Several
methods are available for delivering reports to users on demand or by
subscription. Most popular is the Report Manager interface described
earlier. You can embed reports in SharePoint Portal using the included
Web parts. Direct browser access is handled by URL parameters. There is
also a ReportViewer control that programmers can embed in ASP.NET or Windows Forms applications.
Delivery on Demand
Reports are available on demand through Report Manager and direct URL browser Web connections.
Report Manager
The
basic navigation concepts for Report Manager were described earlier.
Users navigate the folder namespace hierarchy or use the search prompt
to find the desired report. Folder and report items are presented as
single-click hyperlinks. Clicking a report runs the report with a
control toolbar at the top of the page. The toolbar has buttons for
paging, zooming, search, export, refresh, and printing, as shown in Figure 1.
The
search text box accepts a string. Entering the string enables the Find
and Next links, which help you search larger reports for a particular
phrase.
The
Print button loads a print preview ActiveX control that downloads from
the report server. You can set device properties, adjust margins, and
select page ranges.
If
the report requires parameters, a text box or drop-down list is
included on the toolbar for each parameter. Fill in the details or
select from the list. Click the View Report button to render the report
and see the Report Viewer toolbar. Some parameters are dependent on
each other, as described earlier. In this case, selecting from one list
fills the next.
The
Select A Format drop-down list works in conjunction with the Export
link to render reports in a variety of presentation formats.
SharePoint Web Parts
Two
SharePoint Web parts are included that enable folder navigation and
report viewing. These work with SharePoint Services or Portal Server.
The Web parts must be installed on the SharePoint server using the
Stsadm.exe utility. Report Manager must be installed and operational
because the Report Viewer Web part makes URL calls directly to this
site. If SharePoint and Reporting Services live on the same machine,
the Reporting Services virtual directories must be excluded from
SharePoint Services.
You
add the Web parts to a SharePoint page. You can use Report Viewer by
itself or in tandem with Report Explorer. In standalone mode, the
report server address and report path are entered in the Web part’s
Properties dialog box. You cannot enter required parameters. The report
runs automatically when the page is displayed and prompts you for the
parameters. If you want a page with the parameters preset, use a
PageViewer Web part and the URL access approach described next.
The
Report Explorer Web part can display the contents of a folder on the
report server. You can select a report and have it linked to a Report
Viewer Web part for display. Report Explorer also has links for
subscription management.
Browser URL Access
Instead
of navigating Report Manager, it might be preferable to display a
report directly in a browser window. This technique allows integration
with existing Web sites and forms applications using a browser control.
You can customize the report viewing and navigation experience by
including parameters in the URL phrase. You can also pass report and
query parameters in this fashion. The URL phrase is often used in a Web
page hyperlink that opens in a new target window or iframe.
Two sets of parameters are used to control navigation and viewing options. The viewer commands are prefixed with rc: and include Toolbar, Parameters, DocMap, Zoom, Find, Paging, and Stylesheets. The report server commands are prefixed with rs: and include Format, Language, and Snapshot. Samples of the URL syntax are shown in the URL Access programming sample.
ReportViewer Control
The ReportViewer control is part of the .NET Framework 2.0. It works in Windows Forms, as shown in Figure 2, and Web pages, as shown in Figure 3.
You can configure ReportViewer
to render a report locally or from a report server. Both use the same
basic rendering technology. The local client-based rendering relies on
an RDLC file included in the project. The report server method requires
a report server URL and a report path. Properties are set to configure
toolbar, navigation, and output options.
Subscriptions
You
can automate report delivery through subscription services. You can
link or attach a report to an e-mail message or save it to a file
share. You create subscriptions on the Subscription tab of a report;
they are summarized in the My Subscriptions link at the top of each
Report Manager page. Note that all subscriptions require cached
credentials in the report data source.
Once
this requirement is met, the New Subscription button on the
Subscription tab opens a page that prompts for the delivery method.
Report Server File Share is one option. If e-mail settings are
configured for the report server, the second option is Report Server
E-Mail. Custom delivery extensions are described at the end of this
chapter. They appear as additional delivery methods.
