SQL Server Reporting Service

By,Thejaswi Shasthri

Introduction

● SQL Server Reporting Services(SSRS) is a reporting software application from

Microsoft.

● SSRS actually runs within Visual Studio, in an application called SSDT (SQL

Server Data Tools).

● SSRS Components:○ Report Server

○ Report Builder

○ Report Manager

○ VS integration via Report Viewer Control

SSRS Architecture

● The end user sends an HTTP request for a report, providing any required

parameters.

● The SSRS server finds the metadata of the report and sends a request for

data to the data sources.

● The data returned by the data sources is merged with the report definition

into a report.

● As the report is generated, it is returned to the client.

Figure

Working With SSRS

Report designer window

The main design window lets you to design and view the report itself.

Main Features of Report Designer

● The Datasets window shows the data that is available to the report.

● The main design window lets you view the report itself.

● The Solution Explorer, Output, and Properties windows are the standard

Visual Studio windows.

● You can change the available data or the sort order for the report by

modifying the query on the Data tab.

● You can resize or rearrange controls on the Layout tab.

Data SourceA shared data source is a data source that is common to, and can be used by, all of the reports in the project.

An embedded data source is a data source that is reserved for a particular report.

DatasetA dataset is the query definition.

Two types of query that can be used are,

○ Text○ Stored Procedures

Query designer gives a UI to design the query.

The report

At the top of the Report Designer window are two tabs: Design and Preview.

The Design tab is the physical Report Designer where we design the report i.e. set up the data presentation of the report itself, plus any header and footer for the report pages.

Best Practice

When creating a new report manually, we must always follow this sequence

of steps before we can begin to add data-connected objects:

1. Add the report

2. Create a data source in the report, preferably pointing to a shared data

source

3. Create a dataset that points to the data source and contains your query

Different Types of Reports

Tabular Reports

Tabular reports implies, just

simple data representation using

tables.

SSRS makes creating tabular

report super simple - just drag

and drop data elements.

It gives you the ability to add

totals etc, as we do in excel.

Parameterized Reports

A parameterized report uses input values to complete report or data processing. With a parameterized report, you can vary the output of a report based on values that are set when the report runs.

Parameterized reports are frequently used for drillthrough reports, linked reports, and subreports, connecting and filtering reports with related data.

Snapshot Reports

A report snapshot is a report that contains layout information and query results

that were retrieved at a specific point in time.

Report snapshots serve three purposes:

● Report history.

● Consistency.

● Performance.

● A cached report is a saved copy of a processed report.

● Cached reports are used to improve performance by reducing the number

of processing requests to the report processor and by reducing the time

required to retrieve large reports.

● They have a mandatory expiration period, usually in minutes.

Cached Reports

Linked Reports

● A linked report is a report server item that provides an access point to an

existing report.

● A linked report is derived from an existing report and retains the original's

report definition.

● A linked report always inherits report layout and data source properties of

the original report.

Drilldown Report

Drilldown reports initially hide

complexity and enable the user

to toggle conditionally hidden

report items to control how much

detail data they want to see.

Drilldown reports must retrieve

all possible data that can be

shown in the report.

For reports with large amounts of

data, consider drillthrough

reports instead.

Drillthrough Reports

● Drillthrough reports are standard reports that are accessed through a

hyperlink on a textbox in the original report.

● Drillthrough reports work with a main report and are the target of a

drillthrough action for a report item such as placeholder text or a chart.

● Drillthrough reports can be filtered by parameters, but they do not have to

be.

SubreportsA subreport is a report that

displays another report inside the

body of a main report. It is used

to embed a report within a report.

You can set up the parent report

to pass parameters to the

subreport.

For reports with many instances

of subreports, consider using

drillthrough reports instead.

Chart Types

Chart TypesIt is important to choose an

appropriate chart type for the

type of data that you are

presenting. This will determine

how well the data can be

interpreted when put in chart

form.

For example, if your dataset

contains a lot of data points

relative to the size of the chart, it

may be better presented using an

area, line, or scatter chart.

Choosing a Chart TypeChart type ratio data stock data linear data multi-value data

Area Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes

Bar Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes

Data Bars yes

Column Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes

Line Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes

Pie Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes

Polar Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes

Scatter Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes yes

Shape Charts (Report Builder and SSRS) yes

Sparklines yes yes yes yes

Report Level

PropertiesNow we have a basic, very plain,

tabular report, so let's add some

formatting to make it look better.

We have lots of options such as

adding background colors,

changing the font or text color,

adding italics or bolding, and

more. In this example, we will

change the background color of

the header row.

Report Parameters

There are two ways to add parameters to our reports. The first is simply to define parameters in the queries in the dataset, and then these will automatically be available as report parameters.

The second way is to manually add report parameters through the Parameters section of the Report Data window.

We can use parameters to filter the data at the source, or for other reasons like giving the end-user control over one of the properties. We could also have a parameter that is used for both functions.

Expressions

● Expressions are used frequently in reports to control content and report

appearance.

● Expressions are written in Microsoft Visual Basic, and can use built-in

functions, custom code, report and group variables, and user-defined

variables.

● Expressions begin with an equal sign (=).

