BIDS - Solution Explorer vs Report Data - reporting-services

In Business Intelligence Development Studio, what exactly is the difference between the objects (i.e., dataset, data sources, etc) in the Solution Explorer and the Report Data tab? Both have different datasets, but they impact the final report differently.


In the Solution Explorer you have Shared Data Sources and Shared Datasets.
These are self-contained items that can be deployed to the Report Server.
In the Report Data tab you have Data Sources and Datasets.
These are items that are internal to and relevant to the selected report only.
Both Shared Data Sources/Datasets and report Data Sources/Datasets perform the same function, i.e. defining a connection to a data source and extracting specific data from a defined data source respectively.
In an individual report, when you define a Data Source or Dataset (i.e. in the Report Data tab) you have two options - you can store all the details embedded in the report or you can reference a Shared Data Source/Dataset.
The advantage of using Shared items is that you can define the details and use the item in multiple reports, hence helping with maintenance and manageability. For example, from Books Online:
Shared data sources are useful when you have data sources that you use
often. It is recommended that you use shared data sources as much as
possible. They make reports and report access easier to manage, and
help to keep reports and the data sources they access more secure.
So, Shared items in the Solution define connections that can be used by multiple reports and are also deployed to the report server, while the items in the Report Data tab define those connections for the selected report; these can either reference a Shared item or have all the data embedded in the report itself.
More information:
Embedded and Shared Data Connections or Data Sources
Embedded and Shared Datasets

Related

SSRS - How to see query inside Shared datasets

I have a SSRS report deployed ina a server. I have to see how the report is collecting data. The datasets and datasources are shared in this case. How do i have to check the query in the shared datasets?
I'm able to locate the shared data source and dataset location in report server but have no options to see what is inside that. Please help

There are two ways i can think of achieving this, First is to Edit in report builder from the drop down, the second is to download and then add it to a projects and open it up there.

SSRS single datasource impact

In my client environment there are many SSRS reports have been deployed. Each having separate data source and it is pointing same server and same database.
Is it good that to convert into single data source based on the database base. Will there be any performance issue or any other issue will occur? Please suggest me.

If you need Manageability then please go with a shared data source.
As far i'm aware, there won't be any performance issues.
When you create a shared data source, all of the connection information for the data source you’re connecting to is stored outside of the report, and deployed as its own object. Other reports are able to reference the shared data source.
On whether its good to convert into single data source based on the database base, i would say it depends, but in general I tend to use the following guidelines.
If I have multiple reports that are going to be referencing the same data source, a shared data source makes perfect sense
If I have a data source that I know is only going to be used by one report, and never by any others, then an embedded data source might make more sense, although this is kind of a rare case in my experience. If you do created an embedded data source and start getting requests for other reports using the same data source…you should definitely convert it to a shared data source.
The advantage of using shared data sources starts to become evident once you start to have a large number of reports to manage. If you have to point your reports to different environments like dev / QC / Stg / prod, you can change all the reports at once by simply changing the information in the shared data source. Had you created all your reports with embedded data sources however, you’d have to edit each report individually, and if you have a lot of reports, that can translate into a lot of work.

How to make SSRS reports available to users?

I've been thinking of the best way to present reports to the end user. We've accumulated several dozen reports. Some are subscription-based and are exported into Excel or emailed out regularly but a large number are run on-demand.
There's the option of sending the users the direct link to the reports. We don't do this because it's not easy to find (they have to dig through emails or bookmark the link)
http://server/ReportServer/Pages/ReportViewer.aspx?myreportrs:Command=Render
We've been embedding reports in sharepoint (or simply adding a link to the report). We're not using Sharepoint Integrated Mode. This has become a little unorganized where we have a large number of links to reports. I'm not sure what other solution exists..
SQL 2008, Sharepoint 2007

Depends on how much maintenance effort and instruction you want to provide. Some likely options include:
Use a SharePoint content page and hardcode a page with links to different reports.
Create a Sharepoint URL list linking to the different reports.
Create an SSRS report that is acts as a central index. This could either be a static page (a report without any data
source, just many static text boxes.) or a dynamic list of reports.
Depending on requirements you could query the SSRS databases and
use that as a central list.
My clients have generally found that a one of these, the Report Manager interface (/reports/), and emailing of specific report urls to be adequate.
Another option I once used: we created a formula (happened to be in Excel) that would create a url with the appropriate custom parameters to return just the data the user was interested in. Passed the parameters to SSRS as part of the URL. (Search on SSRS URL access.)

Reports in MS Access after compiling into MDE file

I am currently working on a MS Access 2003 mdb file. This mdb file will be converted to an mde file before being published.
How do I go about enabling the reports function of MS Access after conversion? Is there a alternative (open source or free software) to the reporting in MS Access? Any suggestions?

