Appendix C. FAQ

The intention of this appendix is to share answers to some common questions about SSRS. The appendix is presented in the Q&A (question-and-answer) fashion.

Q	Can I connect Report Builder to an Oracle database?
A	A direct connection between Report Builder and Oracle is not supported; however, you can connect to an Oracle database by leveraging link servers or the Analysis Services Unified Data Model. Both provide a thin layer of abstraction and allow usage of any OLEDB-or ODBC-compliant data source, including Oracle.
Q	Can I join two separate data sets in a report?
A	Although it is not possible to join two data sets directly, it is possible to simulate this feature. Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, there might be options. For example, you can align two data regions , such as tables, and make sure that rows properly match. You can also synchronize two data sets by using the same query parameter as it was done in the Sales Order sample included with this book.
Q	Can I use SSRS to update my sales data?
A	Although it is possible to update a database using SSRS, developers should refrain from using SSRS in this fashion. For example, it is possible to create a report that passes parameters to a stored procedure (or a query), which, in turn , updates a database (and might return some data back to a report). Such a report produces an "unexpected behavior." Expected behavior of a report is to retrieve and display information.
Q	I would like to embed Report Builder in my custom application. Is it possible?
A	The current release of SSRS does not provide this functionality. It is possible to develop an RDL generator that will provide functionality similar to Report Builder.
Q	I have noticed a new Printer icon on the Report Manager's Toolbar. Does this invoke the Printing Extension?
A	No. This is the new ActiveX RSPrintClient control. This control provides client-side printing for reports viewed in HTML Viewer. The control presents the Print dialog box for a user to initiate a print job, preview a report, specify pages to print, and change the margins. Developers can use this control in the code to enable report-printing functionality.
Q	Is there a 64-bit version of SSRS?
A	Yes, SSRS 2005 is supported natively on both Itanium (IA64) and Extended Complex Instruction Set (x64; supported CPUs AMD64: Opteron and Athlon64; EM64T: Xeon). Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) is not supported on IA64. Note that SSRS 2000 is not supported on a 64-bit platform.
Q	How can I get the history of report executions?
A	SSRS comes with a sample of packages and reports. Those samples provide administrators with a set of tools to view report execution history and performance characteristics. By default, those samples are installed at C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Samples\Reporting Services\Report Samples\Server Management Sample Reports\Execution Log Sample Reports . You can also look through SSRS execution log files in a text editor. By default, SSRS execution log files are written to the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.3\Reporting Services\LogFiles directory.
Q	What is WMI used for in SSRS?
A	WMI is a set of management interfaces to retrieve and modify configuration information for SSRS. The root namespace can be found in \root\Microsoft\SqlServer\ReportingServices\v9 .
Q	What are the classes under the root namespace?
A	There are two classes under the root WMI namespace for SSRS. The first is the MSReportServer_ConfigurationSetting class, which contains configuration information for the Report Server. The second is the MSReportServerReportManager_ConfigurationSetting class, which has similar information for Report Manager.
Q	Do you have a code sample showing how to use WMI to get SSRS's properties?
A	Please see the following short sample: using System; using System.Collections.Generic; using System.Text; using System.Management; namespace SSRSWMI { class Program { static void Main(string[] args) { const string WmiNamespace = @"\localhost\root\Microsoft\SqlServer\ReportServer\v9\Admin"; const string WmiRSClass = @"\localhost\root\Microsoft\SqlServer\ReportServer\ v9\Admin:MSReportServer_ConfigurationSetting"; ManagementClass serverClass; ManagementScope scope; scope = new ManagementScope(WmiNamespace); scope.Connect();// Connect to the Reporting Services namespace. // Create the server class. serverClass = new ManagementClass(WmiRSClass); // Connect to the management object. serverClass.Get(); if (serverClass == null) throw new Exception("No class found"); // Loop through the instances of the server class. ManagementObjectCollection instances = serverClass.GetInstances(); foreach (ManagementObject instance in instances) { Console.Out.WriteLine("Instance Detected"); PropertyDataCollection instProps = instance.Properties; foreach (PropertyData prop in instProps) { string name = prop.Name; object val = prop.Value; Console.Out.Write("Property Name: " + name); if (val != null) Console.Out.WriteLine(" Value: " + val.ToString()); else Console.Out.WriteLine(" Value: <null>"); } } } } }
Q	When I try to set up a subscription, I get the error: SQL Agent service is not running. This operation requires the SQL Agent service. (rsSchedulerNotResponding ). What should I do?
A	Make sure that the SQL Agent service is running. The agent must be running on the SQL Server that hosts the SSRS catalog.
Q	When I click the Print icon on the Report Manager's Toolbar, nothing happens. What should I do?
A	Because this button invokes an ActiveX control, make sure that the browser you are using supports ActiveX and that the browser's security allows downloading and running of signed ActiveX controls. After you allow your browser to run signed ActiveX, clear temporary Internet files, including offline content. If your browser asks your permission to download a print control, allow your browser to do so.
Q	I am getting an error [rsInvalidReportParameterDependency]: The report parameter 'ParameterA' has a DefaultValue or a ValidValue that depends on the report parameter 'ParameterB'. Forward dependencies are not valid. What should I do?
A	SSRS allows creating dependent parameters. Dependent parameters have to follow in the sequence. In this particular example, ParameterB serves as a parameter to a query that retrieves ParameterA values. When you open the Report, Report Parameters menu, notice that ParameterA is ahead of ParameterB in the sequence of parameters. Rearrange the parameters so ParameterA follows ParameterB by pressing the Up/Down Arrow button in the Report Parameters dialog box.
Q	I am getting an error that starts with " Unable to find Reporting Services WMI... " while attempting to activate a Report Server. What should I do?
A	In a scale-out configuration, when activating a new Report Server, you must activate it from an existing machine in the cluster. From a machine that is already activated, run the following command: rsactivate -m <machinename> . The existing machine then gets the symmetric key and encrypts it using the new machine's public key, hence completing the initialization (activation) process.