Better browser compatibility

Report Server

SQL Server Catalog (Metadata)

Web Services API

Report Processing and Rendering DataSource

Report Server (Remote) Mode

Your Application

Report Viewer(Remote Mode)

PublishReport

ReportDesigner

(BIDS or RB 3.0)

Your Application

Report Viewer(Local Mode)

Report Processing

Local Mode

Report Definition

ReportDesigner(Visual Studio)

EmbedReport

Retrieve Data

Report Data

DataSource

Additional Changes

• Extended Control API- Events for intercepting parameters- “Write a custom toolbar”- Printing and printer settings

• JavaScript API- Most toolbar functionality is available from the client- Events and properties expose the state of the viewer (error,

report loading, loading completed)• UI Updates

- Resizable multi-value parameter dropdowns- Pop-up loading indicator

VS 2010 Report Viewer Requirements

• No SQL 2005 support- Uses the 2008 RPL renderer on the server. HTML and GDI transformations happen in the viewer

• Must use AJAX- .Net 3.5 SP1 or 4.0 required

AJAX viewer programmability

Stella ChanPrincipal Program Manager

SQL Server Reporting Services

demo

Summary

• Self service reporting for information workers- Report components to enhance collaboration and

sharing- New data visualizations- Geo-spatial integration- Report as data source for PowerPivot- SharePoint 2010 integration

• Better cross browser support and fluid navigation via AJAX• Embedded BI: Visual Studio 2010 Report

Viewer Controls

Links

• Visual Studio 2010 Beta2• SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP3

- ISO Image :         http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=165365&clcid=0x409

- x86 Build:             http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=165367&clcid=0x409

- x64 Build :           http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=165368&clcid=0x409

- IA64 Build:           http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=165369&clcid=0x409

- PowerPivot X86 :       http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=168583&clcid=0x409

- PowerPivot X64 :      http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=168584&clcid=0x409

- What’s New:              http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=167918&clcid=0x409

- Release Notes:           http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155801 - Readme :                    http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=155103

• Brian Hartman’s Blog

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