Two interfaces of Reporting Engine are possible:
sql based for sql based user
non-sql Based interface for normal non-sql friendly users
Database is very large so how do I go about thinking about 2) option that is Non-sql based interface
How would it be ?
If you're using SQL Server 2005 or higher, you may want to consider the ReportBuilder supplied as part of Reporting Services.
You just need to build a 'business friendly' schema (known as a 'DataSource View') then auto-build a Report Model on top.
The users just connect to the Report Model using the Report Builder tool and they can create their own reports.
If you already have SQL Server, then the additional costs would be minimal.
You need an easy way to build SQL queries. Look at the wizards in all the desktop databases, but something that isn't paged might be more intuitive, e.g. http://ruleeditor.googlecode.com/svn/wiki/NSRuleEditor_Tiger.png (not affiliated)
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I managed to create a typical SSRS report by building one through MSSQL BI development environment. I used a simple procedure to retrieve a list of databases that reside on our SQL servers. My question would be...would SSRS allow me to build a native UI app in displaying SQL procedure results in a more user friendly way?
For instance, I am currently manually running procedures to retrieve information about our backend systems, and I wonder whether SSRS would be an ideal tool to automate the process by allowing a user to view the information that the procedures produce in a more user friendly way?
I'm not 100% sure about your question, when you ask (emphasis mine):
would SSRS allow me to build a native UI app in displaying SQL procedure results
In any case, SSRS isn't meant for nor very good at functioning as an "App" with proper UI/UX. If you're just after basic features for letting the user pick a stored procedure and then reporting the results back to the user SSRS may suit your needs.
You continue:
I wonder whether SSRS would be an ideal tool to automate the process by allowing a user to view the information that the procedures produce in a more user friendly way?
Whether it's "ideal" really depends on your context.
Finally, the last bit is somewhat confusing: "more" than what? Running queries directly in SSMS? Then probably yes.
Bottom line: if you stick with using SSRS for reporting purposes (possibly interactive, to a certain degree), then SSRS may be the ideal tool for your case.
Were still using Reporting Services for SQL2008 (not SP2). I recently started using report builder 2.0, but it looks like report builder isn't able to modify data models - and VS2010 lacks business intelligence features. My question is: Have data models been depreciated? If not, what is the current tool for managing them? I have new reports to write so I'm trying to think ahead. Can datasets be used, and access controled, for ad-hoc reporting?
There isn't a way to modify the report models using vs2010 you would still have to have vs2008 BIDS installed to be able to modify these. It looks like reports models may be depreciated from SQL 2012 (http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/sqlreportingservices/thread/0d0650d1-6d40-4d12-a471-54fb29b3356d).
If you starting a new project then personally I would look at using shared data sets based on views or stored procedures as these will be a lot easier to maintain and use. You can then use the permissions on these to control who has access to what.
I have a mysql database as a "Data Ware House".
I have a lot of ready to go queries that I want to run as reports.
So what I need is a web based reporting GUI (Portal) that Can get configuration of:
query, fields titles and report description.
So when ever I want to add a report I just need to provide a query and the reporting gui will have that report in the menu.
Thanks
Have a look at myDBR reporting tool. You can generate good looking reports very easily from your existing queries. myDBR is also able to genereate charts and drill-down reports in a few seconds.
I have a table created in my SQL DB with data filled. I want to create a report out of it with visual display (Graphs). If anyone has done it, please can you suggest if there are any free report engines and how to proceed with my work? I have found one report engine in inetsoft but it is paid.
I am using a MySQL Database. My table layout has 4 columns where 2 areintegers and 2 are strings. I'm using Eclipse, Java, Selenium on a Mac as development environment. I tried with all possible keywords in internet to get freeware to plot the graphs. But I did not find any.
I have explored many reporting tools which are free (data vision) but they don't support graph/chart display.
One more requirement is that the report should be dynamic. that means user is going to select parameters from the report window, which type of chart he wants to display etc. So can anyone help me find such a free tool?
myDBR offers free version and extensive set of available charts in the web reporting system. Supports MySQL, MS SQL Server and Sybase (both ASE and SQL Anywhere).
If you have MS sql server, sql server reporting services is free.
In Business Intelligence Developer Studio, I'm wondering why one would want to create a report model from an OLAP cube.
As far as I understand it, OLAP cubes and report models are both business-oriented views of underlying structures (usually relational databases) that may not mean much to a business user. The cube is a multidimensional view in terms of dimensions and measures, and the report model is... well I'm not sure entirely -- is it a more business-oriented, but still essentially relational view?
Anyway, in Report Builder I can connect directly to both an OLAP cube or a report model. So I don't see why, if I have an OLAP cube which already provides a business-oriented view of the data suitable for end-users, why I would then convert that to a report model and use that in Report Builder instead.
I think I'm obviously missing some fundamental difference between report models and cubes -- any help appreciated!
In SQL Server 2005 you still had to create a report model over a cube to use Report Builder. RB 2.0 will directly open a cube, although not all available features of SSAS are necessarily supported by RB. This blog entry by Teo Lachev discusses it in more detail.
Generally I would agree that there isn't much point to creating a model based on a cube. I suppose you could use it to hide some aspects of the cube and then you could use role based security to expose different models to users. I don't normally let users outside of BI build reports in SSRS, though, so that wouldn't be a compelling reason for me.
Report models are good if you don't have an OLAP cube. It is a good way to hide the complexity of table joins and fields while providing users with a way to get to the data. It also is a chance to provide friendlier names for business users for fields than how the columns are stored in the database.
Another advantage of an OLAP cube is the calculation engine.
You can have complex calculated measures in your cube that are hard to make and/or time consuming in a relational database, but are well suited to Analysis Services.
You can then expose those calculations to your business users with Report Builder, hiding the inherent complexity.
Security and simplicity.
You can use a report model against a relational or a dimensional database to give a user an easier to use view of the data.
You may also wish to secure your database by only exposing a subset of the columns available.
You could change the underlying data source/schema of the model, but keep the model intact, thus ensuring a seamless experience for end users.