Document Map

Much like bookmarks, the document map is designed to simplify navigation for large reports . A document map is intended for interactive (HTML rendering) report viewing and is displayed as a side panel on a report.

PDF and Excel rendering extensions have a different way of articulating a document map. Excel rendering extensions create a separate worksheet with the name "Document map," which provides links to a worksheet with the report's data. PDF displays the document map in the Bookmarks Navigation tab.

Document map labels are set similarly to bookmarks as they relate to report items. To create a document map label for a report, you just fill the Document Map Label entry on the Navigation tab of an item's Properties dialog box, or enter the Label property in the Properties window.

After the document map labels are created, Reporting Services automatically generates a document map and renders a treelike structure containing navigational items. SSRS builds a document map entry when it sees the following RDL:

 <Label>={Expression}</Label> 

Document map labels defined for report items are displayed on the same level ( next after the root level) and ordered in the order of the report item's appearance on a report. Order is based first on the position of the top side (vertical ordering) and second on the position of left side (horizontal ordering) of the item.

The document map also supports a hierarchical display of labels. SSRS creates a hierarchical view on a document map when you set Document Map Label and Parent Group expressions using the Grouping and Sorting Properties dialog box. The Grouping and Sorting Properties dialog box was discussed in Chapter 12, "Grouping, Sorting, and Aggregating Data, Working with Scope." The hierarchical view is not supported in PDF. Instead, PDF shows labels of a document map as a single level in the Bookmarks Navigation tab.

The document map has the same name as the name of the report. This name is used for the root node of a document map. There are no options that allow changing the name of a document map. Only one document map is allowed for a report.

Note

An example of a document map is included in the Actions -- Bookmark-Toggle-Document Map -- Products.rdl sample for this book.