Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services

Brian Larson

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Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 Reporting Services

Copyright 2004 by The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of publisher, with the exception that the program listings may be entered, stored, and executed in a computer system, but they may not be reproduced for publication.

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ISBN 0-07-223216-1

Publisher: Brandon A. Nordin

Vice President & Associate Publisher: Scott Rogers

Editorial Director: Wendy Rinaldi

Acquisitions Editor: Nancy Maragioglio

Project Editors: Elizabeth Seymour, Carolyn Welch

Acquisitions Coordinator: Athena Honore

Technical Editor: Doug Harts

Copy Editor: Bart Reed

Proofreader: Stefany Otis

Indexer: Valerie Perry

Composition: Carie Abrew, Jean Butterfield, Dick Schwartz

Illustrators: Kathleen Edwards, Melinda Lytle, Jackie Sieben

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Information has been obtained by McGraw-Hill/Osborne from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, McGraw-Hill/Osborne, or others, McGraw-Hill/Osborne does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from the use of such information.

This book is dedicated to my family.
To my children, Jessica and Corey, who gave up many hours of “dad time” during the writing of this book.
And especially to my wife, Pam, who, in addition to allowing me to commit to this project, gave countless hours of her own time to make sure things were done right.

About the Author

Brian Larson is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, with degrees in Physics and Computer Science. He has 19 years of experience in the computer industry and 15 years’ experience as a consultant creating custom database applications. Brian is currently the Chief of Technology for Superior Consulting Services in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a Microsoft Consulting Partner for Reporting Services. Brian is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) and a Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA).

Brian served on the Reporting Services development team as a consultant to Microsoft. In that role, he contributed to the original code base of Reporting Services. Brian has mentored Fortune 500 companies and early adopters in the use and best practices of Reporting Services. Brian has been called upon by Microsoft to complete consulting assignments for several of its most important regional clients. He has been a leading spokesperson for Reporting Services, conducting numerous presentations, web casts, and classroom training sessions.

In addition to writing this book, Brian co-authored the December, 2003 SQL Server Magazine cover article on Reporting Services.

Brian and his wife, Pam, have been married for 19 years. Pam will tell you that their first date took place at the campus computer center. Brian and Pam have two children, Jessica and Corey.

About the Technical Editor

Doug Harts is the Chief Technology Officer of Cizer Software Corporation. With 25 years of experience in software design and development and as a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, he manages the Joint Development Partnership between Cizer and Microsoft, creating browser-based authoring tools for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services. Doug holds a BSEE, an MBA, and a JD from the George Washington University Law School. Doug can be reached at [e-mail].

Acknowledgments

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Perhaps this book project was not a journey of a thousand miles, although it seemed that way in the early hours of the morning with a deadline approaching. Be that as it may, it is possible to identify the first step in this whole process. A coworker of mine at Superior Consulting Services, Marty Voegele, was between assignments—“on the bench,” in consultant-speak. He was bored, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Marty had previously been a consultant for Microsoft and still had a few contacts in the SQL Server area. He made a few phone calls and before long, Marty was again consulting for Microsoft, this time creating something called Rosetta.

As additional work was added to the project, I had the opportunity to take on part of this assignment as well. It was both challenging and exciting working on code that I knew would be part of a major product from a major software company. What was perhaps the most exciting was the fact that Rosetta seemed to be a tool that would fill several needs we had identified while developing custom applications for our own clients.

As the beta version of what is now called Reporting Services was released, a brief introductory article on Reporting Services appeared in SQL Server Magazine. One of the sales representatives here at Superior Consulting Services, Mike Nelson, decided this would be a nice bit of marketing material to have as we trumpeted our involvement with Reporting Services. One thing led to another and before we knew it, Mike had offered Marty’s and my services to write a more in-depth article for SQL Server Magazine. This article became the cover article for the December, 2003 issue. This has become known as the “Delightful” article (you’ll have to read the first paragraph of the article to understand why) and it is now available on MSDN.

This was where I grabbed the map and compass and decided on the next path. Since the magazine article was received fairly well, I decided to write a book on the topic. Marty informed me that writing a 700-page book would probably make his fingers fall off, so I could take this next step on my own. And here I am today.

All of this is a rather lengthy way of saying that I owe a big “thank you” to Marty and Mike. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this book would not have happened without them. In addition to the contributions already stated, I want to thank Marty for helping to keep me up to speed on Reporting Services information and newsgroup postings. We have learned a great deal preparing presentations on Reporting Services and providing Reporting Services solutions for clients. In addition to opening the door for the magazine article, I want to thank Mike for finding additional clients yearning for Reporting Services knowledge and solutions.

I also want to thank John Miller, the owner of Superior Consulting Services. He hired me as his first employee seven years ago to be Superior’s Chief of Technology. John has supported our efforts on Reporting Services and made it a major area of focus at Superior Consulting. Without John’s founding of Superior Consulting Services and his bringing together people such as Marty and Mike, none of this would have come into being.

I need to extend a big thank you to Brian Welcker and the rest of the Reporting Services development team. Their guidance and patience during development is much appreciated. The information they were able to provide during the creation of this book has enhanced the final product you are now holding.

I also want to thank the staff at McGraw-Hill/Osborne: Nancy Maragioglio, Elizabeth Seymour, Athena Honore, Carolyn Welch, Wendy Rinaldi, and Bart Reed, along with the technical editor Doug Harts from Cizer Software. Their assistance, guidance, professionalism, and humor have made this project much easier. The attention Osborne has given this project has been truly overwhelming.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my wife, Pam, for all of her efforts and understanding. Not only did she agree to my taking personal time to write this book, she took it upon herself to proofread every page and work through every sample report. You, as a reader, are greatly benefiting from her efforts.

I also want to thank you, the reader, for purchasing this book. It is my hope that it will provide you with an informative overview, steady guide, and quick reference as you use Reporting Services.