Report Server Administration - Professional SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services - page 461

❑ ReportServerTempDB: As its name implies, the ReportServerTempDB database is where more

temporary information is stored. Short-life-span data includes information to manage user ses-
sions and cached report data.

This database differs from the ReportServer database. If the ReportServerTempDB database is
lost, the Report Server will automatically rebuild it. The data in the previous instance is lost, but
it was only temporary anyway. Depending on how heavily you rely on caching, for example,
you may see slower response times from the server until the cache is rebuilt.

Client Applications
Client applications access the server via the SOAP and URL requests. The Report Manager application
that comes standard with Reporting Services is one example. Many third-party software vendors also
offer their own client applications for creating and working with reports. These apps work against the
same Report Server API as the intrinsic tools do. Let's take a look at the client tools included with
Reporting Services.

Client Components
A variety of client applications are included with Reporting Services. Third-party applications are also
available to suit specific uses. These client apps include the Report Designer, Report Builder, SQL Server
Management Studio, and the Reporting Services Configuration Manager.

❑ Report designer: Report designer is the authoring tool that's integrated with Visual Studio 2005.

Visual Studio must already be installed on the machine for the report designer to install. The report
project file extension ( .rptproj ) is also registered with the operating system to open the report
designer in Visual Studio by default. From Visual Studio, reporting projects can be managed in
Visual Source Safe to provide version and access control.

❑ Web browser: On the client, a web browser is commonly used to view and manage reports.

When running reports, DHTML is the default rendering format, so viewing them in a web
browser like Internet Explorer 6 or better is a natural. Since Report Manager is an ASP.NET web
application, managing report server content and viewing rendered reports can both be done
using the same web browser. Report Manager, if you'll recall, is the tool included with
Reporting Services to help manage content in the report server database. It's discussed in detail
in Chapter 10.

❑ Report Builder: This tool allows a developer to create report models, from which users can cre-

ate their own reports. The Report Builder is covered in Part III.

❑ SQL Server Management Studio: SQL Server Management Studio is a new “one-stop” shop for

a variety of SQL Server management tasks. Opening the application brings up the Connect to
Server dialog box, where you can select the Reporting Services server to work with.

Once the Management Studio is open, you have access to all the normal tasks needed to manage the
Report Server content, just as in the Report Manager web application. From this interface, you can create
and modify schedules and perform other typical Report Server management tasks. Figure 11-2 shows an
example of modifying the Data Source properties of a report in SQL Server Management Studio.