January 24, 2006 at 10:01 am
I'm sorry guys, it is probably just me, but I thought it would be nice to check.
I've spent the best part of 2 months evaluating SQL server as a global reporting system and the only rational conclusion I can come to is that it is a pile of festering donkey droppings.
Am I stupid?
All I am trying to do is create a central reporting system. My first plan was to use SSIS to create all my data into a central source, drop it into the report model, then allow my users to merrily create reports from it.
That sounds easy enough doesn't it?
I slowly came to the conclusion that if I wanted to redefine my reporting model in SSIS I would have to reengineer every single existing stored procedure from the base data up in order to create a relational metadata model, which isn't practical for the moment, so I cheated and brought my reports directly into tables on the SQL server and hacked the data a bit until I had a relational model which I could run through the Report Modeller.
Ok, so I managed then to recreate this in the report modeller and off I trot into report designer to try and create a report.
There's some nice ideas in there, for instance the model displays data within the framework of the relationships defined, so it is pretty intuitive to design a report based on that. Then I discovered that it appears to evaluate expressions at the database level rather than at runtime, which is useless.
For instance I have two tables which are related. In one I have multiple rows of paper used, in another I have the roll ID and a price. ALL I WANT TO DO IS MULTIPLY THE PRICE BY THE NUMBER OF KILOS OF PAPER USED. There appears to be some evaluation which goes on during the model build which doesn't allow me to do this, instead it throws an aggregated value out which is so useless I can't even derive where it is coming from. This is supposed to give the user control over their own reports, I don't understand why I can't do a simple calculation so I don't see why my users should.
So I gave up and went straight into the report builder, but when I found I couldn't even drag and drop tables from the server I am working on to the report but have to write raw SQL instead I gave up and wrote this.....
I mean, I'm not the world's most technical person, OK I have a good degree in Computer Science and have worked with reporting systems and SQL for years, but surely I shouldn't need six months solid training just to get some useful information out of this thing????
January 25, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Well, a couple of your problems are because things aren't quite obvious. You can design a GUI query when things start by right-clicking the query window, I believe. I remember coming across it in a way that wasn't quite intuitive, but I'm a SQL guy so I typically have the code already written when I start a report.
As for the expressions within the report itself, it's possible to do this - =Fields!Column1.Value * Fields!Column2.Value or similar should work for that. I know I do it somewhat regularly with the Expression builder.
As for the Framework, I don't know much about that because I haven't played with 2005 too much yet. I need to do that soon to get more knowledge of the product.
Viewing 2 posts - 1 through 1 (of 1 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply