Tableau. Tableau is designed for a single user and
concentrates on data visualization rather than creating
standard reports. It’s more of a desktop BI tool than a
reporting tool and is most powerful when the end user is
gaining insight by directly manipulating data.
The standard version of Tableau can connect to data
stored in Microsoft Excel or Access or in text files. The
higher-end versions add connectivity to a more complete
list of database products, including SQL Server, SQL
Server Analysis Services (SSAS), Oracle, and DB2. When connecting to a data source, a simple,
almost automatic interface lets you
select and join multiple tables. Fields
are automatically split into dimensions
and measures, but you can move them
if they were initially miscategorized.
Tableau provides its visual analysis
capabilities through a self-contained
application that uses a drag-and-drop
interface to make creating and manipulating
tables and graphs simple. (It’s like
an Excel pivot table on steroids.) A short
tutorial video available on Tableau’s
Web site makes the intuitive interface
even easier to get started using, especially
for the nonprogrammer novice;
you can access this video from a popup
that opens the first time you start
the software. The overall experience
resembles a combination of Excel and
a Web browser, with tabbed worksheets
containing visualizations that save just
like in an Excel workbook, as well as
browser-like forward and back buttons
that allow simple navigation through
the various steps for building or drilling
down into a visualization. This flexible
navigation system encourages experimentation
and eliminates worry about
causing irreversible damage to a hardbuilt
chart.
Tableau’s “Show Me!” feature lets
you automatically generate a view of
data by just selecting fields to analyze.
Although the initial results might not
provide the best view of your data,
this feature is sophisticated enough to
make a good guess—and the “Show
Me! Alternatives” feature allows a bit
more control over the type of visualization
created while still providing an easy path from
data to visualization. This feature is powerful for quickly
obtaining insight into data and can be a useful tool for
reporting novices to gain an understanding of how a
report is built. Because the generated visualizations are
just regular Tableau pages, the Show Me! feature can
provide a good starting point even if you know exactly
how you want a report set up.
It’s no coincidence that Tableau continues to win
numerous awards, including a SQL Server Magazine
2007 Editor’s Choice award. Tableau’s features and ease
of use make the product easy to recommend. The almost
instant insight into data, even in the hands of a novice, is
a powerful tool.
Automation Utilities
Although SSRS includes some built-in features for generating
and exporting reports, third-party utilities expand
those capabilities. The automation utility I tested is ChristianSteven
Software’s SQL-RD.
SQL-RD. SQL-RD is unique in this group in that it
doesn’t directly affect the content of your reports, but
rather how you work with existing reports. It’s basically a
set of utilities that includes an advanced scheduler and a
report exporter that supports a multitude of formats.
Although at first glance you might dismiss these features
as functionality already built into SSRS, the scheduling
tools in particular encompass a huge variety of additional
options and do a lot more than simply run reports. A
wizard lets you easily set up the scheduler to schedule
single reports or packages containing multiple reports with
the same destination. SQL-RD’s available export formats
include Word, Rich Text Format (RTF), Excel, HTML,
PDF, and comma-separated value (CSV). You can send
reports via file system, email (using any of a variety of
server types), ftp, fax, or even multiple printers at once.
SQL-RD also includes event-based and dynamic report
schedules. Event-based schedules can be triggered by file
system or database value changes. Dynamic schedules can
run a report multiple times with a range of values for an input parameter generated from a database field. This
option lets you run the entire set of possible parameterized
report instances for a given report with a single schedule.
Another handy feature is the ability to automatically save
a snapshot of the report data whenever a schedule is run.
This snapshot saves the actual data rather than just the
report contents, so reports can be produced again using
data from a prior run.
The administration application has an Outlook-style
interface that lets you view all of the configured schedules
and start creating new schedules of any of the available
types. After actually setting up a schedule, I can’t imagine
what other options could be added. The scheduler
includes event-triggered schedules, as well as standard
recurring time-based schedules, and lets you send an
individual report or a report package to multiple destinations
at once. You can run additional tasks before, during,
or after running the scheduled report, including starting
external applications, file system operations, and registry
or database settings—or even sending Microsoft Systems
Management Server (SMS) text messages.
Although on paper SQL-RD doesn’t seem to have a
huge number of features, the tool covers its niche very well
and can provide a lot of value. On the downside, many
of the more advanced scheduling features such as database
field event driven schedules are available only in the
higher-priced Enterprise Pro Plus and Corporate editions.
However, if SQL-RD fits your environment and you give
it a try, you won’t want to live without it afterward.
The Bottom Line
The tools I reviewed each have strengths in their target
environment. RSinteract is a very capable extension to
SSRS for those looking to ease Web report creation.
ApexSQL Report is a quick way to build Web reports if
you can stay within its constraints; however, ApexSQL is
a weaker competitor with SSRS than other products are,
and the tool definitely falls short of RSinteract’s added
value. Crystal Reports is a serious enterprise platform that
still manages to stay usable on a smaller scale and is also
the obvious choice for embedded reporting in applications.
SQL-RD provides unique functionality that could be a job
saver (or at least a stress saver) if you need more automation
than SSRS provides.
Despite the different focus of each of these tools and
their varying degrees of success in achieving their targets,
Tableau’s ease of use and powerful capabilities stood out
the minute I started using the product. This tool is firmly
focused on giving meaningful insight into data and is very
well executed. Probably the biggest surprise to me was that
it was fun to work with, which I can’t often say about a
reporting tool.
The importance of reporting to businesses will
undoubtedly continue to grow, assisted by the increasing
quality of reporting tools. The bottom line is that if you’re
still struggling with writing your own custom reporting
solution, or you’re using an outdated product, a variety of
capable tools are available to make your job easier.
End of Article
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