ApexSQL Report. All the ApexSQL products,
including ApexSQL Report, are built specifically for SQL
Server. Like RSinteract, ApexSQL Report provides a Web
interface for creating and managing reports but doesn’t
depend on SSRS. ApexSQL Report is built on ASP.NET
so it runs directly in the browser like RSinteract, with the
only exception being its Flash-generated charts. For evaluation
purposes, ApexSQL provides a hosted demo installation
on their Web site that you can use to create reports
against a sample database. The interface consists of a
treeview that displays all of the available reports, which
you can organize into folders, and tab navigation to access
additional report editing and administration functions.
ApexSQL Report attaches to a single database at installation
and can access other databases only through calls
from the stored procedures being used. Unlike SSRS’s
data models and RSinteract’s data sources, ApexSQL
Report can access data only through stored procedures
that exist in the attached database, and the tool allows only
a single procedure to be used per report. Stored procedure
text can be viewed, but not edited, in the report wizard
that creates the reports.
ApexSQL Report’s main strength lies in its simplicity.
If the report you need is a basic display of data coming
from a stored procedure, the tool can help you quickly
create an interactive report that’s instantly Web deployed.
Another selling point is integration of FusionCharts (for
which a development license is included) to generate the
tool’s Flash charts and graphs.
I ran into a few problems while testing ApexSQL
Report. First, during the otherwise simple installation,
I had to hesitate at the somewhat ominous check box
option that simply says “Do not make changes to the database.”
The installation instructions confirm that because
ApexSQL Report writes its own metadata directly into the
attached database (including some tables and stored procedures),
this option exists for upgrading existing installations.
This might be a problem if you’re hesitant to install
products that modify your production databases. I also
ran into trouble with ApexSQL Report’s internal stored
procedures failing when I connected the tool to a database
using case-sensitive collation. The biggest problem I had
with ApexSQL Report was browser incompatibility. The
interactive functionality of its reports relies on drag and
drop, which in the current version of the product is fully
supported in IE 6.0—but I couldn’t get it to work with
either IE 7.0 or Firefox.
Support for ApexSQL Report is provided primarily
through forums at the company’s Web site. The forums
seem to be pretty well monitored and on par with
Microsoft’s forums (take that as a positive or negative).
Responses can take hours or a few days.
At $599 per server license, ApexSQL Report is a bargain
if you have lots of users or reports. However, I don’t
recommend the product over RSinteract unless you’re on a
very tight budget. ApexSQL Report’s niche is now mostly
occupied by SSRS itself; the tool needs some additions
before I’d suggest choosing it instead of just using SSRS.
Standalone Client Reporting
Standalone client reporting tools use Windows applications
to create reports. The products I tested include
Crystal Reports Developer Edition and Crystal Reports
Server XI, as well as Tableau.
Crystal Reports. Crystal Reports has been around for
a long time and has grown into the de facto reporting
platform for enterprise applications. Just reading through
the long list of supported platforms gives you an idea of
how expansive this product is. It’s the only product in this
group that provides support for Linux and Java environments
and can connect to almost any database platform
or other data source. In addition to its capabilities as an embedded platform for applications, its standalone report
designer is a capable environment for building, viewing,
and exporting reports.
Whereas the other report creation products in this
group typically rely on drag and drop of fields from your
data source to create reports in mostly precreated formats,
Crystal Reports’ designer operates more like SSRS’s Report
Builder. It starts with a blank page and lets you build a
report however you choose. This method can obviously be
more involved than using tools with prestructured formats
for basic reports but also allows a huge amount of flexibility
in creating exactly the look and layout you want.
The Crystal Reports interface is set up like Microsoft
Visual Studio, with lots of toolbars and dockable tool
windows. An abundance of “Experts” (i.e., wizards) are
available through menus and toolbar buttons to assist
in creation of everything from charts to sorting. The
Workbench window lets you group multiple individual
reports into projects. A preview window renders the
current report, to assist in report design or just as a live
report viewer. You can export reports from the designer
to a multitude of formats, including PDF and HTML.
Crystal Reports XI is available in a new server version
that adds automation and online delivery options. Reports
can be published to the server and run on schedules, with
results made available for viewing or download from the
browser. The server version setup is definitely not as quick
and simple as for other products in this category. Installation
is more involved because the product supports so
many platforms—however, setup for a product of this
size is typically handled by the IT department rather than
the developer or end user, as might be the case for other
products in this group. (see Figure 5)
If you’re in a large, heterogeneous organization that
needs an enterprise-class cross-platform reporting solution,
Crystal Reports is made for you. The product is well
suited to embedding reports in applications, and the new
server version lets you distribute reports out of the box.
Although Crystal Reports doesn’t require in-depth technical
knowledge, it’s probably still too complex a solution
if you’re just looking for a simple tool that lets business
end users create their own reports.
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