Getting started with SQL Server Reporting Services

Question

I'd like to set up SQL Server Reporting Services but I don't know where to start. The books out there are okay but don't seem to fit what I need to do. That is, I want to set up my ASP.NET 3.5 application to be able to view reports I create, both in a web report viewer and downloadable as PDF/Excel.

What are the basic steps to do this? Do I need IIS installed on the SQL box?

Answer 1

Reporting Services for SQL Server 2005 is built on top of IIS. Reporting Services for SQL Server 2008 is not, but you may still need IIS installed anyway; I seem to remember that the install process checked for IIS as a precondition.

What version of SQL Server are you using? I assume that you have a version with reporting services, but just to verify, the Express editions don't have it. SQL Server developer edition is the cheapest way to go; it's usually available on Amazon for something like $45. Developer edition has everything, but with a restricted license.

I haven't messed with reporting services much (it's on my list, but never seems to get to the top of the list). However, the 2008 version uses Visual Studio 2008 for developing reports (renamed as SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio). Once you have all that installed, you should be good to go.

Answer 2

You can access the SSRS implementation via a SOAP API.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa256607%28SQL.80%29.aspx

This should allow you access to reports via a report viewer which you has built in means for exporting to pdf / excel etc.

Answer 3

1. Install it from the main SQL Server installer. Make sure you also install the client tools on the machine you'll be using for development.
2. Use Visual Studio (or BIDS) to create and deploy your reports. There are standard templates to get you started.
3. When you access the reports over the web, you will have the option of downloading them as PDF or Excel (no special settings or code is required)

Embedding reports in an ASPX page takes a little more work. When you get past the items above, post another question about the details (it mainly involves a couple of special controls).

Answer 4

The ASP.NET ReportViewer control can operarate in two modes, local or remote. In remote mode it will display reports from a SSRS server, in local mode you can add the reports directly to your visual studio project and the control will handle the rendering. This might be more suitable if you don't want to install IIS.

In my experience it is easier to create the reports in remote mode but in local mode you can use business objects as a data source.

Have a look at http://www.gotreportviewer.com, this has a good explanation and links to other resources and sample code.