SQL Server® 2008 Reporting Services - Online Course

Topics covered on the 3 day SQL Server® 2008 Reporting Services - Online course

Introducing SQL Server Reporting Services

• Investigate what SQL Server Reporting Services can do
• Explore the basic architecture of SQL Server Reporting Services
• Gain a basic understanding of the components behind SQL Server Reporting Services
• Learn how to create a basic report using the SQL Server Reporting Services Wizard

Creating Tabular and List Reports

• Learn how to create a tabular report from scratch
• Learn about datasets and data regions
• Discover how to add textboxes and other controls to reports
• Investigate the list data region
• Learn how to work with rich text to produce mail merge style reports

Calculation and Formatting

• Explore how to create expressions in your reports using
• Learn how to create custom functions using the Code window
• Discover the various global collections that you can reference in your expressions
• Learn how to format report items using the formatting toolbars, the Properties window, and the Textbox Properties dialog box
• Find out how you can use conditional formatting to make your reports more dynamic
• Learn about report variables and when you might need to use them

Grouping and Sorting

• Explore creating groups
• Master the Reporting Services Grouping pane
• Learn how to calculate group totals and percentages
• Understand scope as it applies to aggregate functions
• Discover interactive sorting
• Find out how to create drill-down reports

Working with Parameters

• Understanding how Reporting Services parameters work with stored procedure parameters
• Learn how to create parameters in ad-hoc SQL
• Find out how to display parameter values in report headers
• Discover how to improve parameter prompts using drop-down list parameters
• Dig into the use of unbound, multivalued, and cascading parameters
• Learn how to solve common parameter issues

Creating Matrix Reports and Charts

• Learn how to create matrix reports
• Investigate Reporting Services charts
• Explore the use of Reporting Services gauges

Managing Reporting Services

• Understand how to plan and configure for deployment
• Learn how to deploy Reporting Services projects and individual reports and data sources
• Explore exporting reports to a variety of formats and using the client-side printing feature of Reporting Services
• Investigate how to manage Reporting Services projects using Report Manager
• Explore creating linked reports

Security

• Investigate how Reporting Services secures access to reports and other Reporting Services resources
• Find out how to use Report Manager to manage user accounts and roles
• Learn how to enable basic authentication for reports and how to require SSL for report operations
• Explore the storing of credentials within a data source

Programming Reporting Services

• Discover the many application programming interfaces of Reporting Services
• Learn how to use URL to integrate Reporting Services reports into your applications
• Explore the use of the Report Viewer controls to create Web pages and Windows Forms that render Reporting Services reports in place
• Investigate how to use the Report Views controls inlocal mode to display reports that don’t involve Reporting Services

Advanced Reporting Services Programming

• Discover the classes and methods exposed by the Reporting Services Web Service API
• Learn how to call the Report Server Web Service
• Investigate how to call a custom assembly from a report
• Explore the potential deployment and security issues that might arise when working with custom assemblies

Snapshots and Subscriptions

• Learn how to enable and control report caching
• Investigate the scheduling of report snapshots
• Explore the maintenance of report history
• Discover how to create standard report subscriptions
• Learn how to create data-driven report subscriptions

Ad-Hoc Reporting with Report Builder 2.0

• Learn the differences between Report Builder 1.0 and Report Builder 2.0
• Explore how to use Report Builder to build ad-hoc tabular, matrix and chart reports
• Discover how to create Report Builder reports without using the wizards
• Learn how to create Report Model projects using Visual Studio and deploy them to a Reporting Services server