Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
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Report Migration and Integration
We are beginning to see applications and products that have the ability to create report definitions for
Reporting Services. The Extensible Report Definition Language allows reports to be created, converted,
or modified by custom tools. For example, we've worked with products from Panorama and Cizer that
provide custom report designer front ends within their own web browser-based business intelligence
reporting applications. These products put report design capabilities in front of corporate business users
without installing complex desktop report-authoring software.
Because RDL is simply an XML grammar, building reports can be performed programmatically with rel-
ative ease. Because of the complexities of parsing and deciphering proprietary report formats, convert-
ing existing reports from other products is more complicated. To date, there are no universal report
conversion utilities on the market. The capability to perform report conversion is a common request
from businesses that have already invested in older, expensive reporting products and want to migrate
to Reporting Services. Hitachi Consulting offers report migration as service rather than a product for this
reason. If this is an option that you or your company is considering, report migration may be more cost-
effective than starting from scratch.
A point to consider is that the fundamental approach for designing reports most effectively may be quite
different using different products. A “converted” report (one you designed in another tool) may not run
efficiently and may deny you the flexibility to use Reporting Services to its full capability.
Importing Access Reports
Using the Report Designer, you have the ability to import reports from Microsoft Access. Access has an
excellent report writer and has long been the only real substantial reporting tool in the Microsoft armada
of products. Since the early 1990s, Access was the product of choice for creating reporting solutions and
still is for many desktop solutions. Its greatest limitation, however, is that Access must be installed on
the user's desktop and can effectively be used only in a single-user or small-network environment.
If you are already familiar with creating reports in Access, this may be a good starting point to learn
report design in Reporting Services. Most basic Access reports can be imported very nicely. There are
some functions and expressions used in Access that are not supported, and Access reports that run pro-
gram code behind them will likely not work without some adjustments. These details are explained in
Appendix A, but the short version is that most basic report functionality will work. Grouping and sort-
ing features are preserved, as are most expressions and formatting. The use of domain functions and any
custom code is not supported.
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