www.it-ebooks.info Professional SQL Server ® Reporting Services Paul Turley Todd Bryant James Counihan George McKee Dave DuVarney Wiley Publishing, Inc. 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page iii www.it-ebooks.info 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page ii www.it-ebooks.info Professional SQL Server ® Reporting Services 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page i www.it-ebooks.info 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page ii www.it-ebooks.info Professional SQL Server ® Reporting Services Paul Turley Todd Bryant James Counihan George McKee Dave DuVarney Wiley Publishing, Inc. 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page iii www.it-ebooks.info Professional SQL Server ® Reporting Services Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 0-7645-6878-7 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis- sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8700. Address requests to the Publisher for permission to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4447, Email: permcoordinator@wiley.com. For general information on our other products and services or for technical support, contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley logo, Wrox, the Wrox logo, Programmer to Programmer, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Microsoft SQL Server is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page iv www.it-ebooks.info About the Authors Paul Turley Paul is an instructor for Netdesk Corporation in Seattle. As a consultant, he has worked with Microsoft Consulting Services on enterprise-scale development projects and has created reporting solutions using Crystal Reports, Active Reports, and Access. Since 1988, he has managed IT projects, designed and programmed applications using Visual Basic 3, 4, 5, 6, ASP.NET, ADO.NET, and SQL Server. He obtained his MCSD certification in 1996. Other certifications include MCDBA, IT Project+ and Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) Practitioner. He designed and maintains www.Scout-Master.com, a web-based service that enables Boy Scout units to manage their membership and advancement records online using ASP.NET, SQL Server 2000, and Reporting Services. Paul has been a contributing author on books and articles including Professional Access 2000 Programming, Beginning Access 2002 VBA, and SQL Server Data Warehousing with Analysis Services from WROX Press. My deepest appreciation goes to my wife, Sherri, and our children: Josh, Rachael, Sara, and Krista for their support and understanding while barricading myself in my office for four months. Thanks to Todd Shelton, Lance Baldwin, and the rest of the Netdesk team for supporting our efforts and putting up with this madness. For their contributions, special thanks to: Tommy Joseph, Disney Internet Group; Andrew Bryan, Dundas Software; Dennis Higgins, Strafford Technology; Mario Raia, Combined IQ. Paul Turley contributed Chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 14, and Appendices D and E to this book. Todd Bryant Todd has been creating custom data-focused applications and reporting solutions since the early eighties. He began using Microsoft technologies in 1998 and the love affair began. Todd has been contract programming, teaching, and developing custom courseware every since. He is currently working as a trainer at Netdesk Corporation, where he concentrates on Enterprise Solutions, Com+ Services, and Object Oriented Programming using both VB.NET and C#. His certifications include the MCSD, MCSE, MCDBA, and MCT certifications from Microsoft, the CNA certification from Novell, and both CompTIA's A+ and CTT+. I would like to thank my parents Janice, Gary, and Abby for believing in me. I was not always who I am today. Secondly, I would like to thank my daughter Ali for putting joy in my life, Christine for showing me love, and Tommy and Stephanie for teaching me the true meaning of the word compromise. Lastly, I would like to thank the Lord above who placed so many good people in my life and made all this possible. Todd Bryant contributed Chapters 11 and 12 and Appendix C to this book. 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page v www.it-ebooks.info James Counihan James started working with databases and reporting applications when doing research for the government back in 1979. Since then his program management and development experience has been primarily in the retail and energy industries. He's been teaching development courses at Netdesk Corporation in Seattle for the past three years, focusing on integrating LOB applications using Microsoft application servers and web services. Thanks to my wife and family. It was only with their understanding and support that I was able to participate in this project. With my deepest love and appreciation, thank you! James Counihan contributed Chapters 6 and 8 and Appendix B to this book. George McKee George McKee is a Solution Developer for Avanade Inc., a Seattle-based integrator for Microsoft technology that's a joint venture between Accenture Ltd. and Microsoft. George specializes in the in- house financial systems of Avanade. He has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and has been using computers and databases to resolve technical and business problems for 25 years. George has MCAD and MCSD certifications. When not sitting in front of a computer, George likes to be found in backcountry skiing in the Washington Cascade Mountains. He can be reached via email at georgem@avanade.com. I would like to thank my wife Becky for tolerating various forms of computing at meal times and my physical and mental absence from many family activities while writing this book. My children (George Jr., Ben, Rosie, and Emily) deserve an honorable mention for patience with my generally distracted interest in their activities during the production of this book. George McKee contributed Chapter 13 and Appendix A to this book. Dave DuVarney Dave DuVarney is a Senior Consultant at Aspirity, LLC where he provides consulting and training services in the fields of business intelligence and software development. He brings over 5 years of finance, programming, and development methodologies experience to high technology business intelligence solutions. Prior to joining Aspirity, Dave was a development instructor teaching a wide range of Microsoft technologies. Dave also spent his early career working for a Seattle-based CPA firm. When Dave is not working, he enjoys running. At the time of publishing, he is training for his first full marathon. I would like to thank my wife, Stephanie, for all the love and support she has provided in this process. I would also like to thank my parents, Marcus and Trudy, for giving me the opportunities that have helped me succeed in life. Dave DuVarney contributed Chapters 2 and 9 to this book. 