SQL Reporting Services FAQ

¡P What is SQL Reporting Services?
o SQL Server Reporting Services is a comprehensive, server-based solution
that enables the creation, management, and delivery of both traditional,
paper-oriented reports and interactive, Web-based reports. An integrated
part of the Microsoft business intelligence framework, Reporting Services
combines the data management capabilities of SQL Server and Microsoft
Windows Server. with familiar and powerful Microsoft Office System
applications to deliver real-time information to support daily operations
and drive decisions. (text from
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/reporting/productinfo/overview.asp)
¡P How do I create a report?
o There are 2 common ways of creating a report for use by SQL Reporting
Services. Reports in SQL Reporting Services use the Report Description
Language (RDL) which is an XML based standard for defining reports.
Since it is simply XML, a report can, theoretically, be written using any
text editor. This method, however, is not an approach favored by most
since implementing RDL by hand can be laborious in addition to having a
steep learning curve.
By far, the most common way of creating a report is by using the SQL
Report Designer which is available to those owning licenses for both SQL
Server and Visual Studio.NET 2003. The Report Designer is and Visual
Studio.NET 2003 add-in packaged with SQL Reporting Services and,
when installed, makes available a Report project type in Visual
Studio.NET 2003.
Also on the horizon are numerous third party tools that are able to
generate RDL. At the time of this writing, many of the available tools are
still in beta testing but there are a handful that offer full products for
consumer purchase and/or evaluation.
¡P I want to get the Report Designer. Can you make it available for download?
o The Report Designer add-in for SQL Reporting Services is available only
with a license for SQL Server. Because SQL Reporting Services licensing
is covered by licensing for SQL Server itself, you must own a license for a
version of SQL Server in order to make use of client tools such as the
Report Designer, SQL Enterprise Manager, and SQL Query Analyzer.
However, the developer edition of SQL Server currently sells for a lower
price than Standard or Enterprise of SQL Server. Since SQL Reporting
Services is licensed with SQL Server, you would be entitled to a
Developer Edition of SQL Reporting Services if you were to purchase
SQL Server Developer Edition. More information can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/development.asp
¡P Can I use my MaximumASP database for reporting?
o Yes you can. Reports can use your MaximumASP database as a
datasource. Simply use the correct connection string in your report data
source file (.rds).
¡P Can I use a database outside of MaximumASP for reporting and if so what kinds?
o Any Internet connected database server can be used as a report data source
for SQL Reporting Services as long as you have the proper connection
settings and we have the necessary drivers installed. Currently, we only
offer ODBC drivers for Microsoft data sources such as SQL Server or
Access as well as common ¡§text¡¨ formats like XML, CSV or tab delimited
files.
¡P How do I reference SQL Reporting Services in my own web application?
o The SQL Reporting Services product available with your MaximumASP
account offers a fully functional web service that allows you to create, run,
and view reports programmatically. To consume the web service, simply
reference the service at
https://www.myreportserver.com/ReportServer/ReportService.asmx. For
more information about consuming and implementing the SQL Reporting
Services web service, consult the SQL Reporting Services Books Online.
¡P What is the difference between the ¡§Report Manager¡¨ and the ¡§Report Server¡¨
links on the home page of http://www.myreportserver.com?
o Report Manager is a convenient web user interface to the Report Server
that enables you to view and administer your reports, data sources, and
report resources.
Report Server is the web service application that functions as your
programmatic gateway to the SQL Reporting Services engine. When
browsing to the Report Server, you will be shown the contents of your
individual Reports directory.
¡P Why do I have to connect using https when browsing to the Report Server or
Report Manager applications?
o Technically, you don¡¦t HAVE to connect with https (using SSL).
However since you are required to provide authentication information for
each, SSL will ensure that your authentication information is not sent over
the wire in clear text.
¡P Why can¡¦t I manage subscriptions or create subscriptions with SQL Reporting
Services?
o SQL Reporting Services requires certain domain roles and permissions to
take full advantage of the power of subscriptions. At this time, we do not
offer Active Directory management tools to our customers to manage their
own group of domain users. Also, there is the real possibility that SQL
Reporting Services can be used for purposes of high volume email
deployment which is in violation of the MaximumASP Terms of Service.
¡P Where can I learn more about SQL Reporting Services?
o There are several resources available for SQL Reporting Services. The
best resource is the SQL Reporting Services Books Online that comes
with all versions of SQL Reporting Services. Also available with all
versions of SQL Reporting Services are report samples and an
accompanying database that functions as the datasource for those samples.
There is also help available inside the Report Manager application via the
¡§help¡¨ link. The information in this area applies mainly to the manager
application, but can offer some very useful tips and knowledge about
reports in general.
For those who like to look elsewhere for their information, there is a
newsgroup set up for Reporting Services within msnews.microsoft.com
called microsoft.public.sqlserver.reportingsvcs
¡P How can I get other people to view my reports without having to give them my
SQL Reporting Services password?
o By consuming the SQL Reporting Services web service, customers can
pull reports directly from the report server and render them inside any web
application as well as custom windows, console, or other types of
applications that may run within your business. To consume the web
service, simply reference the service at
https://www.myreportserver.com/ReportServer. For more information
about consuming and implementing the SQL Reporting Services web
service, consult the SQL Reporting Services Books Online.
