Report Items, Visual Effects, and Charting

Presentation elements in SSRS are called report items. Report items are very similar to visual controls available in Visual Studio languages, such as Visual Basic and C#. Report items are classified as data regions, containers, and independent report items. Data regions support grouping and sorting of data and provide repetitive display of rows (or groups of rows) from a data set associated with a data region. Independent report items display a single value or a single image.

Containers contain other report elements, including data regions. A container is fixed when the position of a report item is fixed. Most, but not all, of the containers are also data regions. Thus, data regions can be nested within other data regions.

Note

Report Builder does not support nested data regions.

Developers can create visual effects by using rectangles, lines, and images (embedded or referenced) in a report. SSRS has extensive capabilities to specify properties of items on a report, including border, color, background color , and so on. For example, a report can include bold totals and red negative numbers . A report can include score card graphics, like a traffic light, with red indicating problematic areas and green highlighting areas where everything is well.

In addition to static graphical images, reports can include charts. Just like any other data region, a chart has to be associated with one of the report's data sets to be able to display data. See Figure 2.3 for sample charts .

Figure 2.3. Report using bar and pie charts.

A chart has comprehensive functionality and is very similar by capabilities to an Excel chart with a variety of chart types, 3-D effects, and more. Unlike an Excel chart, an SSRS chart does not build a trend line internally; however, this limit can be overcome by calculating values for a trend line in the data set and then providing it to a chart.

Note

The chart control used in this release of Reporting Services is licensed from Dundas Software (www.dundas.com). In addition, a more comprehensive version of the chart can be purchased from Dundas Software.

List, Table, Matrix, and Chart report items are data regions. The Line, Text Box, Image, Rectangle, and Subreport report are independent items. Table 2.1 provides a summary of SSRS design elements.

Table 2.1. Report Items

Design Element	Description	Data Region	Container
Table	Presents data with static columns and expands row by row. Allows developers to group and sort rows of data. Can have multiple groups. Table is faster than Matrix and List, which makes Table the fastest of all data regions. Table is a very powerful control and can be used for most reports.	Yes	Fixed
Matrix	Capable of having a dynamic number of rows and columns and expands row by row and column by column. Can act like a table (fixed columns, dynamic rows) or like a transposed table (fixed rows and dynamic columns).Allows developers to group and sort rows and columns of data. Can have multiple groups. Matrix can also be used when you want to transpose your data, that is, when you want to turn records into columns of your data. Also knownas cross-tab or pivot.	Yes	Fixed
List [1]	Presents data in a free-form fashion for complex repeating areas. List repeats items based on the associated data set. Allows developers to group and sort rows of data. A single list can have only a single group, but lists can be nested within each other to provide multiple grouping.	Yes	Free-form
Chart	Provides a graphic presentation of data. Supports bar, pie, line, and many more chart types. Functionality is comparable to an Excel chart.	Yes	Fixed
Text Box	Displays all text data in the report. A table or matrix cell is a text box by default. Individual text boxes can be placed anywhere on a report and can include labels, data set fields, or calculated data.	No	No
Image	Displays an image. An image can be loaded from a URL, embedded in a report, or stored in a database. SSRS supports .bmp , .jpeg , .jpe , .gif , and .png image formats.	No	No
Line	Graphical element with no data associated with it. Can be placed anywhere on a report. Has styles commonly associated with lines: weight, color, and so on.	No	No
Rectangle	Provides a graphical element or a container for other report items. Can be placed anywhere on a report.	No	Free-form
Subreport	Provides a container for the body of another report on the report server. Better performance can be achieved by using data regions, instead of subreports.	No	Free-form

^[1] This item is not supported in Report Builder. All other items in this table are supported by both Report Designer and Report Builder.