I''m trying to find a low cost sql reporting tool

Question

I''m trying to find a low cost sql reporting tool

andrewthedev

SSChasing Mays

Points: 652
More actions
September 12, 2007 at 8:30 am

#118609

Good Morning everyone,
I have a strong need at my company for a very robust sql database reporting tool. We currently have an in house developed software program that interfaces with our DB very well, however it has it's limitations on fields and tables it can pull from due to security issues.
I am looking for a relatively low cost program that company administrators, operation managers and our executive sales team could use to pull any/all fields from any/all tables within the database preferably using some type of GUI that allows "drag and drop" functionality so as not to confuse these people with having to type out their queries.
I am sure there are numerous products out there that would adhere to my exact need but I have great trust in the opinions of the members in this forum community. Any feedback you could present to me would be greatly appreciated.
Also, if I have posted this topic in the wrong section of the forums I apologize.
Best Regards,
Andrew

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply

Antares686 SSC Guru Points: 125444 More actions · Answer 1

If you have SQL 2005 then look at reporting Services for SQL Server. As you can run it on the same server at no additional charge and it has the ability to setup adhoc reporting.

Otherwise I don't know of anything with a low cost and that type of functionality myself.

andrewthedev SSChasing Mays Points: 652 More actions · Answer 2

My apologies - I have posted in the wrong section. I have SQL Server 2000, not 2005.

Thank you for your feedback!

Ivanna Noh SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4138 More actions · Answer 3

as far as i know Reproting Services is available for SQL 2000 as well - its free, easy to use and has some nice features - the simplest of which are based on the IIF construct

Mal D SSC Enthusiast Points: 196 More actions · Answer 4

I can absolutely recommend SSRS !! The WOW factor is huge and so is the potential company exposure (and good way to do a bit of showing off :cool. Be aware that there slight differences between SSRS 2000 and 2005 but not enough to discourage you. here are a couple

1. There is no date picker for the parameter input.

2. The encryption keys can become corrupt (keep a backup !!).

3. The expression builder for IIF statements is a little primative, but workable.

All in all Two Thumbs Up for me !!!

CodeOn

Joe Clifford SSCrazy Eights Points: 8739 More actions · Answer 5

Reporting services + report model(s) is definitely the way to go if cost is a factor. You may want to see if you can use the SQL 2005 version of reporting services, even if the underlying database is SQL 2000, as the 2005 version has some features not available in SQL 2000... if you're under an Software Assurance or Enterprise Agreemnt you may well have the rights to install/use SQL 2005 reporting services without having to upgrade to SQL 2005 for your database services.

Joe

R. M. Joseph Old Hand Points: 368 More actions · Answer 6

There is one Reporting tool, called 1key from Maia Intelligence. It can work with SQL 2000 and 2005.

R. M. Joseph

andrewthedev SSChasing Mays Points: 652 More actions · Answer 7

I'd like to thank you all for taking the time to voice your opinions on this subject. It is much appreciated! This is by far the best forum I've ever been on.

It looks like SSRS is the best way to go but I will definitely check out 1key as well.

Sincerely,

Andrew

Jack Corbett SSC Guru Points: 184394 More actions · Answer 8

I would definitely recommend SSRS if you can get 2005 and use the report builder + models as already suggested. If you can't do that MS Acess comes to mind. You would need to setup the ODBC connection and linked tables, but then the users could use the Access query tool to create queries. It is not exactly a report writer, so, unless they know haw to use the Access report writer, they would not have "pretty" data returned, but would have data in "spreadsheet" format and could export to Excel.

BTW-I am not an Access fan, but it can be used for this because of the GUI query writer and a fairly intuitive report writer.

Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
Check out these links on how to get faster and more accurate answers:
Forum Etiquette: How to post data/code on a forum to get the best help
Need an Answer? Actually, No ... You Need a Question

R. Brush SSCommitted Points: 1669 More actions · Answer 9

Adding a comment to Jack Corbett's post, you can use MS Access' ADP (project) file type to connect directly to SQL Server. You won't need to use ODBC.

trey_johnson Mr or Mrs. 500 Points: 568 More actions · Answer 10

You might want to take a look at Cizer.Net Reporting (http://www.cizer.com)

It was rolled out as part of a joint development program with Microsoft at the time of the SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services release. Cizer.Net Reporting produces report definition language and uses SQL 2000 or 2005 Reporting Services for rendering.

It supports "ad-hoc" report design off of Tables, Views and Parameterized queries in a simplistic end-user manner. Additionally, it supports development of full feature reports via the browser (no ActiveX, no SmartClient, no Semantic Data Models).

Being part of the Cizer team (although not a salesperson), I can say it is well worth looking at to satisfy your requirements. There are a few different licensing models but all are VERY economical.

If you'd like an evaluation, contact sales AT cizer dot com. If you'd like to discuss personally with me, my email is tjohnson AT cizer dot com.

Cheers!

Trey Johnson | Chief Business Intelligence Architect | Cizer Software (www.cizer.com)

Who? - Cizer - http://www.cizer.com/about.htm - Blog - http://www.sqlserverbi.com/
What? - Products enhancing Microsoft Business Intelligence - http://www.cizer.com/products.htm
Wow! - Empower your Developers.... NEW Drop In Reporting - http://www.cizer.com/cnr-drop-in-reporting.htm
How? - BI Training - http://www.cizer.com/training.htm - Cizer Solutions - http://www.cizer.com/solutions.htm

maya potiyevskaya SSCrazy Points: 2091 More actions · Answer 11

if you have SQL 2000, they will ship you SSRS for $10.

here is the link to SSRS demo: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/previousversions/rs/rs_authoringdemo.mspx

this will get you started.

SSRS 2005 is a part of SQL Server 2005 and more automated. plus, it has a Report Builder where your business users get to build their own reports from the reporting models. but again, SSRS 2000 is enough to build reports. Also, it integrates so well with ASP.NET, in case if you want to navigate from your Report to a web form where Users get to write data back.

have fun!

Ivanna Noh SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4138 More actions · Answer 12

personally I would steer clear of Access altogether. Although the SQL tables can be linked from Access, I have found Access to be fairly unstable, and every so often it becomes corrupt. Given that your tables are alreasdy in SQL, it makes sense to use SSRS - much more powereful than the native Access reporting functionality, and IMHO deisgning reports in SSRS is a more useful skill to develop. Reports can also be published to a report server and accessed by others on the network etc. just my 2c worth