The remaining sections of the tool pane are properties
common to all Web Parts. In the Appearance section, you
can give the Web Part a title and configure its size and
chrome (the title and border). The Layout section features
properties for changing the Web Part to a different zone
on the page and a different sequence within a zone when
multiple Web Parts occupy the same zone. Finally, in the
Advanced section, you can limit what users can do with
the Web Part, such as minimizing or hiding it.
Target Audience. You might also want to implement
the target audience property. By using a target audience
on Web Parts, you can build one dashboard page with
many elements and then enable specific Web Parts only
for members of the target audience. You can define the
audience as a group in the Global Audience, a distribution/
security group, or a SharePoint group. If a user who
has permission to view the page but is not a member of
the target audience opens the dashboard, that user doesn’t
see the targeted Web Part. The visible Web Parts are rearranged
to occupy the space of the missing Web Part.
Other Web Parts. When you have one or more SSRS
reports in the dashboard, you can start the first stage
of information integration by adding related content in
additional Web Parts. A popular Web Part is Excel Web
Access, which displays selected sections of an Excel 2007
workbook. You can also use Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs) to display graphical indicators based on data from
SharePoint lists, Excel, Analysis Services cubes, or manual
entry. If you plan to use PerformancePoint Server 2007
(PPS) for scorecards, you’ll be able to include a Web Part
for displaying the scorecard in your dashboard. You might
also want to implement a Business Data Catalog (BDC)
application on your MOSS server and use it to search and
display line-of-business (LOB) data alongside the summary
information captured in reports and workbooks.
Filters. You start the next stage of information integration
when you add Filter Web Parts to synchronize the
data that selected Web Parts display. You can use filters
only with some Web Parts: Excel Web Access, KPI List
(for KPIs based on Analysis Services 2005 data only),
BDC item or list, Report Viewer, and eventually Scorecard
Viewer. You connect these Web Parts to a common
Filter Web Part and define the source values for the filter.
Depending on how you configure the filter, the user can
type a value directly, which I don’t recommend, or select
from a list of values that you configure. This list of values
can be populated from a list that you build manually for
the filter, a SharePoint list or profile, an Analysis Services
query, a BDC, or a SQL query.
Let’s say you want to create a filter that connects to a
Report Viewer Web Part and a PivotTable filter in Excel
Web Access to change the information displayed to a different
year. Both your report and the Excel workbook must
have a parameter for year, although the parameters don’t
need to share the same name. You can create a parameter in
the workbook by naming the cell that displays the current
report filter. Then, when publishing the workbook to Excel
Services, use the Excel Services Options button to access a
dialog box that lets you select the named cell as a parameter.
After adding the workbook to an Excel Web Access Web
Part in the dashboard, click Add a Filter in the Filter Zone
on the far left side of the dashboard. Select the Filter Web
Part, and then after the Web Part is added to the page, open
its Edit menu, and click Modify Shared Web Part to set the
values for the filter. Each Filter Web Part has a different
way of configuring values for user selection, but it’s a very
straightforward process to set up.
To connect the filter to other Web Parts, open the
filter’s Edit menu, point to Connections, point to Send
Filter Values To, and then click the Report Viewer Web
Part. In the Configure Connection dialog box, select the
applicable report parameter, and click Finish. Repeat
these steps, but this time, select Excel Web Access. In the
Choose Connection dialog box, in the Connection Type
drop-down list, select Get Filter Values From, click Configure,
confirm that the year parameter is selected, and
click Finish. Be sure that the filter values you supply are
consistent with the format of the corresponding values in
the target Web Part or the filter will fail.
When you’re developing a dashboard, only you can
view it. You can check it in to change its mode so that
users authorized to view drafts can review your dashboard.
When you’ve finished developing the dashboard,
you can use the Submit for Approval button to start a
workflow or use the Publish button to make it available
to users with access to the library.
To verify the filter, open the dashboard, click the
Browse button to the right of the filter value, make a new
selection, and then click the Apply Filters button. The
connected Web Parts receive the same filter value and filter
the displayed information accordingly, as Web Figure 1
(InstantDoc ID 97071) shows. Notice that a user can set
a default parameter value for each Filter Web Part to
personalize the page.
Why Wait?
With this guide to installing, configuring, and deploying
the SSRS and MOSS integrated architecture and to implementing
MOSS’s new information-integration features,
you’re equipped to deliver a reporting environment that
supports better information access and integration across
your enterprise. Whether you use some or all of MOSS’s
information-integration features, the valuable integration
of SSRS and MOSS will help your business users find
what they need, analyze results, and share their insights
for better decision-making.
End of Article
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