SharePoint 2010 Business Intelligence

Module 10: Reporting Services

Overview

Reporting Services

Reports

Lesson: Reporting Services

Introduction

Features

Introduction

Reporting Services is a part of SQL Server

Introduced in SQL Server 2005Allows seamless:

Authoring, publishing, viewing and security of ReportsIntegration with SharePoint started with SQL 2005 SP2

Report manager was removed in lieu of SharePoint permission management

Reporting database got new structure and RS Add-In was required to be installed on SharePoint farm

Reporting server must also have SharePoint and be a part of the farm

Features

Allows rendering of your reports in the browser

Parameters are supported All basic Reporting service features are enabled through

SharePoint UI (caching, scheduling, etc)Reporting Services web part allowed in page rendering

RDL files in document libraries could simply be clicked on to render/run the report

Report Builder was integrated into UI

SharePoint Integration

Deep integration with the Microsoft SharePoint Technologies

Enables publishing, viewing, management, and delivery of reports

Provide report web part for hosting rich reports in BI dashboards

Leverage SharePoint collaboration and workflow capabilities with rich reporting

Shared security principles across Reporting Services & SharePoint

SharePoint 2010 Features

Allow installing RS Add-in before SharePoint 2010

One step integration via RS Add-in Add-in installer is fixed!

Local mode Report viewing in AJAX enabled Report Viewer

Selecting a report parameter does not cause a postback!SSRS is the reporting engine for Access Services reporting.

Native support for Reporting on SharePoint Lists

ULS Logging supported

Reporting Services New Features

ATOM and Word 2007 Rendering

37 languages supported

Removed additional hop between UI and proxy with RS Add-in

Lesson: Reports

Report Lifecycle

Planning Reports

Creating Reports

Data Sources

Layouts

Visualizations

Report Lifecycle

Author

Excel, Visual Studio Report Designer, Report Builder, other 3rd party tools

Deliver

Runtime report rendering (HTML, PDF, TIFF, CSV, XML) Push and Pull delivery supported

Manage

Scalable web service architecture Managed report execution (On-demand, Multi-user shared

cache, Scheduled, Historical snapshots) Role-based security model

Planning Reports – Example Steps

1. Interview business users to create specs

2. Review all expressed needs, desires, fantasies

3. Start will full list of candidates

4. Give each report a name or description

5. Rate each report based on business value and the effort to build (scale of 1 to 10)

6. Prioritize the list of candidates

7. Group related reports

8. Review priorities with small group of users

9. Identify 10-15 reports & Negotiate a cutoff point

10. Handoff the lower priority reports back to the business experts

Creating Reports

Three main components of a report:

Data Sources Layouts Visualizations

It is important to understand these three components as they drive how successful a report will be

Other components include:

Fields, Parameters, Aggregations (Avg, Count, Sum), Conditional Formatting, Groupings, header and footers, images, SubReports

Developer Tools

Model Designer

Define, edit and publish models for use in Report BuilderReport Designer

Visual Studio project template for building reportsReport Builder

A .NET ClickOnce application for designing customized versions of Published reports using Report Models.

Data Sources

How easy is it to connect to the data?

Do you know where your data is and what it looks like?

Teradata, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2, SAP, SQL Azure OLEDB – Informix, Sybase XML ODBC (Text, Excel, CSV) SharePoint Lists

Performance will differ depending on where your data resides and how you gain access to it

Displaying Data

Numerous ways to display data from your data sources

Tables Charts Lists & Matrices Gauge Maps Tablix (mix between table and matrice) SubReports

Layouts

So you found your data, what should the layout of the raw data look like?

What do you want executives or more importantly, what do they want to see?

Tables, Matrices or any combination of it… Parallel Groupings Asymmetrical columns/rows Mix of dynamics/static rows and groups

Visualizations

The basic table won’t cut it eh? Make it look fancy with Visualizations:

Charts, Pyramids, Pie, Donuts, Gauges Maps Sparklines, Data bars, Indicators

Delivering Reports

Subscriptions allow reports to be distributed

Email File share SharePoint libraries Custom destinations

Report Formats include:

Runtime report rendering (HTML, PDF, TIFF, CSV, XML) Excel is 2007 based (65K rows only)

You should always monitor Subscription settings

Errors (sending email, copying to destination) Inactive subscriptions and reports

Managing Report Services

Reporting services components include:

Reporting Service web service Databases (ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB)

Web service security must allow access to SharePoint and Reporting services databases

Databases can get very large when snapshots and history is enabled

Debugging can be done via the log files:

\Microsoft SQL Server\<SQL Server Instance>\Reporting Services\LogFiles\ReportServerService_<timestamp>.log

Managing Reports

You should also think about enabling:

Cached Instances Enhances speed of processing by caching dataCached data expires

Report SnapshotsSchedule automated execution of reportAllows for static parameters to be usedMust use stored credentials

Report HistoryKeep copy of the report at that moment in time for historical purposes

Lab 1: Reporting Services

Integrate SQL Server Reporting Services

Lab 2: Reporting Services

Create a Report

Explore integration features

Lab 3: Automating Reports

Create and Execute Report Schedules

Review

Your instructor will ask a series of questions on this module

Summary

Reporting Services integrates seamlessly with SharePoint

RDL files can be rendered directly from SharePoint Lists or web parts

All the features of Reporting Services standalone are available via the Reporting Services add-in for SharePoint