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Table of Contents

OVERVIEW ......................................................................................1

ARCHITECTURE................................................................................2

REPORTING LIFE CYCLE...................................................................3

SSRS FEATURES...............................................................................4

ADVANTAGES OF SSRS.....................................................................5

SUMMARY.........................................................................................6

USEFUL LINKS..................................................................................7

SAMPLE APPLICATION REFERENCE...................................................8

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Overview :

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.

The Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services, popularly known by its acronym SSRS,
provides all that is necessary to create and manage reports and deploy them on a report server
with output available in several document formats. In Visual Studio .NET IDE it was supported via
Business Intelligence Project Type and presently it is an integral part of MS SQL Server 2005
accessed via SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio.

SSRS is a extensible reporting platform, which includes an integrated set of processing


components, programmatic interfaces, and tools. Processing components are the basis for the
multilayered architecture of SSRS and interact with each other to retrieve data, process layout,
render, and deliver a report to a target destination. SSRS supports two categories of components:

• Processors— Ensure integrity of SSRS and supply an infrastructure that enables developers
to add a new functionality (extensions). Processors itself are not extendable in this release
of SSRS.

• Extensions— Assemblies that are invoked by processors and perform specific processing
functionality, such as data retrieval. Developers can write custom extensions.

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Architecture :

SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services is a server-based reporting platform that you can use
to create and manage tabular, matrix, graphical, and free-form reports that contain data from
relational and multidimensional data sources. The reports that you create can be viewed and
managed over a World Wide Web-based connection.

SQL Server Reporting Services supports a wide range of common data sources, such as
OLE DB and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC), as well as multiple output formats such as
familiar Web browsers and Microsoft Office System applications. Using Microsoft Visual Studio®
.NET and the Microsoft .NET Framework, developers can leverage the capabilities of their existing
information systems and connect to custom data sources, produce additional output formats, and
deliver to a variety of devices.

Reporting Services includes the following core components:

Client Applications :

SSRS includes a number of client applications that use the SSRS programming interface,
namely its Web service Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and URL access methods to
provide front-end tools for users to access SSRS reports and report objects. These tools provide
management, configuration, and report rendering functionality.
The tools are as follows:

 Report Manager: This browser-based application ships with SSRS and provides a graphical
interface for users who view or print reports or manage report objects for their workgroups
or departments.

 Business Intelligence Development Studio: Business Intelligence Development Studio


provides an integrated environment for development of SSRS reports.

 Configuration Tool: Previously, SSRS relied on command line utilities or modifying config
files directly for changing many of the properties of the SSRS SSRS for SQL Server 2005
includes a new tool designed specifically to change many of these properties in a graphical
environment.

 Command line utilities: You can use several tools to configure and manage the SSRS
environment, including rs, rsconfig, rskeymgmt, and rsactivate.

 Custom applications: These VB.NET Windows Forms and web applications call the SSRS
Web service to perform such tasks as report rendering and report object management.
SSRS includes sample application projects that you can compile and run to extend the
functionality provided by the main tools listed earlier.

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SSRS Report Server :

The SSRS report server, where both the SSRS Web service and ReportServer Windows
service are installed, plays the most important role in the SSRS model. Working in the middle, it’s
responsible for every client request, either to render a report or to perform a management
request, such as creating a subscription. The report server itself can be broken down into several
subcomponents by their function:

• Programming Interface
• Report processing
• Accessing data sources
• Report rendering
• Report scheduling and delivery

SSRS Database :

Two databases are created as part of the SSRS installation: ReportServer and
ReportServerTempDB. These databases each serve a distinct purpose, the primary one
beingReportServer, which stores all the information related to reports, report objects such as data
sources, and report parameters. ReportServer also stores folder hierarchy and report execution
log information. ReportServerTempDB’s main purpose is to house cached copies of reports that
you can use to increase performance for many simultaneous users. By caching reports to a
nonvolatile storage mechanism, such as the ReportServerTempDB, cached copies of reports
remain available to users even if the report server is restarted. Database administrators can use
standard tools to back up and restore these two databases.

