10 Good Things About Reporting Services 2008 R2

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)

Displaying Multiple Series on an SSRS Chart using Chart Area

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.

How to Name Sheets in Exported Excel Workbooks with SSRS 2008 R2

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.

Shared data sets

Extract Objects from SSRS Reports

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.

Highlighting repeating groups in SSRS 2008 R2 charts

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.

SSRS 2008 R2 KPIs with bullet graphs

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.

Creating a Reporting Services Histogram Chart for Statistical Distribution Analysis

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.

How to handle empty values in a line chart in SSRS

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.

How to Setup Report Parameters to Default Based On User Credentials

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