A use case has been presented where users wish to receive email notification of certain records matching various criteria. Additionally, the notification subscription should only notify the user if records exist matching the criteria. The notification via subscriptions should only happen once for any given record. Read the rest of this entry »
Popularity: 21% [?]
Sample Income over Time (Current + Historical) where a tooltip on datapoints would be useful.
Wow. Big disappointment for me today. I’ve been hitting my head against a brick wall for the last 1.5 hrs trying to find the Tooltip property in a Dundas Chart for Reporting Services object for each series data point.
Seemed like a simple request since the built in Chart object in SSRS 2008 has a marker tooltip property. Well boys and girls, the short answer is “no, you can’t.”
According to this article, Dundas is stating that the limitation is on Microsoft and affects all custom reporting objects.
Boy, that’s not how I anticipated ending my day after our organization shelled out for the Dundas dashboard bundle. Might just have to go back to the Microsoft chart control for some reports. Disappointing to say the least.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Yes, okay, call me a dolt for having to take five minutes to find this but I’ve seen this question asked so many places I figured I’d throw it up here.
In Visual Studio 2008 when working on a SQL Server Reporting Services report, you may find that you want to change the order in which the parameters are listed to the end user. Or perhaps you are using unnamed parameters, such as with ODBC, and need to change the order for token replacement in your query. Well in 2008 this is not where you expected it to be if coming from 2005.
To start with, see if you have the Report Data region showing. If not, go to the toolbar and click View –> Report Data as shown below.
Now, find the parameters section and expand it. Pick a parameter that needs re-ordering. Click and highlight the parameter. Now a little further up you will see a set of up and down arrows. Use these to move the parameter, re-order the list of parameters.
I know, too simple right? Well, sometimes the obvious things are easily overlooked.
Blessings to you!
Popularity: 25% [?]
The MSDN Webcast from September 8, 2008 is the third in a series entitled “SQL Server 2008 Tips & Tricks” focuses on Reporting Services 2008.
Presentation and slide content by IT Mentors
1. SSRS 2008 Architecture/Runtime
2. Configuration
3. New Controls
a. Tablix
b. Gauges and Indicators
4. Deployment
### Benefits of Eliminating IIS from the SSRS Architecture
* Easier configuration
* IIS settings for other applications impact SSRS
* Better resource management
* IIS designed for static or dynamic HTML pages, not report execution for large reports to many concurrent users.
* Memory management easier to implement outside of IIS
* Consolidation of two services into one
* Communication process between services eliminated
* More efficient allocation of memory across server
* Elimination of deployment obstacles
* SQL Server DBAs lacking IIS skills
* IT policies prevent IIS and SQL Server on same server
### Architecture
* HTTP Listener
* Uses HTTP.SYS directly from the operating system
* Accepts requests directed to the configured URL and port
* Authentication Layer
* Confirms identity associated with request
* Supports Windows, Basic, or anonymous Access with a custom authentication
* Application Domains
* Provide a front-end component with Report Manager
* Process reports interactively with Report Server Web service
* Support scheduled operations with background processing
* Application Domain Management
* Replaces IIS functionality
Notes: Speaker does not discuss the complications that running IIS and SSRS 2008 on the same server. Instead he talks about how they both can run on the same server. Might want to be sure you understand the complications that can arise from both on the same server, especially when it comes to SSL needs.
### Configuration
* Memory Management
* Disabling Features
Notes: Speaker states the obvious about the importance of these items. Disabling features = reducing surface area.
### Memory Management
* Memory Broker monitors and responds to memory pressure fluctuations
* Memory events trigger switch from RAM to file system cache as needed
* Configurable thresholds determine report server response to memory pressure changes
Notes: Good simplistic explanation of these by the speaker. Might want to research a bit more if you really need to tweak memory optimization for peak performance.
* Low Memory Pressure
* Current requests continue
* New Requests accepted
* Background low priority
* Medium Memory Pressure
* Current requests continue
* New requests _might_ be accepted
* Memory allocations reduced for all applications
* Background items get the largest reduction
* High Memory Pressure
* Current requests continue
* No new requests accepted
Notes: Good explanation and slide for this concept.
### Configure Memory Settings
Notes: Speaker shows you the what to change in the config file but neglects to say which config files is being changed and where it is located. The correlating MSDN article on this topic is located here.
Information on the RSReportServer.config file can also be found on MSDN.
### Disabling Features
* Report Manager
* RSReportServer.config
* IsReportManagerEnabled
* On Demand Processing
* RSReportServer.config
* IsWebServiceEnabled
* Scheduled Events and Report Delivery
* RSReportServer.config
* IsSchedulingService
* IsNotificationService
* IsEventService
* Report Builder
* SQL Server Management Studio
* Server Properties
* Report Server Windows Service
* SQL Server Configuration Manager
Notes: One might want to consider the “Why?” on each of these to determine appropriate use cases for enabling or disabling. Now the speaker shows where the config file is.
Demos were done for memory configuration settings and the Tablix control.
Lots of good gauges and indicators available thanks to the new Dundas obtained controls.
Finally discussion about the rs command line tool for deployment.
Popularity: 43% [?]
We just ordered our licenses for SQL Server 2008 (various editions). 
Now it is time to get ready for the migration. While doing some research on the actual report .rdl upgrade process I figured I’d put my findings here.
The Performance Point Blog has this FAQ that has a few good tidbits. The one that stuck out to me was the last one:
“Q: I know that every once in a while, a 2005 report won’t auto-upgrade to
2008 successfully. How can I tell if a report I’m running is being rendered in 2005 or 2008 mode?
A: We attempt to upgrade a 2005 report to 2008 once and only once. If the process fails the first time, we don’t try again. To see which engine is being used to render a report, use the new ExecutionLog2 view in the
reportserver database, examine the AdditionalInfo column and check the <ProcessingEngine> element. A value of 2 indicates the new 2008 “on demand” rendering engine was used, while a value of 1 means the older, 2005 engine was used.”
Seems like a quick way of seeing which engine is being used when you first hit those reports after upgrading the server. Good stuff.
A brief take from Cliff Nelson is here referencing an internal discussion guided by Robert Bruckner.
Oh, I have to say that I am very excited about the chart, graph and gauge controls, a la Dundas, that are included as part of SSRS 2008. Plus, there available for the .Net framework 3.5 as standalone controls. Yipee!
As we move further in this process I’ll post any important pieces here for my use and yours.
Blessings.
Popularity: 22% [?]