Assuming you mean getting users to creat their own reports in the same FE MDE? This isn't possible as you can't open a form or report in design view in an MDE.
We suggest you give the power user a separate MDB linked to BE database. Along with some starter queries and tell them to "have fun". Providing occasional support on queries, explaining, for example, the difference between the joins.
Also I give my clients an Export to Excel button which copies the reports recordset to Excel. I do not attempt to use the report itself into Excel as that generally looks terrible.

Another issue is to consider why users want to create reports. I frequently get clients requesting two different reports on the same data, one with details, one just a summary. You can actually make that a single report and hide the detail section to get the summary report.
Also, many clients consider a report with different data but the same layout to be a different report, and what they really need is the ability to filter the report output according to their needs.
In my experience, both of these take care of 90% of the scenarios where users think they need to create reports.

After a report / document template tool to generate documents from SQL Server

I'm after a tool to generate decent-looking documents from templates, that needs to:
be invoked through code (not interactively)
run on Windows, ideally invoked from code within a web-server
process standalone* report files that contain their own internal data definitions, query options, etc (i.e. ideally so that we can push simple report files to the server, and it simply work - where report/document maintenance is not necessarily a developer activity)
access data from a database (SQL Server 2005) based on parameters (ids etc) that we pass in
export (again, through code) to pdf or similar
*= where standalone simply means that the report is fully self-describing; it is fully expected that additional reporting runtime components will be required to execute the report. Contrast to rdlc which uses the data-sets from the local VS project.
I looked at the rdl/rdlc options (Visual Studio 2008), but rdlc seems to be coupled to the assembly (not standalone), and rdl seems to lack the code-based export ability. The version of Crystal Reports included in VS2008 seems very similar to rdlc - presumably the full Crystal Reports offering has more functionality, but has a non-trivial price tag too...
I'd welcome any suggestions for an appropriate, professional looking tool that might be suitable and recommended...

I think SQL Reporting Services fully support all of your requirements.
I have build some sophisticated solutions myself with SSRS.
(Example)
Fully manageable through code (via SSRS WS) (Upload, execute and export Reports)
Used SQL Server as database
Queries are defined in RDL (or Stored Proc) and based on parameters
There are other solutions like Telerik Reporting or Data Dynamics ActiveReport, but they are not free.
Let me know if you need more informations
SSRS WS: With that I mean the Web Service Interface (Report Server Web Service
). There is also a URL Access method, but I don't think it's a solution for you

I dont think you can satisfy all requirements. Number 3 especially is the killer.
On one reading, I see it as adhoc reporting generating it's on SQL. On another, it is giving users "empowerment" to do roll their own within some limits you define?
You may have looked already... but have you thought about using the ReportBuilder functionality to set up the basics and leave users to do the rest? You'll need a report monkey at some point anyway to set soemthing up.
Edit, after comment:
Reporting Services it is then.
It comprises a web service that renders RDL files uploaded from VS.
Report Builder is a template for users to hack and bash their own within the limits and environment you set.
Architecture of RS 2008

Our Data Dynamics Reports product sound like it is for you. It is a fully programmable reporting component for .NET / Visual Studio. View the documentation on the API here. You can export the reports to any of our various formats, including PDF, HTML, and Excel and it also includes an end user designer control that you can embed into your own applications to let end users modify or create their own reports.
The reports are stored in RDL - the same XML dialect that Reporting Services uses - in fact you can take any existing RDL files and open them in Data Dynamics Reports. In addition to compatibility with RDL, we add many more features, such as "themes" to consistently style your report, master reports (think ASP.NET master pages for reports), and several other built in controls such as a calendar, barcode, and dashboard controls to name a few.
Now lets look at your requirements one-by-one and see how Data Dynamics Reports might solve them:
be invoked through code (not interactively) - Data Dynamics Reports includes comprehensive API.
run on Windows, ideally invoked from code within a web-server - You can use Data Dynamics Reports in client-based, or ASP.NET applications, it even support medium trust ASP.NET applications (webservices are fine).
process standalone* report files that contain their own internal data definitions, query options, etc (i.e. ideally so that we can push simple report files to the server, and it simply work - where report/document maintenance is not necessarily a developer activity) - Data Dynamics Reports uses standard RDL (not rdlc) which includes all information bout how to retrieve data from your datasource. We also include an end user designer control to allow you to emebed a design environment for these standalone files into your own applications.
access data from a database (SQL Server 2005) based on parameters (ids etc) that we pass in - Data Dynamics Reports includes comprehensive support for parameters (even get the "valid values" from a query.
export (again, through code) to pdf or similar - Data Dynamics Reports supports exporting to PDF, HTML, Excel, Word, images, and XML.
I hope it works out for you, and let me know if you have any additional questions.
Scott Willeke
Data Dynamics / GrapeCity inc.

I think, based on all the criteria, you likely need to look at Crystal Reports, since you want the reports to be standalone, although, you could also create a report designer out of XtraReports or ActiveReports Pro and have much of the same functionality.
As for running it on the fly and having it generate, distribute, and archive the reports that run, check out our product at www.versareports.com. It should work with any .NET report designer you want to use and provides the enterprise-class report server framework you likely need.