Subscriptions
must have a schedule. You can manually create a schedule for the report
or use a shared schedule maintained by an administrator in the Site
Settings area. A schedule can specify running once or repeating hourly,
daily, weekly, or monthly. Select the desired days and time. Start and
end dates limit the lifetime.
Subscriptions
are dependent on the SQL Reporting Services Windows service and the SQL
Server Agent service. Both must be running to successfully complete
your subscription.
E-Mail
The
e-mail delivery method creates a single e-mail message with a report
link or an attached file. Links are more efficient for internal
reporting and usually connect the user directly to Report Manager.
Attachments are appropriate for external mailings, typically in PDF or
XLS format. You can specify the To, Cc, Bcc, Subject, Priority, and
Body (comment). You are prompted for any required parameters at the
bottom of the form. Formatting support is limited. Highly stylized
messages require a custom delivery extension. The same is true for
multiple file attachments per message.
Shared Folder
The
folder delivery method creates a single file for each report. You enter
the path and select a report format. Credentials are required for
access to the file share. Options for overwrite and file versioning are
available.
Data-Driven Subscriptions
Data-driven
subscriptions can generate e-mails or shared folder files. The required
settings are provided by a database query. You can use a
subscription-specific or shared data source to host a query that
returns one row for each report that you want to generate. The columns
include names such as To, Cc, Bcc, Subject, filename, path,
render_format, and values for required report parameters. You map these
directly to the required settings.
This
method provides a lot of flexibility for customized report
distribution. You can create a sales report for hundreds or thousands
of employees or customers that is then tailored to specific regions or
product areas. This is also a good way to maintain archived reports to
satisfy retention policies.
Presentation Formats
Report
output can be produced in a variety of Web-, page-, and
desktop-compatible formats. You cannot edit these files using the
Reporting Services tools, but third-party products are available to fit
this need. Each format has specific options and properties that
configure the rendering extension. The same extensions are used on the
report server, the Report Designer environment, and the ReportViewer control.
HTML
HTML
is the default rendering extension. It produces UTF-8 encoded pages or
fragments. Standard HTML 4.0 is produced by Report Manager, SharePoint
Web parts, and direct URL access. HTML 3.2 is possible only through URL
addressing with the rs:Format=HTML3.2 option. MHTML is also available
through URL addressing and the Export option in Report Manager. This
format, referred to as Web Archive, combines the graphics and report
data into a single file.
All
report data regions are rendered as tables. Charts become images. Style
properties turn into CSS style tags. Report-level items such as headers
and footers become HTML <DIV> tags.
Excel
The
Excel rendering extension creates BIFF files that are compatible with
Excel 97 and later. Each page in the report generates a worksheet in
the Excel file, as shown in Figure 4.
The data is stored in tabular format with nesting. Some colors are not
supported, so substitutions are made. Limitations exist for worksheet,
row, cell, and column sizes, so very large reports can be problematic.
Charts turn into pictures and are not editable Excel chart objects.
Document maps are rendered as the first worksheet with links to other
data sheets.
PDF
The PDF rendering extension produces PDF 1.3–compatible output, as shown in Figure 5.
These files are suitable for viewers such as Adobe Acrobat. Bookmarks
are supported and turn into PDF bookmarks. Avoid drillthrough links—use
hyperlinks instead. Make sure that all fonts necessary to view the
report are installed on the report server as well as on the target
clients.
TIFF
The
Image rendering extension creates a bitmap or metafile. The default
format is TIFF, which stores multiple pages in a single file. Other
available formats include valid GDI+ variants: GIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and
EMF. Size, resolution, and image format are configurable. Items are
rendered in the order that they appear in the report definition. You
can control this by setting the zindex property of select objects.
CSV
The
Comma-Separated Value (CSV) rendering extension produces plain-text
files with no character formatting or graphics. This is useful for
importing into other applications, such as spreadsheets and databases.
The first row contains field names by default. All data regions are
output with a column for each data element. This extension ignores such
items as headers, footers, images, and ActiveX controls. Field, record,
qualifier, and header settings are configurable.
