What is needed to write complex Reports

There have been a number of people asking me what they need to install in order to get up and running with report writing using the "Business Intelligence Development Studio". Here is what I send them.

1) Install Visual Studio 2005. This step is optional.

2) Install "Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Toolkit" which gives you the "Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS)"

3) Read Buck's blog and download the attached documentation to get your data sources setup and an initial report written.

4) Obtain a PHD in Computer Science if you have to write any MDX queries.

Sorting data in Reporting Services

Most things come hard for me. Whether it's been work, school or play, nothing has come easy.

So it should be of no surprise, I had a hell of a time trying to figure out how to sort our custom TFS build report. It honestly took me about four hours to figure out all you needed to do is set a Sorting Expression on the report's table when in layout mode. Here is a good article that explains it in detail.

I was trying to modify the MDX query, which is nearly impossible, by using an ORDER function. That was getting me no where as I could not get the syntax figured out. So after lunch I decided to do a bit of research and fell into the TechNet article. And about five seconds later, I found my answer.

If you need to do some sorting, check this article out.

SQL Reporting Services Training

Three of us are in "SQL Reporting Services" training this week. Class "2793A: Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services" to be exact. My suggestion is, if your first introduction to Reporting Services is with TFS (like ours was), spend the time and money to take a class. Reporting Services is not easy.

This class is pretty basic, but it does help you get the fundamentals down. After you take the class, I'd suggest you take something that works with Analysis Services. The material in 2793A is centered around pulling data from a relational model. TFS, on the other hand, has the cube which we'd like to use. Thus the instructor suggested our next stop be in an advanced course in Analysis Services.