SQL Server Reporting Services
Configuring Background Colors Based on Multiple Factors In this article I’ll demonstrate how to change the background color of cells based on multiple conditions. First, I’ll start with a series of currency values. As you can see, the values will vary widely. The user of this report will receive many pages with these types of…
Please see my other Business Intelligence articles. SSRS is Microsoft’s reporting platform which was designed to deliver reports with robust features to support analytical decision-making and part of the Business Intelligence (BI) lifecycle (SQL Server, SQL Server Integration Service (SSIS), and SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS). For more information, read An Overview. SQL Server…
Business Intelligence (BI) encompasses leveraging descriptive and inferential statistical analysis upon massive organizational data stores to enable strategic decision-making. SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is the most-used tool for Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) operations inherent within BI solutions. SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) represents the most popular reporting platform,…
Providing rich formatting within text. Most reports require some type of rich formatting usually reserved for HTML. However, SSRS provides such formatting utilizing expressions. Drag a textbox onto the Report Designer. Resize the textbox to fit. Here it is with some formatting. After setting the textbox expression to display the current date/time, my textbox looks…
New features and updates to the latest version of Reporting Services. Here are just some of a few of my favorite improvements made to the 2008 release of SSRS. The most noticeable to me was the absence of the “Data” tab within the designer. Instead of having to click back and forth between tabs when…
Adding a graphic to the header of a report. Most reports require some sort of identifying header at the top of each page. While the header itself may be text, using a graphic provides a more polished look (though in my example I use a plain graphic). I’ll begin with the report created for the…
Providing control to the user to determine which records should be returned. As with most reports, reports might contain thousands of records, many of which the user doesn’t desire to view. To allow the user to decide upon a smaller subset of records, reports should be equipped with parameters commonly used with stored procedures. To…
Providing group totals within nested groups. Often a need arises with reports to group data. Grouping data provides the user with the ability to see records grouped based on shared values for certain fields, “Product Name” for example. As helpful as grouping may be, most people will need metrics to go along with those grouped…
Integrating multi-level groups within reports. Often within reports, a natural hierarchy reveals itself that if grouped properly, provides the user an efficient means for viewing large numbers of records while avoiding repeating values. To illustrate this feature, I’ll begin with an average report illustrating a company’s store demographics. As you can see, the first two…
Using SQL Server Reporting Services to generate form letters to users. As businesses grow, so does their customer base and the need to communicate with them. SSRS provides an easy way to automate the communication process by generated form letters utilizing user-based data from a centralized data source. In this example, I’ll begin with a…
TechMbaBi 