First understanding of SSRs-a series of steps to the report Service (1)

What is SQL Server reporting services?

 

Your manager stepped out of the elevator and headed straight toward you. He has never been to the DBA's office before. You give him a suspicious glance, and then start hitting the keyboard frantically, hoping that he will blame the problem on the computer.

He casually walked up to your desk and said, "The boss asked me to write a report on how much rain would rain on the Spanish plain to the CEO.

It's too late to escape. Remember the last time your manager received a task from the boss, you added a full monthly shift.

As he threw a thick piece of information into your desk, he gave a bang. You understand what you are worried about becomes a reality ." This is an online series of SQL Server reporting services. I hope to get this report on Friday. "You feel like your eyes are sending dead rays to the back of his departure. What should I do now?

Well, dear dBA, you should check sqlservercentral'sSSRs in a flashSeries (that is, this series). The next SSRsArticleAll aspects of SSRs will be discussed from the perspective of learning to establish and distribute reports. Next, let's start to discuss what is reporting services and how to use it.

 

What is SQL Server reporting services?

SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), an enterprise-level Microsoft report platform, is part of the Microsoft Bi suite, just like SQL server integration service and SQL Server Analysis Services. Although SSRS is well integrated with other Microsoft bi products, it is easy to integrate SSRs with other platform products. The SQL Server Report function allows you to create, distribute, and manage reports. An SSRs report is shown in 1-1:

Figure 1-1 SSRs report example

 

SSRs can be used to write reports at any level of an enterprise. Analysts, managers, and CEOs use these reports to view information and different types of statistical analysis to make their work more efficient and accurate. Different departments can share a person's analysis report, rather than sinking the data into a department's warehouse. SSRs provides multiple options to bring the customer experience to the next level.

 

What can we do with SSRs reports?

 

SSRs reports allow users to capture, operate, and browse data in different ways. You can query and view data from multiple data sources, including SQL Server and SQL Server Analysis Service. of course, developers can customize data sources through ole db and ODBC provider to capture information from other systems. The query language depends on the specific provider, including different SQL implementations and MDX.

When data is ready for SSRS, developers can use report tools, tables and textbox to display data in different forms. Data can be sorted, grouped, or operated based on the number of expressions and attributes of the report tool. Developers can also present data in a visual manner. Including charts and scales.

SSRs provides two report designers: Business Intelligence Development Studio (bids) and report builder. developers usually use bids, while business analysts often use report builder. you can see the bids development environment in Figure 1-2.

Figure 1-2 Business Intelligence Development Studio development environment

 

After the report is designed and released, you can use the reports developed by developers. To meet this requirement, SSRs reports can be generated in HTML, Excel, PDF, or other formats. After a report is generated, you can flip the page and export the report to another format. Or, change the parameters and generate a report again.

The complete SSRs platform consists of multiple modules so that developers and users can deliver and manage reports.

 

What modules does SSRs use?

 

The module used by SSRs depends on the integration mode configured. SSRs uses either of the following modes: SharePoint integration mode and local mode. SharePoint integration mode allows SSRs to store reports, report entries, and metadata into Sharepoint. In addition to SSRS and Sharepoint, you also need to install an additional plug-in to integrate these two products. In local mode, you only need an SQL server instance to store the required information.

Next, let's discuss the three modules required for SSRs configuration in Local Mode:

• Report Database)
• Report Server)
• Report Manager)

The report database stores the report metadata, report entries, and SSRs security information. This database does not need to be SQL Server, and has different formats based on your configuration and whether it is a Sharepoint integration mode. This database can be on the same server as the SSRs instance, or on other SQL Server servers.

The Report Server is used to manage SSRs reports. This is the windwos service and Web Service used to process reports. These functions include generating reports, displaying report entries, and planning reports.

The report manager is a Web application on the Report Server.ProgramInterface. Administrators can use this tool to manage report access permissions and storage locations. Developers can deploy reports and manage user subscriptions to reports.

After reading the composition module of SSRs, let's look at the different roles that use SSRs.

 

Who uses SSRs?

 

The elegance of SSRS is that all employees of a company can obtain valuable information from reports. From DBA to CEO to Business Analyst, every employee can benefit from SSRs reports. Let's look at some scenarios that can benefit from SSRs.

 

Scenario 1: dashboard

A dashboard displays the business status of a company based on data that the company deems important. The SSRs dashboard displays trend data and KPIs. The company's decision makers can view the dashboard to identify the exact problem of the company. By viewing the problematic KPI, the decision maker can pass the information to the manager. With SSRS, company decision makers and managers can view information at any time. After obtaining this information, the company can fix these problems.

 

Scenario 2: instant analysis

Business analysts spend a lot of time dealing with data. They obtain and integrate data from various sources. Then analyze the data. All of this provides answers to business questions with a sense of urgency. These problems may change at any time. Therefore, the faster you can answer these questions, the better. In SSRS, analysts can easily capture and display data, and export the data to other formats for distribution.

 

Scenario 3: Management

Finally, do not forget DBA. As the SSRs administrator, DBA must configure access permissions for users who can view reports and who can view reports. DBA can view server statistics, database health, and execution time through reports. DBA can use SSRs to create their own reports to view who is reading the SSRs report, or use report manager to manage SSRs instances. Report Manager 1-3:

Figure 1-3 Report Manager

 

How do you write an SSRs report for your boss?

So far, we have seen what SSRs can provide to developers, DBAs, and end users. We also learned the benefits and application scenarios of SSRs. We also see the composition module of SSRS and how to manage the Report Server. Now we have a good understanding of the significance of SSRs.

This is not bad, but you still have a report to write. Soon, the boss was too eager to report, and the manager gave you this responsibility. Learn how to write this report. Next, let's take a look at the next chapter: SSRs Basics

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Translated by: careyson