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Reporting Services

SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services

Overview

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services provides a complete, server-based platform designed to support a wide variety of reporting needs enabling organizations to deliver relevant information where needed across the entire enterprise.

Top New Features

  • Design reports with any structure by using the new unique layout capabilities of Flexible Report Layout

  • Benefit from enhanced performance and scalability to reach all users throughout the enterprise

  • Render reports into Microsoft Office Word format

  • Integrate Reporting Services with Microsoft Office SharePoint Services for central delivery and management of business insight

  • Create reports with richly formatted text

  • Display data graphically with enhanced visualization capabilities

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Report Builder Design Environment

Report Builder Design Environment

Author

Create comprehensive, richly formatted reports quickly and easily.

Use a comprehensive report design environment

  • Benefit from increased productivity through familiar Microsoft Visual Studio-based report development tools. Take advantage of intuitive design interfaces and wizards to quickly build reporting solutions

Create reports from a wide range of data sources

  • Build reports from different data sources throughout your enterprise. Data sources can be from SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, SAP NetWeaver BI, Hyperion Essbase, and others.

Enable report authoring for business users

  • Enable business users to create their own reports and explore corporate data by using Microsoft Report Builder 2.0, an intuitive and familiar Microsoft Office-optimized authoring environment

  • Report Builder 2.0 enables users to either go directly against relevant data sources or to leverage a user-friendly semantic report model, empowering them to build reports without deep technical understanding of the underlying data structures

  • Build semantic report models from SQL Server Relational and Analysis Services databases, and from Oracle databases to support end-user reporting

  • Use the ADO.NET Framework to bridge this divide and create a model that supports the three common inheritance storage schemas:

    • Table per hierarchy: One table contains data for all types within the hierarchy and one column discriminates between the types

    • Table per subclass: One table contains the base properties across the type hierarchy, with separate tables for additional properties defined for each subtype

    • Table per concrete type: One table contains all the properties of a concrete class, including inherited properties

Choose from flexible data representation options

  • Format reports in the way that makes most sense for your particular reporting needs

  • Use a tabular format for fixed data reports and Matrix format for dynamic crosstab reports; or combine the two formats by using the new highly innovative data representation format of Flexible Report Layout

Apply rich formatting to your reports

  • Use the new richly formatted text capabilities to create text boxes containing mixed styles, paragraphs, and hyperlinks. Use expressions to implement inline formatting of your data

Visualize data

  • Enrich reports by visualizing data graphically, leveraging a wealth of new rich gauge and charting capabilities

  • Take advantage of additional chart enhancements including annotations, custom color palettes, scale breaks, merged charts, and multiple axes

Report Builder management tools

Report Builder Management Tools

Manage

Ease management of your reporting environment with a variety of powerful manageability tools.

Use comprehensive management tools

  • Schedule report execution, manage report subscriptions, and control access to reports through the Web-based Report Manager

  • Integrate Reporting Services with Microsoft SharePoint Technologies for central manageability of reports in a familiar Office environment

  • Deploy and manage all of your Reporting Services configuration options by using Reporting Services Configuration Manager

Secure your reporting solution

  • Use the Reporting Services role-based security model to secure access to reports, folders, resources and shared data sources

  • Grant access to users by assigning them to built-in and custom role definitions

Customize management operations

  • Use the extensible architecture and open interfaces to integrate reporting solutions in diverse IT environments

Reporting Services Configuration Manager

Reporting Services Configuration Manager

Deliver

Deliver richly formatted reports to users through a variety of mechanisms.

Achieve high-performance report processing

  • Deliver reports more efficiently with the re-engineered report engine

  • Limit memory usage and conflicts with non-memory bound reports

  • Optimize report performance with on-demand processing and instance-based rendering

Render reports to a wide range of formats

  • Reach users across the organization with reports rendered in the format that makes the most sense for them

  • Rendering options offer a variety of formats including HTML, PDF, CSV, XML, and Image (TIFF) as well as Microsoft Office Word and Excel

Deliver reports automatically through subscriptions

  • Use subscriptions to deliver reports at a specific time and/or location

  • Deliver reports through e-mail or post them to a shared folder on your network

  • Enable business users to subscribe to reports, or create data-driven subscriptions to centrally manage automatic multi-recipient report delivery

Embed reports into applications and portals

  • Use the Microsoft Report Viewer controls in Visual Studio to embed reports directly into your business applications or leverage the Report Viewer Web Server control to host reports in ASP.NET projects

  • Publish reports to a Microsoft Office SharePoint report library or embed reports directly into portals by using the Reporting Services Report Viewer Web Part for renderings within SharePoint

Additional Resources

Related Sites

Report Definition Language

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