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page vi www.it-ebooks.info Authors Paul Turley Todd Bryant James Counihan George McKee Dave DuVarney Acquisitions Editors Sharon Cox Katie Mohr Vice President and Executive Group Publisher Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher Robert Ipsen Vice President and Publisher Joseph B. Wikert Executive Editorial Director Mary Bednarek Editorial Manager Kathryn A. Malm Production Editor Pamela Hanley Book Producer Peer Technical Services Pvt. Ltd. Credits 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page vii www.it-ebooks.info [...]... Carlson SQL Server Reporting Services Product, Unit Manager, Microsoft Jason Carlson is the Product Unit Manager for SQL Server Reporting Services He joined Microsoft in 1996 as a Program Manger for Visual Source Safe and Repository In 1997, the Repository team joined SQL Server and Jason became the development manager for SQL Server Meta Data Services In 2001, he built a team and started work on V1 of Reporting. .. Deployment Strategies Architecture Review 443 443 Reporting Services Components Report Manager Report Organization Report Management Site Management Clients Report Designer Report Consumer Reporting Services Web Service Scale Up Scale Out Report Server Report Server Databases ReportServer ReportServerTempDB Reporting Services Components Illustrated Reporting Services Deployment Scenarios Small Deployment... charting and graphing technology under license to Microsoft for inclusion in SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services and is readying additional data visualization extensions for the next version of SQL Server, code-named 'Yukon' www.it-ebooks.info www.it-ebooks.info Contents Introduction xxvii Chapter 1: Getting Started with Reporting Services Who Is This Book for? Agility The Way We Were That Was Then, This... A Scenario Challenges of Existing Reporting Solutions How Does SQL Server Reporting Services Meet This Challenge? Business Intelligence Solutions Who Uses Reports and Why? Executive Leadership Managers Information Workers Customers Vendors and Partners 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 Reporting with Relational Data Reporting for Decision Support Data Warehouses The Reporting Lifecycle Report Delivery... expensive, with organizations forced to deploy robust reporting services only where the greatest gains could be realized Microsoft's longstanding objective of reducing information technology cost to spur adoption is again evident in the SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services licensing model This technology is licensed to anyone currently licensed for SQL Server 2000 and so essentially represents no additional... Finishing the Setup Scaling Up Reporting Services Report Server Credentials Server Configuration Files Configuring Using the Command Line Utility Administrative Issues 458 461 461 461 462 462 462 463 463 464 465 Database Space Requirements Backup and Restore Report Server Database Backup Encryption Key Backup Security Administration Report Server Site Report Server Items Server Monitoring Execution Log... Appendix E: Configuration Files 557 XML Basics Configuration Files 557 558 The RSReportServer.config File The RSWebApplication.config File The ReportingServicesService.exex.config File The RSReportDesigner.config File xxvi www.it-ebooks.info 558 559 560 560 Introduction SQL Server Reporting Services is a serious reporting platform that delivers real business intelligence to knowledge workers and business... application The impressive part is the underlying architecture that makes SQL Reporting Services a fully scalable and extensible solution that is also surprisingly easy to work with If you are impressed by the capabilities of the NET Framework, web services, SQL Server, and ASP.NET, you should know that by using these technologies Reporting Services takes data accessibility to the next level Microsoft is making... dramatically increase the adoption and distribution of detailed, accurate, and timely reporting and will push quality BI even further down into the Enterprise In this excellent book, the authors walk us through SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services from the basics of practical reporting through deployment and management of reporting solutions written for BI Solution architects, designers and developers; it... Reports Designing and Architecting Report Solutions Summary 27 27 27 Chapter 2: Reporting Services Architecture The Reporting Lifecycle 29 30 Authoring Management Delivery 30 30 31 Reporting Services Features 31 Visual Studio NET 2003 Integration Query Designer Server Explorer Visual Source Safe Report Designer Report Server Features Central Report Storage Security Report Delivery 31 31 31 32 32 32 . ii www.it-ebooks.info Professional SQL Server ® Reporting Services 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page i www.it-ebooks.info 68787_finalFM.qxp 26/03/2004 3:49 PM Page ii www.it-ebooks.info Professional SQL Server ® Reporting. hope) more fun. Jason Carlson SQL Server Reporting Services Product, Unit Manager, Microsoft Jason Carlson is the Product Unit Manager for SQL Server Reporting Services. He joined Microsoft in 1996. ASP.NET, SQL Server 2000, and Reporting Services. Paul has been a contributing author on books and articles including Professional Access 2000 Programming, Beginning Access 2002 VBA, and SQL Server