● Learn more about expressions here https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-

us/library/ms157328.aspx

Creating Expression

You can create and modify report definition (.rdl) files in Report Builder and in Report Designer in SQL Server Data Tools.

Each authoring environment provides different ways to create, open, and save reports and related items.

Add Code to a Report

In any expression, you can call your own custom code. You can provide code in

the following two ways:

● Embed code written in Visual Basic directly in your report. If your code

refers to a Microsoft .NET Framework that is notSystem.Math or System.

Convert, you must add the reference to the report.

● Provide a custom code assembly by using the .NET Framework. If you

provide a custom assembly, you must install it on both the computer

where you author the report and the report server where you view the

report.

Cascaded Parameters

Cascading parameters provide a

way of managing large amounts

of report data.

With cascading parameters, the

list of values for one parameter

depends on the value chosen in

preceding parameter.

Order is important for cascading

parameters.

Document Map

A document map provides a set

of navigational links to report

items in a rendered report.

When you view a report that

includes a document map, a

separate side pane appears next

to the report.

Report subscriptions

● A report subscription is a report snapshot generated on some defined

scheduled time and delivered to the intended audience by the report

server.

● SSRS allows you to create two types of subscriptions, e.g., standard

subscriptions and data-driven subscription.

subscriptions in SQL Reporting

Services enable you to configure

the automatic delivery of

specified reports by e-mail or to a

file share at scheduled intervals.

You can also configure other

types of report subscriptions,

such as data-driven

subscriptions from the Web

interface included with Microsoft

SQL Server Reporting Services.

Subscriptions

Report Server

● A report server is a stateless server that uses the SQL Server Database

Engine to store metadata and object definitions.

● A native mode Reporting Services installation uses two databases to

separate persistent data storage from temporary storage requirements.

● The databases are created together and bound by name. By default, the

database names are reportserver and reportservertempdb, respectively.

Report Server Database● The report server database is a SQL Server database that stores the

following content:

○ Items managed by a report server (reports and linked reports, shared data sources, report

models, folders, resources) and all of the properties and security settings that are

associated with those items.

○ Subscription and schedule definitions.

○ Report snapshots (which include query results) and report history.

○ System properties and system-level security settings.

○ Report execution log data.

○ Symmetric keys and encrypted connection and credentials for report data sources.

● Because the report server database stores application state and persistent

data, you should create a backup schedule for this database to prevent

data loss.

Security and permissions● Reporting Services uses roles and role assignments to control access to

report server content. By creating role assignments, you enable other users

in your organization to view and publish reports and other items on a

report server.

● Security consists of two main components: security and access at the Report Server level and authentication and permission at the data source level.

● Providing access to reports is very simple and can be done at an item level( report level) or a folder level.

Roles● There are mainly 5 types of roles, that you can assign to an user or a

group.

● These roles are:

○ Browser: Allows users to run reports and browse folders; this role will be used by most end

users.

○ Content Manager: allows users to manage and define folders and reports and to grant

permissions.

○ Report Builder: Allows users to create Report Builder reports.

○ Publisher: Allows users to deploy / upload reports and create folders.

○ My Reports: Allows users to create and maintain personal MyReports folders.

Configuration Files

● Reporting Services stores component information in the registry and in

configuration files that are copied to the file system during setup.

● Configuration files contain a combination of internal-use-only and user-

defined values.

● User-defined values are specified through Setup, the configuration tools,

the command line utilities, and by manually editing the configuration files.

● RsReportServer.config file stores settings that are used by Report

Manager, the Report Server Web service, and background processing.

Reporting Services includes a

variety of configuration files.

There is a Web.config file for

each of the two ASP.NET

applications included with

Reporting Services.

The Web.config files contain

settings that are typically found

in files of this type. Additional

application-specific

configuration settings are stored

in component configuration files

described in the table.

File Description

\ReportManager\Web.config Report Manager Web.config file

\ReportServer\Web.configReport Server Web.config file

ReportingServicesService.exe.config Stores configuration settings used by the Report Server service.

RSMgrPolicy.config, RSPreviewPolicy.config, RSSrvPolicy.config

Stores component security policy information.

RSReportDesigner.config Stores configuration settings used by Report Designer.

RSReportServer.config Stores configuration settings used by the report server engine.

RSWebApplication.config Stores configuration settings used by Report Manager.

Deployment

● After you have designed and tested a report or set of reports, you can use

the built-in deployment features in SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) to

publish the reports to a report server.

● You can publish a single report or a Report Server project that contains

multiple reports.

● Reports are built before they are published to ensure that only valid report

definitions are published to the report server.

Two ways of publishing a report

● Publishing a Single Report

○ If you do not want to publish all reports in a project, you can chose to publish only a single

report.

○ The target server URL of the report server must be specified and you might want to change

the default folders to which reports and shared data sources deploy.

● Publishing Multiple Reports

○ When you publish a Report Server project, you publish all reports in that project. All reports

are deployed using the same project configuration: to the same report server, the same

folder on the server, and so on.

○ A solution can include multiple Report Server projects, and using multiple project might

make it easier to manage the deployment of reports because you can use a different

configuration to deploy different projects.

Thank You