What's New (Reporting Services) SQL Server 2008 R2 Other Versions 10 out of 15 rated this helpful - Rate this

topic Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 introduces many new features and enhancements that increase the reporting capabilities of people who develop reporting solutions. Because SQL Server 2008 R2 is a minor version upgrade of SQL Server 2008, we rec ommend that you also review the content in the SQL Server 2008 section. What's New in SQL Server 2008 R2 The following Reporting Services features are new in SQL Server 2008 R2. SharePoint Integration Collaboration and Reuse Data Sources Data Visualization Report Layout and Processing Aggregates, Expressions, and Functions Report Authoring Tools Cache Refresh Plans Report Manager Enhancements Business Intelligence Development Studio New Web Service Endpoint New Report Definition Language Schema SharePoint Integration Reporting Services with SharePoint integration has several new features. These i nclude support for multiple SharePoint Zones, support for the SharePoint Univers al Logging service, a new data extension, a query designer for SharePoint Lists as a data source, and support for right-to-left text with Arabic and Hebrew in t he SharePoint user interface. The SharePoint List data extension supports gettin g data from the SharePoint technologies: SharePoint lists for SharePoint Foundat ion 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, and Office Sh arePoint Server 2007. For more information, see What's New (Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrate d Mode). Collaboration and Reuse Reporting Services provides new features that enable and enhance collaboration a nd reuse within the reporting environment. Report Parts Report parts are report items that you store on a report server, or on a SharePo int site that is integrated with a report server. You can reuse report parts in multiple reports, and you can update them on the server.

The report part that you add to your report maintains a relationship to the inst ance of the report part on the site or server by means of a unique ID. Report parts let work groups utilize the different strengths and roles of their team members. For example, one person can create charts and save them as report parts that others can reuse in their reports. For more information, see Report Parts in Report Designer (SSRS). Shared Datasets Shared datasets are a new type of report server item that can retrieve data from shared data sources that connect to external data sources. A shared dataset pro vides a way to share a query to help provide a consistent set of data for multip le reports. The dataset query can include dataset parameters. You can configure a shared dataset to cache query results for specific parameter combinations on f irst use or by specifying a schedule. You can use shared dataset caching in comb ination with report caching and report data feeds to help manage access to a dat a source. Like report parts, a shared dataset that is added to a report maintains a relati onship to the definition of the dataset on the report server. Unlike report part s, when the definition is changed, you do not have to accept updates. All report s that have the relationship always use the shared dataset definition on the rep ort server. For more information, see Managing Shared Datasets. Data Sources Reporting Services supports three new data sources types: Microsoft SQL Azure, M icrosoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse, and Microsoft SharePoint List. The Microsoft SQL Azure data source type connects to SQL Server databases in the cloud and enable reports to retrieve and render report data from SQL Azure databases. For more information, see SQL Azure Connection Type (SSRS). The Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse data source type connects t o a Microsoft SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse and enable reports to retrieve and render report data from SQL Server databases. For more information, see SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse Connection Type (SSRS). SQL Server Parallel Data Warehouse Connection Type (SSRS) Microsoft SharePoint List data source type connects to a SharePoint site and enable reports to retrieve and render report data from SharePoint lists. For mo re information, see SharePoint List Connection Type (SSRS). Data Visualization Reporting Services provided three new ways to visualize data in reports: maps, s parklines and data bars, and indicators. Maps Report Designer provides a Map Wizard and Map Layer Wizard to add maps and map l ayers to your report to help visualize data against a geographic background. A m ap layer displays map elements based on spatial data from a map in the Map Galle ry, from a SQL Server query that returns SQL Server spatial data, or from an Env ironmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) shapefile. Map elements can b e polygons that represent areas, lines that represent paths or routes, or points that represent locations such as stores or cities. You can also add a display b ackground based on Microsoft Bing Maps tiles.

After you relate map elements with report data, you can specify rules for the ma p elements on each layer to control color, size, width, or marker type. For exam ple, you can add a bubble map that varies bubble size for store locations based on sales or a color analytical map that displays customer demographics for geogr aphic regions. You can add labels, legends, titles, a color scale, and a distance scale to help your users interpret the map display. You can add interactive features such as tooltips and drillthrough links, or provide parameters that enable a user to int eractively control the visibility of each layer. In a map report, you can use the map wizard to configure an existing map layer. You can change the type of map, the data visualization rules, and change match f ield that specifies the relationship between spatial data and analytical data. T he Specify the match fields for spatial and analytical data wizard page displays data from both the spatial data source and the analytical data source to help y ou choose the field on which to match. For more information, see Maps (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS), Map Wizard and Map Layer Wizard (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS) and How to: Add, Change, or Delete a Map or Map Layer (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Sparklines and Data Bars Sparklines and data bars are simple charts that convey a lot of information in a little space, often inline with text. Sparklines and data bars are often used i n tables and matrices. Their impact comes from viewing many of them together and being able to quickly compare them, instead of viewing them singly. This makes it easy to see the outliers. Each sparkline often represents multiple data point s over time. Data bars can represent multiple data points, but typically illustr ate only one. Each sparkline typically presents a single series. You cannot add a sparkline to a detail group in a table. Because sparklines display aggregated data, they must go in a cell that is associated with a group. Sparklines and data bars have the same basic chart elements of categories, serie s, and values, but they have no legend, axis lines, labels, or tick marks. For more information, see Sparklines and Data Bars (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS) . Indicators Indicators are minimal gauges that convey the state of a single data value at a glance. The icons that represent indicators and their states are visually effect ive, even when they are used in small sizes. Indicators can be used by themselve s in dashboards or free-form reports, but they are most commonly used in tables or matrices to visualize data in rows or columns. Indicators can show trends by using directional images such as arrows; ratings b y using incremental icons such as stars; and states by using images such as traf fic lights or check marks. Indicators are available in Report Builder 3.0 and Re port Designer. For more information, see Indicators (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Report Layout and Rendering Reporting Services provides new features that help you create reports that rende r the way you want and are useful in different ways such as the source of data f eeds and exported to Microsoft Excel. Naming Excel Worksheet Tabs