XML
The
XML rendering extension creates XML documents that are specific to the
source report. Layout and images are ignored. XML is useful in
application integration scenarios. The top-level element in XML is
Report. Each data region creates an element. The elements and
attributes are generated in the order that they appear in the report
definition, as shown in Figure 6. Data types are notated in the included schema. You can set element names by using the DataElementName property of individual objects in Report Designer or by using raw RDL.
The
rendered XML can be transformed using an XSLT document that you specify
in URL addressing. This is a creative and efficient way to produce
custom output formats. The result can be a more complex XML document,
XHTML, or plain text. Note that each report creates unique XML output,
so the XSLT transforms are specific to that report.
Programming: Rendering
The
code samples for this chapter include several examples that demonstrate
report output. One uses ASP.NET Web pages to host links and iframes for
URL access. Another incorporates the ReportViewer
control in both ASP.NET pages and Windows Forms. The third is a useful
utility that combines Web service functionality with rendering to
create a report file generation factory.
Parameterized URL Access
CS Web Pages, includes a URLAccess.ASPX page that demonstrates URL access, as shown in Figure 7.
In design view, you see a hyperlink (<A> tag) that opens a new page with the Tabular report. The URL phrase is shown here:
http://localhost/reportserver?/Chap21/reports/Tabular&rs:Command:Render
In this example, localhost is the server name and reportserver indicates the Web service virtual directory. The path and report are the first URL parameters. The rs:Command parameter instructs report server to render the report. Several rs: and rc: parameter options were described earlier.
The Chart Report button on the Web page has an onclick event handler that sets the src property of an iframe. This causes the chart sample to appear on demand.
ReportViewer Examples
The ReportViewer control is part of the .NET Framework 2.0. You can use it in ASP.NET pages as well as Windows Forms, as shown earlier in Figures 2 and 3.
The ASP.NET project called CS Web Pages has a page called
ReportViewer.aspx that embeds this control. The properties of the
control have a ProcessingMode that defaults to Local. Choose Remote, and use the Smart Tag
control to set the Report Server URL and Report Path. The Toolbar
category in the Properties window has options that control the toolbar
display. No code is needed for the report to display at runtime.
The project CS Forms has a form called Simple.cs. This form embeds a ReportViewer control with the Dock property set to fill. You use the Smart Tag
control or Properties windows to adjust the settings. Notice that the
report properties are identical in the Web and form versions. Adding
this control to the form automatically generates the necessary lines of
code:
private void Simple_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
this.reportViewer1.RefreshReport();
}
Another
sample form, called Service.cs, uses the report server Web service to
enumerate folder and report names in a list box. Selecting a list item
triggers the SelectedIndexChanged event, which sets the ReportViewer ReportPath property and calls RefreshReport, as shown in the following code block:
namespace CS_Forms
{
public partial class Service : Form
{
ReportingService2005 rptSrvr = new ReportingService2005();
CatalogItem[] catItem;
public Service()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void Service_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
rptSrvr.Credentials = System.Net.CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;
rptSrvr.Url = "http://localhost/reportserver/reportservice2005.asmx";
catItem = rptSrvr.ListChildren("/Chap21/reports", true);
foreach (CatalogItem item in catItem)
{
ListBox1.Items.Add(item.Name);
}
}
private void ListBox1_SelectedIndexChanged(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
ReportViewer1.ServerReport.ReportPath = catItem[ListBox1.SelectedIndex].Path;
ReportViewer1.RefreshReport();
}
}
}
Rendering Factory
The
report server Web service can render reports in several output formats.
A CS Forms project called Render.cs combines the folder navigation
methods with a Treeview
control to display the folder hierarchy. Select a report from the
/Chap21/Reports folder. The option button in the middle of the form
determines the output format. Enter a file name, and use FolderBrowserDialog
to select a target file folder. The Generate button renders the report
using the Web service and redirects the byte stream to the target file.
This utility can quickly generate sample output for testing purposes.
The code can easily be edited to automate other report generation tasks.