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Reporting Life Cycle :

SQL Server Reporting Services supports the full reporting life cycle, including:

 Report authoring: Report developers can create reports to be published to a report


server by using Microsoft or other design tools that use Report Definition Language (RDL),
an XML-based industry standard used to define reports.

 Report management: Report definitions, folders, and resources are published and
managed as a Web service. Managed reports can be executed either on demand or on a
specified schedule, and are cached for consistency and performance. New in SQL Server
2005 Reporting Services, administrators can use SQL Server Management Studio to
organize reports and data sources, schedule report execution and delivery, and track
reporting history.

 Report delivery: SQL Server Reporting Services supports both on-demand (pull) and
event-based (push) delivery of reports. Users can view reports in a Web-based format or in
e-mail.

 Report security: SQL Server Reporting Services implements a flexible, role-based


security model to protect reports and reporting resources. The product includes extensible
interfaces for integrating other security models as well.

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SSRS Features :

 Relational, multidimensional, XML, and custom data sources Build reports using
data from any data source type that has a Microsoft .NET Framework-managed data
provider, OLE DB provider, or ODBC data source. You can create reports that use relational
and multidimensional data from SQL Server and Analysis Services, Oracle, Hyperion, and
other databases. You can use an XML data processing extension to retrieve data from any
XML data source. You can use table-valued functions to design custom data sources.

 Ad hoc reports Create and save reports on the fly and save them locally or publish them
directly to a report server or SharePoint site, where they can be managed like other
reports. Ad hoc reporting is supported through report models and report templates using a
ClickOnce application called Report Builder.

 Drillthrough reports and interactivity Add interactive features by providing links to


subreports and drillthrough reports. Use parameters to filter data for customized views.
Model-based reports provide infinite clickthrough functionality so users can explore the
data that is available to them.

 Presentation formats Choose a presentation format when you open the report, or after
you open the report. You can choose Web-oriented, page-oriented, and desktop application
formats. Formats include HTML, MHTML, PDF, XML, CSV, TIFF, Word, and Excel.

 Custom controls and report items You can embed custom controls or report items that
you create or purchase from a third-party vendor. A custom control requires a custom
report processing extension. You can add scripted expressions in Microsoft Visual Basic.

 Navigation You can add bookmarks and document maps to provide navigation options
within a large report.

 Aggregations You can aggregate and summarize data using controls and expressions.

 Graphical elements You can embed or reference images and other resources, including
external content.

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Advantages of SSRS :

Dynamic HTML -

Reporting Services comes with a report viewer that works with any internet browser that
supports HTML 4.0. The report viewer provides a high-quality presentation of each report using
dynamic HTML. Dynamic HTML is useful because it does not require any additional programs
to be downloaded such as ActiveX controls or Java applets.

Report Formats -

Formatting and presentation options for Reporting Services include Adobe PDF, Tagged
Image File Format (TIFF), Microsoft Excel, Web Archive, and HTML. Even when the report is being
output to a printer, the database is re-queried thus assuring that the information on the printed
report is always up-to-date. In addition, there are two data exchange formats—Comma-Separated
Values (CSV) and XML.

Delivery Options -

There are several delivery options available for reporting service, which are managed
through the web-based Report Manager. Through this website, an administrator can schedule
reports to be delivered via email to an individual as well as a mailing list. These reports can either
be delivered hourly, weekly, or monthly. In addition, reports can be embedded directly in our .NET
application, such as our new CMS application.

Cost -

Free as long as the report server is installed on the same computer as the SQL Server database
engine.

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Summary :

This article is intended to share with the basic overview of SSRS and some of its basic
capabilities. This tutorial barely touches the rich possibilities of this reporting software, especially
those concerned with security, distribution, maintenance and API's. Microsoft bundled Crystal
Reports for use in reporting from early days of Visual Basic, but with the introduction of the fully
integrated reporting services of its own, this relationship may cease to exist.

Useful Links :

http://www.accelebrate.com/sql_training/ssrs_tutorial.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/Sqlserver/2005/en/us/reporting-services.aspx#repovr

Sample Application Reference :

Along with this document you will have sample application document reference as well,
where you can find the practical implementation of Reporting Services. To start with reporting
service you can check the application sample reference document posted on our forum along with
this document.

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