Properties of reports and page breaks let you generate the names of worksheet ta bs when you export reports to Excel. You can provide an initial page name of a r eport that can be exported as the default name of worksheet tabs, or use page br eaks and page names to provide different names for each worksheet tab. For more information, see Understanding Pagination in Reporting Services (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Rendering Reports to Data Feeds The Reporting Services Atom rendering extension renders reports data to an Atom service document, which lists the data feeds and the data feeds, which contains the report data. You use this extension to generate Atom-compliant data feeds th at are readable and exchangeable with applications that can consume data feeds g enerated from reports. For example the PowerPivot client can consume data feeds that are generated from Atom-compliant data feeds. Using report data as data feeds gives you an additional way to provide data to a pplications when the data is not easily accessible through client data providers , or you prefer to hide the complexity of the data source and make it simpler to use the data. You can export report data to an Atom service document and data feeds from Repor t Manager or a SharePoint site that is integrated with Reporting Services. For m ore information, see Generating Data Feeds from Reports (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Report Pagination Page breaks on tablix data regions (table, matrix, and list), groups, and rectan gles give you better control of report pagination. Report pages, delimited by pa ge breaks, can have different page names and reset page numbering. By using expr essions, the page names and page numbers can be dynamically updated when the rep ort is run. You can also disable page breaks entirely, or based on expression va lues. For more information, seeUnderstanding Pagination in Reporting Services (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Rotating Text 270 Degrees Text boxes can now be rotated 270 degrees. Standalone text boxes in a report hea der or footer, the report body, or text boxes in the cells of tables and matrice s can display text written vertically and bottom to top. This rotation helps you create more readable reports, fit more columns on a printed report with fixed p age size, and create reports with more graphical appeal. For more information, s ee Text Boxes (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Aggregates, Expressions, and Functions Calculating Aggregates of Aggregates You can create expressions that calculate an aggregate of an aggregate. For exam ple, in a cell in the row group header that is associated with a group based on year, you can calculate the average monthly sales for year by using the expressi on =Avg(Sum(Fields!Sales.Value,"Month"),"Year"). By using this feature for charts and gauges that are nested in a table, you can align horizontal and vertical axes for charts and scales for gauges. You do this by calculating the maximum and minimum of aggregated values so the nested items use the same ranges. For more information, see Aggregate Functions Reference (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS) and Understanding Expression Scope for Totals, Aggregates, and Built-in Co llections (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Enhanced Support for Expressions

New globals and a new property for report variables are introduced in this relea se. The following additional items have been added to the built-in globals collectio n. OverallPageNumber and OverallTotalPages Support for page numbering for the entire rendered report. New properties that are related to page breaks control how the page numbering occurs over page breaks that are set on report items. For more information, see Report Pagination later in this topic. PageName Support for naming pages. For more information, see Naming Excel Worksheet Tabs later in this topic. RenderFormat Support for information that is specified for the renderer.

For more information, see Using Built-in Globals and Users References (Report Bu ilder 3.0 and SSRS). Report variables now have a read-only property that is set by default. Advanced expression writers can clear this option to preserve the value of a report varia ble throughout a report session. This is the equivalent of setting the Writable property for a report variable in RDL. Report variables are still calculated onc e, and then recalculated every time the report is reprocessed. This property pro vides a way to persist data across report rendering, page changes, and some type s of user interaction. The value of the variable is set when the report is repro cessed, but is maintained in the current session. In custom code, you can specif y the variable value by using the SetValue function. For more information, see Using Report and Group Variables Collections Reference s (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Lookup Functions Expressions in data regions can now include references to Lookup Function (Repor t Builder 3.0 and SSRS), LookupSet Function (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS), and M ultilookup Function (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). These lookup functions can re trieve values from a dataset that has name/value pairs and that is not bound to the data region. For more information, see Understanding Expression Scope for To tals, Aggregates, and Built-in Collections (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS). Report Authoring Tools Report Builder and Report Designer includes a number of new and enhanced feature s. Creating Queries The updated graphical query designer used to create queries that retrieve report data from Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SQL Azure, and Microsoft SQL Server P arallel Data Warehouse databases provides a user interface to create custom rela tionships between related and unrelated tables. The query designer also makes it easy to include aggregates and grouping that summarize data in queries. For mor e information, see Relational Query Designer (Report Builder 3.0). The new graphical query designer for the Microsoft SharePoint List data source t ype makes it easy to create queries that retrieve report data from SharePoint li sts. The query designer lists the fields in each SharePoint list item on a Share Point site for you to include in the query and enable you to define filters to a pply to limit the data that the query returns. For more information, see SharePo int List Query Designer. Previewing Reports in Report Builder 3.0

