SSRS 2008 R2 introduced lots of exciting new features, reviewed in a sister article to this one. Here we consider what Microsoft didn't do well in this version of Reporting Services.  Read more...

The 10 things Microsoft got right about SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 R2 (a sister article shows 10 things which aren't quite so good)  Read more...

A report might contain multiple data series on a chart, which can have considerably varying scales but common category groups. In such cases where this a big difference in scales, the data series with the lower scale can become obscured. In this tip we will take a look at how to solve this problem using Chart Areas.   Read more...

A new feature of SSRS 2008 R2 is the ability to name sheets in exported Excel workbooks. This article explains how to utilize this feature.  Read more...

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This article walks through a sample dashboard, highlighting sparklines, databars, and indicators.  Read more...

A discrete list of database objects is extracted from SSRS using SQL, SSIS, and RegExtractor in order to identify reports that might break when a schema upgrade is performed.  Read more...

In a typical bar chart, the height of the bars represents the value of the data along the X axis and the Y axis represents the category of the data point. All these values can be classified in logical groups depending upon the logic used for analysis. One general requirement that arises in the case of repeating groups, is to highlight these groups without representing it on the X or Y scale. In this tip we will look at how to address this requirement.   Read more...

The functionality of additional columns / rows in a cross table ("matrix") in Reporting Services is limited to totals / subtotals. By using a stored function a solution is described.  Read more...

Key Performance Indicators are typically displayed in a scorecard with stop light indicators, which are either red, amber or green light icons. The limitation for these kind of indicators is that you can see the actual and target values in two different fields as well as see the status of the KPI in red, amber or green color. If the user wants to figure out the thresholds associated with the KPI, these values are generally not visible. Further, representing the threshold values in the scorecard itself defeats the purpose of the scorecard. The scorecard should display the KPI's status in the most summarized form and use a minimal amount of space on the dashboard. In this tip we would look at how to address this issue.   Read more...

Typically transactional data is quite detailed and analyzing an entire dataset on a graph is not feasible. Generally such data is analyzed using some form of aggregation or frequency distribution. One of the specialized charts generally used in Reporting Services for statistical distribution is Histogram Charts. In this tip we look at how Histogram Charts can be used for statistical distribution analysis and how to create and configure this type of chart in SSRS.   Read more...

This article will explain different types of visualizations, including charts and maps, and when you would use each type.  Read more...

When continuous data is displayed on a chart, such as a line chart, data is displayed very smoothly. But when non-continuous data is displayed on such a chart, the chart behavior is different. The continuous data is displayed correctly, but the non-continuous data is ignored on the chart. In such cases, handling of empty points in the dataset is required to make the data continuous and displayed correctly on the chart. In this tip we will look at how to implement a solution for this problem.   Read more...

This article explains how to setup Reporting Services (SSRS) parameters default values using user credentials.   Read more...

Learn how to create and use templates in BIDS in this short SQL Spackle article.  Read more...

This article shows how to group information, adjust for dynamic column and row groups, and generally use the tablix in Reporting Services.  Read more...

SSRS provides a very user friendly way to author and deploy reports. These reports can be accessed from different platforms where the reports are deployed - reports manager, SharePoint, stand-alone / distributed applications or programmatically using SSRS SOAP endpoints. Unfortunately, SSRS / BIDS does not provide any high-end debugging tools such as SQL Profiler for analyzing the performance of SSRS reports. In this tip we will look at different ways of debugging and analyzing SSRS reports performance using execution logs and freeware tools.  Read more...

I'm trying to decide on a development strategy to satisfy the reporting needs in my organization. I would like to increase our efficiency in responding to report requests, while minimizing our maintenance burden. Two topics that I would like to dig in to are Report Parts and Subreports. Can you provide some considerations for using one versus the other?   Read more...

I rarely use filters in my SSRS reports.  However, this was a client requirement.  When we attempted to use the...  Read more...

This article demonstrates how to use US Census' TIGER/Line shapefile to display CNN-style map in Reporting Services.  Read more...