Basic Report Design - Professional SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services - page 102

Images, Background Color, and Transparency
The image item doesn't have a BackgroundColor property. If an image is placed on the report body or a
container item with a background color, transparency effects will work as you would expect. If you place
an image in the cell of a table, the image replaces the text box that would normally occupy the cell,
which prevents that cell from having a background color. To work around this, place a rectangle in the
table cell and then place the image in the rectangle. This will give you the ability to set a background
color and then allows a transparent graphic to share the same space as the colored cell area.
Subreport Item
A subreport is a container for another report embedded into a parent report. The subreport can contain
practically any other report with its own, independent data source. It can optionally have its data linked
to a key or value in the main report, often referred to as a master/detail report. Subreports are an impor-
tant element in complex report designs. Figure 4-41 shows a simple report containing a master record
and related detail records in the subreport.
Figure 4-41
The design details of the subreport are not visible in the designer. This report is designed separately and
then inserted into the main report as a subreport item.
Be cautious about using subreports with large results. This report item is appropriate for embedding
unrelated content within a report that is bound to a different data source or for detail rows related to few
master records. Although this may be a useful technique for consolidating reusable report content, it can
be very inefficient when compared with some other techniques. For example, if you create a complex
query to return all related data in a single result set; a single table item may be used in place of the sub-
report and may prove to be more efficient.
Chart Report Item
The chart functionality in Reporting Services is really a simplified version of charting components that
Microsoft has licensed from Dundas Software. It's a very capable and easy-to-use charting solution with
a variety of available chart types.
Probably the most common and most recognizable chart type is the column chart. The example in Figure
4-42 shows sales data for a given year, grouped by quarter and the sales territory. The total sales amount
is plotted on the Y-axis (columns) of the chart.