Report Builder 3.0 provides a better preview experience. The introduction of edi t sessions enables the reuse of cached datasets when previewing reports. This me ans that reports render more quickly when using the cached datasets. Edit sessio ns are bound to a report, which makes it possible to use relative references and subreport references in reports. For more information see, Previewing Reports in Report Builder 3.0 on msdn.micro soft.com. Making It Easier to Design and Edit Reports The run-time credentials, specified in the data source properties of a report, m ight not work for design time tasks such as creating queries and previewing repo rts. Report Builder 3.0 provides a user interface for changing credentials when it is unable to connect to the data source. For more information, see Data Source Properties Dialog Box, General (Report Bui lder 3.0) on msdn.microsoft.com. Cache Refresh Plans Cache refresh plans let you cache reports or shared dataset query results on fir st use or from a schedule. You can schedule the cache by using an item-specific schedule or a shared schedule. By creating cache refresh plans for commonly used parameter combinations, you can help improve data retrieval and report viewing response times. In previous releases, scheduled caching was achieved by using the NULL delivery provider. By using cache refresh plans, you can manage and schedule report cachi ng separately from report subscriptions. For more information, see Cache Refresh Options (Report Manager). Report Manager Enhancements Report Manager has been updated in this release to provide a better user experie nce, and an improved look and feel. The most dramatic change for Report Manager is the updated color scheme and layout, which provides easier navigation to mana ge report properties and report server items. You can use a new drop-down menu o n each report or report server item in a folder to access the various configurat ion options for the report or item you choose. The tool maintains the familiar text and same management tasks, but offers an im proved user experience by: Improving the workflow for viewing and managing reports and report server it ems by using a new drop-down menu to access various configuration options for ea ch report or report server item in a folder. Eliminating the need to render a report before accessing and configuring rep ort properties when in default view. Allowing more room for Report Viewer when rendering reports. An updated Report Viewer toolbar, which includes some updates to the toolbar controls, as well as the ability to export report data to an Atom service docum ent and data feeds. For more information about Report Manager, including navigational procedures and UI option descriptions, see the topics under Report Manager F1 Help. Business Intelligence Development Studio

Business Intelligence Development Studio supports working with both SQL Server 2 008 and SQL Server 2008 R2 reports, and with Report Server projects in the SQL S erver 2008 R2 version of Business Intelligence Development Studio. You can open, save, preview, and deploy either version of reports or Report Server projects. You set Report Server project properties to specify the version of the report se rver to deploy reports to and how to handle warnings and errors which might occu r when up either upgrade a report from SQL Server 2008 to SQL Server 2008 R2, or revert a report from SQL Server 2008 R2 to SQL Server 2008. For more informatio n, see Building Reports in Business Intelligence Development Studio. New Web Service Endpoint The report server includes a new management endpoint named ReportingService2010. This endpoint merges the functionalities of both the ReportingService2005 and R eportingService2006 endpoints, and can support management operations of the repo rt server in both native mode and SharePoint integrated mode. It also includes n ew features that are introduced in SQL Server 2008 R2, such as shared datasets a nd cache refresh. For more information, see Report Server Web Service Endpoints. New Report Definition Language Schema The Report Definition Language schema includes a new <ReportSections> element an d elements that define the map report item. In this release, only reports that h ave one report section can be opened in Report Builder 3.0 or Report Designer in Business Intelligence Development Studio. For more information, see Report Definition Language Reference. What's New in SQL Server 2008 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services introduces many new features and en hancements that increase the reporting capabilities of people who develop report ing solutions. What's New in Report Authoring Introduces Tablix, Chart, and Gauge data regions. It also introduces support for richly formatted text, new data source types, and Report Builder 2.0, which offers many new features, like enhanced data layout and visualization, in an Of fice-like authoring environment. Finally, this topic describes incremental chang es to authoring tools and the Report Definition Language (RDL) that allow a repo rt author to take full advantage of new processing features. What's New in Report Processing and Rendering Introduces new rendering extensions for Microsoft Word and enhancements to t he Excel and CSV rendering extensions. This topic also describes important chang es to the report processor that improve the performance and scalability of large reports. What's New in Server Architecture and Tools Introduces the new report server architecture that includes native support f or functionality previously provided by Internet Information Services (IIS). What's New in Report Programmability Introduces a new server extension that provides preprocessing for report def initions, plus new methods to the ReportServer2006 endpoint that eliminate the f eature gap that previously existed between native mode and SharePoint integrated mode report servers.