SQL Server Magazine

Developers have always had a multitude of options for creating SQL Server reports. However, as the need for reporting and business intelligence (BI) has expanded, so has the need for business end users to create their own reports and visualizations. Although SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) opened up reporting to a whole new audience that hadn’t employed reporting tools before, in many organizations creating reports for SSRS is still often the domain of the developer. In many cases, having the business user handle reporting directly is an advantage because end users know the real meaning of the information that’s extracted from the data.

Numerous products are starting to address this need. Some products integrate with SSRS, whereas others provide their own infrastructure for managing reports. You might be interested in one of these products if you’ve used SSRS but want to extend its native functionality. I evaluated five products that target end-user rather than just developer reporting. I separated the tools into three categories: Web report builders that provide online-only access, standalone client reporting tools that employ Windows applications for creating reports, and automation utilities.

Web Report Builders
Web report builders provide online-only access. The products I reviewed include RSinteract and ApexSQL Report.

RSinteract. Independent Computer Systems’ (ICS’s) RSinteract is an add-on to SSRS that provides an alternative environment for building reports. It’s a “zero-footprint” application, running completely within Internet Explorer (IE) and requiring no downloads or client installations. RSinteract makes building reports simpler than using SSRS’s standard Report Builder but still manages to retain the flexibility of a more complex designer.

When RSinteract installs it integrates into SSRS, sharing the same report directory structure. The tool creates its own Active Directory (AD) groups to separately regulate access to its Web interface, but you can still use the standard SSRS interface to view the reports that RSinteract creates. RSinteract’s data sources are separate from those in the SSRS data sources folder and are generated through an administration console (run on the server as a Windows application) by specifying the server type and a connection string. Unlike SSRS’s data models, which need to be maintained independently from the data, RSinteract’s data sources point directly to the database, so they stay current after table changes. When you create a new report, you must select a single data source—although you can choose multiple joined tables, a stored procedure, or a custom SQL statement to provide whatever data the report needs. Unfortunately, RSinteract doesn’t include an editor query builder to write or edit custom SQL.

Although RSinteract outputs standard reports that run in SSRS, the report design interface is much different than SSRS’s Report Builder. RSinteract uses Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (Ajax) to enable a smooth drag-anddrop interface in the browser for creating table, matrix, and chart reports. The actual report, rather than a design surface or preview, displays while you’re working, providing instant feedback and allowing for experimentation and quick changes while building reports. A floating dialog inside the browser window contains all of the report’s settings and lets you immediately apply changes to the report without closing the dialog. One drawback to RSinteract’s interface is its method of displaying fields: Instead of labeling dimensions and measures or field data types, the tool displays a single list of all fields by name only.

Because RSinteract integrates with SSRS, you can use either environment to view RSinteract reports. You can use the tool’s normal report view at any time to directly edit reports that you created through RSinteract. You can’t use RSinteract to edit existing SSRS reports.

Overall, RSinteract is an excellent online tool that makes report building more accessible to the business end user. The straightforward interface and WYSIWYG designer make RSinteract much more approachable than standard report creation tools, and the product’s responsiveness almost makes you forget it’s a Web application. (see Figure 2)

[Editor’s Note: At press time, the vendor indicated that an updated version of RSinteract would be available in October.]

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