SQL Server Reporting Services
Encyclopedia
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is a server-based report generation software system from Microsoft
. It can be used to prepare and deliver a variety of interactive and printed reports. It is administered via a web
interface. Reporting services features a web services interface to support the development of custom reporting applications.
SSRS competes with Crystal Reports
and other business intelligence tools
, and is included in Developer, Standard, and Enterprise editions of Microsoft SQL Server
as an install option. Reporting Services was first released in 2004 as an add-on to SQL Server 2000. The second version was released as a part of SQL Server 2005 in November 2005. The latest version was released as part of SQL Server 2008 in August 2008.
Reports are defined in Report Definition Language
(RDL), an XML
markup language
. Reports can be designed using recent versions of Microsoft Visual Studio
, with the included Business Intelligence Projects plug-in installed or with the included Report Builder, a simplified tool that does not offer all the functionality of Visual Studio. Reports defined by RDL can be generated in a variety of formats including Excel
, PDF, CSV
, XML
, TIFF (and other image formats), and HTML Web Archive. SQL Server 2008 SSRS can also prepare reports in Microsoft Word
(DOC) format.
Third-party report generators offer additional output formats.
Users can interact with the Report Server web service directly, or instead use Report Manager, a web-based application that interfaces with the Report Server web service. With Report Manager, users can view, subscribe to, and manage reports as well as manage and maintain data sources and security settings. Reports can be delivered via e-mail or placed on a file system. Security
is role-based
and can be assigned on an individual item, such as a report or data source, a folder of items, or site wide. Security roles and rights are inherited and can be overloaded.
In addition to using the standalone Report Server that comes with SQL Server, RDL reports can also be viewed using the ASP.NET
ReportViewer web control or the ReportViewer Windows Forms
control. This allows reports to be embedded directly into web pages or .NET Windows applications
. The ReportViewer control processes reports in one of two ways: (a) server processing, where the report is rendered by and obtained from the Report Server; and (b) local processing, where the control renders the RDL file itself.
SQL Server Reporting Services also support ad hoc reports: the designer develops a report schema and deploys it on the reporting server, where the user can choose relevant fields/data and generate reports. Users can then download the reports locally.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. It can be used to prepare and deliver a variety of interactive and printed reports. It is administered via a web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
interface. Reporting services features a web services interface to support the development of custom reporting applications.
SSRS competes with Crystal Reports
Crystal Reports
-External links:*****Reviews:****...
and other business intelligence tools
Business intelligence tools
Business intelligence tools are a type of application software designed to retrieve, analyze and report data. The tools generally read data that have been previously stored, often, though not necessarily, in a data warehouse or data mart....
, and is included in Developer, Standard, and Enterprise editions of Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft SQL Server is a relational database server, developed by Microsoft: It is a software product whose primary function is to store and retrieve data as requested by other software applications, be it those on the same computer or those running on another computer across a network...
as an install option. Reporting Services was first released in 2004 as an add-on to SQL Server 2000. The second version was released as a part of SQL Server 2005 in November 2005. The latest version was released as part of SQL Server 2008 in August 2008.
Reports are defined in Report Definition Language
Report Definition Language
Report Definition Language is a standard proposed by Microsoft for defining reports.RDL is an XML application primarily used with Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services. RDL is usually written using Visual Studio, although there are also third-party tools; it may also be created or edited by...
(RDL), an XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
markup language
Markup language
A markup language is a modern system for annotating a text in a way that is syntactically distinguishable from that text. The idea and terminology evolved from the "marking up" of manuscripts, i.e. the revision instructions by editors, traditionally written with a blue pencil on authors' manuscripts...
. Reports can be designed using recent versions of Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Visual Studio
Microsoft Visual Studio is an integrated development environment from Microsoft. It is used to develop console and graphical user interface applications along with Windows Forms applications, web sites, web applications, and web services in both native code together with managed code for all...
, with the included Business Intelligence Projects plug-in installed or with the included Report Builder, a simplified tool that does not offer all the functionality of Visual Studio. Reports defined by RDL can be generated in a variety of formats including Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
, PDF, CSV
Comma-separated values
A comma-separated values file stores tabular data in plain-text form. As a result, such a file is easily human-readable ....
, XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
, TIFF (and other image formats), and HTML Web Archive. SQL Server 2008 SSRS can also prepare reports in Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
(DOC) format.
Third-party report generators offer additional output formats.
Users can interact with the Report Server web service directly, or instead use Report Manager, a web-based application that interfaces with the Report Server web service. With Report Manager, users can view, subscribe to, and manage reports as well as manage and maintain data sources and security settings. Reports can be delivered via e-mail or placed on a file system. Security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
is role-based
Role-Based Access Control
In computer systems security, role-based access control is an approach to restricting system access to authorized users. It is used by the majority of enterprises with more than 500 employees, and can be implemented via mandatory access control or discretionary access control...
and can be assigned on an individual item, such as a report or data source, a folder of items, or site wide. Security roles and rights are inherited and can be overloaded.
In addition to using the standalone Report Server that comes with SQL Server, RDL reports can also be viewed using the ASP.NET
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is a Web application framework developed and marketed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic Web sites, Web applications and Web services. It was first released in January 2002 with version 1.0 of the .NET Framework, and is the successor to Microsoft's Active Server Pages ...
ReportViewer web control or the ReportViewer Windows Forms
Windows Forms
Windows Forms is the name given to the graphical application programming interface included as a part of Microsoft .NET Framework, providing access to native Microsoft Windows interface elements by wrapping the extant Windows API in managed code...
control. This allows reports to be embedded directly into web pages or .NET Windows applications
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
. The ReportViewer control processes reports in one of two ways: (a) server processing, where the report is rendered by and obtained from the Report Server; and (b) local processing, where the control renders the RDL file itself.
SQL Server Reporting Services also support ad hoc reports: the designer develops a report schema and deploys it on the reporting server, where the user can choose relevant fields/data and generate reports. Users can then download the reports locally.
External links
- Microsoft SQL Server: Reporting Services home page
- Microsoft SQL Server: Reporting Services resources page
- DNR TV: Reporting Services Part A
- DNR TV: Reporting Services Part B
- DNR TV: Reporting Services Part C
- SSRS with Visual Basic and Visual C#
- SSRS in your ASP.Net application
- PHP SSRS SDK
- Creating a Java proxy for SSRS