Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Groupings and Drill-Down
Records in a report may be sorted and grouped. Each group can be collapsed and expanded to drill
down into more detail. This capability gives users the ability to explore large sets of data without the
need to scroll though long, multipage reports. The report may also be printed in its expanded form.
Drill-Through Reports
A drill-through report can be any standard form, tabular, or pivot table report that contains links to a
separate report. Any textbox item may used as a link to provide drill-through capability. Key values are
hidden with the link and passed as a parameter to the target report for filtering.
Multicolumn Reports
A report may contain multiple columns. List or tabular rows are repeated vertically within a column and
then
snake
from one column to the next, filling the page. This type of format is ideal for optimizing page
space for labels and contact information.
Matrix
A matrix is like a cross-tab or a pivot table in which the rows and columns roll up summary values and
may be expanded or collapsed to expose more or less detail. It is a simple and easy-to-use control, much
like the datagrid control in ASP.NET.
Charts
Charts are used to display a graphical representation of data, typically aggregated along at least two
axes. Common types of charts are bar and column, pie and donut, line, area, and scatter charts. More
specific types of charts like stock and bubble charts are more specialized.
Data Sources
Reports can obtain data from standard data providers supported by the .NET Framework. In addition to
SQL Server, this list includes Oracle, Access, Excel, Informix, DB2, and any other databases and data
sources accessible via an OLE DB provider or Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver. Nonrelational
sources such as Active Directory Services, Exchange Server, and OLAP sources such as Analysis Services
can be queried. Developers can create custom data provider extensions — when an OLE DB provider or
ODBC driver does not exist — to make practically any type of data accessible to a report.
Queries
Each report contains a query expression within its definition. A standard Transact-SQL query builder
tool is incorporated into the report designer, capable of producing complex query expressions to be
stored in the report. Although this is the de facto behavior of the designer, keeping queries in the report
may not always be the best practice. Using a view or stored procedure from a SQL Server database can
be a far more efficient method to query enterprise data. Parameters passed to a stored procedure cause
the precompiled query to be processed on the database server before data is transferred across network
connections.
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