Report Builder - Professional SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services - page 397

Administration
This section covers a few topics on administration and Report Builder. First, it looks at the client machine
requirements, then it discusses permissions required to save reports, and finally it outlines strategies for
organizing user reports.

The first thing pointed out in this chapter is that the Report Builder is not just a simple web application.
Report Builder is a Windows client delivered over the Internet. To support this functionality, users will
have to have the Microsoft .NET 2.0 Framework. Microsoft has no plans to ship Report Builder to sup-
port earlier versions of the .NET Framework.

When using the Report Builder, users save reports to the Report Server. In order to save rdl files (the
structured file created by the Report Builder), a user must have publish permissions. Using Report
Manager, you can grant permissions on different folders and set the user role to Publisher. Publisher is
a default item-level role created when Reporting Services is installed. This role will have sufficient item-
level permissions to add and remove reports. However, it also has permissions to create folders, remove
models, and handle a few other tasks that you might not want your users to perform.

If you are concerned about giving users too high a level of permissions, there are two approaches you
can use either independently or together. The first approach is to create your own item-level role. Within
the role, you can limit the users' actions to simply managing reports. This will eliminate their ability to
move or delete folders, data sources, and other items. If you still want more granular control, you can
take advantage of the My Reports feature. This feature can be enabled from either Management Studio
or Report Manager. By enabling My Reports, you give the users their own personal folder. They can
publish content, add folders, and generally have control over their own small area in the Report Server.
This feature has been available since Reporting Services 2000; however, there was never a real need for
it. With the Report Builder, I believe it will become a much more popular option.

For more information on setting permissions, take a look at the administration chapters later in this
topic.

Summary
In this chapter, you looked at creating ad hoc reports. Ad hoc reports require two major components.
First, you need a semantic model that puts your data into a user-friendly form. You saw that Reporting
Services 2005 has a Report Model project that will help you create a user-friendly model. Second, users
will need an easy-to-use tool with familiar interfaces. You saw that the Report Builder provides both a
rich user experience and a familiar Microsoft Office-like look and feel.

After reading this chapter, you should have an understanding of :

❑ How to create new reports with Report Builder.

❑ How the different layouts can be used to create interesting reports.

❑ How to format report items.