Report authoring. While improved report rendering
is all well and good, better report authoring capabilities
bring SQL Server 2008 SSRS to a new level of usability
for developers, power users, and end users looking
for easier report creation. Microsoft has been touting
the Tablix data region type, which features fixed and
dynamic columns and rows, arbitrary nesting on rows
and columns, optional omission of row or column
headers, and the ability to apply multiple parallel rows
and column members within the same report.
Report authoring data visualizations now have
better visual fidelity between formats and support for
rich report formats, such as tables and matrices. Enhanced
features include:
- Expression placeholder text. Expressions use
placeholder display text in text boxes on the report
design surface or in data regions.
- Expression-based parameter prompts. The
Prompt property for a report parameter can be an
expression.
- Processing-time variables. Variables that are global
throughout the report or local to a particular group
can be declared and referred to in expressions.
The Report Designer has also been upgraded with
features such as new query constructs to return all instances
in a recursive hierarchy. New query constructs
support functions such as Rank and Top N. The tool
has a new UI for obtaining grand totals, and it supports
cross-joins, which are required for common
analytic queries. SSRS business users have wanted
a more user-friendly version of the BI Development
Studio report designer tool. The SQL Server team
responded by creating a separate standalone report
designer outside of this tool.
Other enhanced features to help you design reports
include:
- Entity hierarchies that provide a flattened analyticstyle
metadata browser that presents all entities as
a flattened list.
- Live data in design view that allows display of
live data by using simple iteration of design-time
elements.
- Instances in metadata browser that extend the
metadata browser to include instance data.
- Filtering on the design surface that adds UI
elements for defining basic filter conditions directly
on the design surface.
- An interface that mirrors the Office 2007
products.
- Conditional formatting in response to
customer recommendations.
- Standalone deployment that helps address issues
that occur during Click-Once deployment.
- Built-in forms authentication that enables users to
easily switch between Windows and Forms.
- Report Server application embedding that enables
the URLs in reports and subscriptions to point
back to front-end applications.
SQL Server 2008 BI—Is It for
Your Organization?
As I’ve mentioned earlier, I see scalability and performance
as the most significant areas of improvement
in SQL Server 2008. Reports run faster, various queries
can execute faster, and writebacks in SSAS are
faster. A handful of brand-new capabilities, such as
the Data Profiler in SSIS, may also make you think
seriously about migration. Overall, SQL Server 2008
is an evolutionary upgrade which provides a better
performing BI platform.
End of Article
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