¡P Why is the navigation toolbar not showing up when I render an HTML report
using the web service?
o The navigation toolbar that appears when using the Report Manager
application or the Report Server application interface is available only as
conveniences in those applications. It is not part of the consumable part of
the web service. However, the methods and properties needed to construct
the functionalities of that toolbar are available in the SQL Reporting
Services Web Service. To consume the web service, simply reference the
service at http://www.myreportserver.com/ReportServer. For more
information about consuming and implementing the SQL Reporting
Services web service, consult the SQL Reporting Services Books Online.
¡P What do I need to do to sign up for SQL Reporting Services?
o The only requirement to ¡§activate¡¨ SQL Reporting Services is that you
have an active user account with MaximumASP. Armed with your
authentication information, you need only to point your browser to
http://www.myreportserver.com and logon to either the Report Server or
Report Manager Applications. We would suggest you start in the Report
Manager Application as this will offer a more intuitive user interface than
the Report Server application.
¡P What are the licensing terms for SQL Reporting Services?
o SQL Reporting Services is part of SQL Server. The licensing of SQL
Reporting Services is covered by the terms of the version of SQL Server.
More information can be found by going to the licensing FAQ at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/reporting/howtobuy/faq.asp or the article
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/reporting/howtobuy/howtolicensers.asp or
by calling your Microsoft licensing representative.
¡P Is there an added fee for using the MaximumASP SQL Reporting Services
product?
o There is no additional fee for using the SQL Reporting Services product.
It is open to all current customers of MaximumASP.
¡P I have an assembly that will enhance or customize the Report Server for my
application(s). Will you install this onto the server?
o Because the Reporting Services product is shared by multiple customers,
any changes made to the configuration or architecture of the report
server(s) would potentially affect all customers using that server. For this
reason, we will not entertain installing additional assemblies or make
configuration changes unless we deem the changes are necessary and are
for the benefit of all customers using MaximumASP¡¦s SQL Reporting
Services product.
¡P I have written an assembly that is an extension to SQL Reporting Services that
will deliver a report in a different format. Will you install this onto the server?
o Adding a delivery extension to MaximumASP¡¦s SQL Reporting Services
product is considered a global change. Because the report server product
is shared by multiple customers, any changes made to the configuration or
architecture of the report server(s) would potentially affect all customers
using that server. For this reason, we will not entertain installing
additional assemblies or make configuration changes unless we deem the
changes are necessary and are for the benefit of all customers using
MaximumASP¡¦s SQL Reporting Services product.
You may want to consider pulling the RDL file directly from SQL
Reporting Services Server and then implementing your rendering
extension within your own web or desktop application.
¡P How do I publish or deploy my report to my MaximumASP SQL Reporting
Services folder?
o There are a handful of ways to push a report up to your MaximumASP
SQL Reporting Services folder.
Within the Report Manager application, you can upload your RDL file
into your reports folder. Then you set the datasource for your report and
upload your datasource file (.rds) if needed.
Using Report Designer in VisualStudio.NET 2003, you will first need to
set the project properties for the report server so that it will point to
https://www.myreportserver.com/ReportServer. Then, you simply rightclick
on your report project and select ¡§Deploy¡¨ from the menu. After the
report project is compiled, you will then be asked to provide
authentication information for the report server. After entering this
information, VisualStudio.NET 2003 will attempt to copy up your report
as well as any data source files and resources. Upon successful posting of
your report, your report will be available in your folder and you will be
able to browse to the Report Server or Report Manager to view and
manage your report.
¡P I am a dedicated customer and I want to install reporting services on my server.
How do I make this happen?
o To install this on your server, you will need to meet the licensing
requirements for SQL Server. We will run a basic default setup of
Reporting Services on your server. If there are any previous versions of
SQL Reporting Services on your server, they will be removed along with
the SQL Reporting Services Databases, Web Applications, and Windows
Service. You will need to provide the following for the installer:
„X Administrator login to the SQL Server
„X SQL Admin (sa) user and password used for installation of SQL
RS databases (only if Windows Administrator does not have admin
privileges in SQL Server)
„X SQL user for the Reporting Services engine (Default will be sa or
the Windows Administrator)
„X Windows user for the Reporting Services Windows service
(Default will be NetworkService)
„X Single site to host Report Server and Report Manager applications
o This installation does NOT qualify as a free upgrade for existing dedicated
server customers or new dedicated server customers. Hourly support
charges will be incurred by the requesting customer.
¡P I am a dedicated customer and I want to use SQL Reporting Services, but I do not
want to install SQL Server on my dedicated server.
o As long as you have a current MaximumASP Account login ID, you can
use the SQL Reporting Services product from MaximumASP.
¡P Something isn¡¦t working with my report. What can I do to troubleshoot this as a
user?
o Check and make sure your report is using the correct datasource (.rds) file
or that the datasource is compiled into the report. Also, browse to the
Report Manager application and make sure you are not viewing an older
report that has been cached..
¡P
Add a custom function to set the shared variables and retrieve the group page
number
Public Function GetGroupPageNumber(group as Object, pagenumber as
Integer) as Object
If Not (group = currentgroup)
offset = pagenumber - 1
currentgroup = group
End If
Return pagenumber - offset
End Function