Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server 2008/R2 Reporting Services

Teo LachevMVP, MCSD, MCITP, MCTteo.lachev@prologika.com

DBI205

About Me

Consultant, author, and mentor with focus on Microsoft BIOwner of Prologika – Microsoft BI consulting and training company based in Atlanta (www.prologika.com)Microsoft SQL Server MVP for 5 yearsLeader of Atlanta BI group (atlantabi.sqlpass.org)

Agenda

Present top reasons to upgrade to 2008 and R2Show many demosHelp you discover hidden featuresLet's start with a quick poll

Do you use Reporting Services?If yes, do you use an earlier version than 2008?

TablixReason #1

What’s Tablix?The best of Table – tabular layoutThe best of Matrix – crosstab layoutTABLIX = TABle + LIst + MatriX

Supports flexible report layoutsFixed and dynamic columns and rowsStepped layoutParallel independent column groups

Supports switching between layoutsTable, Matrix, List data regions provide initial layouts onlyYou can always change layout

Create flexible report layouts

2008

2005 2006

Washington 80 100

Seattle 50 60

Spokane 30 40

Oregon 60 80

Portland 40 50

Eugene 20 30

TablixStepped column layout

2005 2006

Washington Total 80 100

Seattle 50 60

Spokane 30 40

Oregon Total 60 80

Portland 40 50

Eugene 20 30

Current Desired

Table Chair

WA Seattle 20 30

Spokane 10 20

OR Portland 10 10

Eugene 25 5

2005 2006

WA Seattle 50 60

Spokane 30 40

OR Portland 40 50

Eugene 20 30

Current

Desired

Year Product

2005 2006 Table Chair

WA Seattle 50 60 20 30

Spokane 30 40 10 20

OR Portland 40 50 10 10

Eugene 20 30 25 5

TablixParallel dynamic groups

2005 2006

NY Joe Count 1 1

Sales 50 60

Avg 50 60

Sue Count 1 1

Sales 80 100

Avg 80 100

Total Count 2 2

Sales 130 160

Avg 65 80

Current Desired

TablixNon-detail aggregates in subtotals

2005 2006

NY Joe 50 60

Sue 80 100

Total Count 2 2

Sales 130 160

Avg 65 80

.. .

.. .

demo

Tablix

Report BuilderReason #2

Implemented as desktop applicationTwo installation options

Stand-alone installer ClickOnce in both Report Manager and SharePoint

Full RDL 2008/R2 supportSupports all data sources including Report Builder models

Report-specific data sources (client preview)Shared data sources deployed to server (server preview)

Author ad-hoc reports

2008/R2

demo

Report Builder 3.0

Data VisualizationsReason #3

2008Enhanced chartingNew gauge region

R2SparklinesIndicatorsData bars

Chart

Jazz up your reports

Gauge

Sparkline

Data BarIndicator

2008/R2

Jazz up Your Reports

demo

Data Visualizations

MappingReason #4

Support for SQL spatial typesGeography – earth coordinatesGeometry – planar coordinates

Multiple map layersSpatial sources

ESRI shapefilesSQL serverSSRS map galleryBing

Add geospatialvisualizations

R2

demo

Maps

Report PartsReason #5

Reuse common report elementsAccelerate report creationIncrease end-user adoption

Share & collaborate

R2

New Report

SourceReport

Report Gallery

demo

Report Parts

Data EnhancementsReason #6 Import and export

data in new ways

R2

ATOM Feed

Published Reports

Data Sources

Encapsu-lating

Reports

SharePoint Farm

Report-BasedData Feeds

SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 R2Data feed capabilities are provided out of the box in every report.

Shared datasetsReports as data feedsNew data providers

SharePoint ListSQL AzureParallel Data Warehouse

Lookup functions

demo

Data Enhancements

Robust Report PlatformReason #7

No dependency on IISEasier configurationBetter resource managementSimplified deployment and adoption

Scalable report engineRedesigned in 2008Reports are not memory boundRedesigned renderers3-4 x report loads by just upgrading to 2008

Scale up better

2008

Configuring Memory Utilization

SSRS 2008 and above support memory configurationSettings in rsreportserver.config configure memoryExample<WorkingSetMaximum>4000000</WorkingSetMaximum><MemoryThreshold>90</MemoryThreshold><MemorySafetyMargin>80</MemorySafetyMargin><WorkingSetMinimum>2400000</WorkingSetMinimum>

demo

Robust Report Platform

Rich Formatting SupportReason #8

Textbox is a constituent controlHas one or more paragraphsEach paragraph has textruns and optionally placeholdersA placeholder represents an expressionSupports a set of HTML and CSS format tagshttp://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc645967.aspx

Author reports faster

2008

demo

Rich Formatting Support

Enhanced ExperienceReason #9

Report ViewerSmooth and fluid navigation experienceAJAX-based

Report ManagerSharePoint look and feelWorkflow optimized(no need to preview report to access its properties or manage it)

Improve managementand user experience

R2

demo

Enhanced User Experience

Miscellaneous EnhancementsReason #10

Page break enhancementsDetermine export format and Excel tab namingVertical textExport to Word

Remove limitations

R2

demo

Rendering enhancements

Summary

SSRS is feature-rich reporting platformEvaluate SSRS 2008 and R2Download and install Report Builder 3.0http://tinyurl.com/reportbuilder30Help improving SSRS

Go to connect.microsoft.comLog new suggestions and vote for existing suggestions

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