August 13, 2014 at 5:31 am
We are just staring to use SQL Reporting Services in a SQL 2008 R2 environment, and I'm wondering how to set it up so that multiple users can work well together.
I have installed BIDS and Report Builder locally. I have created a "shared" data source and a report and have set it up so that it emails out a spreadsheet daily. All good.
But, should we have a file share set up so that "shared" data sources can indeed be shared? Can BIDS be set up to look at a file share for the data sources that have already been set up? ...or should each user use their own "shared" data sources?
Should this file share include project files? Can BIDS be set up on each local install so that the file share is the default project location?
Any other considerations??? Thanks for your help!
August 13, 2014 at 10:47 am
Let's talk some basics. There are 2 types of data sources in SSRS, shared and embedded. A shared data source is a an XML file with a data source definition that is referenced by a report, while an embedded data source is has the data source definition embedded within the report. An embedded data source can only be used by that one report, while a shared data source can be referenced by multiple reports in the same project. When a report is deployed to a report server any shared data sources for that report are deployed as well, if they do not already exist at that location on the report server. This is part of the project configuration. So if I have 2 report projects, Sales & Inventory, and both are configured to place their shared data sources in //reportserver/datasources and both have a shared data source named SalesSystem, then the SalesSystem data source will only be deployed to the report server one time. The shared data source will exist in both projects because in development in BIDS each project has to have it's own data sources defined.
Having gotten that out of the way here are some direct answers to your questions:
But, should we have a file share set up so that "shared" data sources can indeed be shared?
I would say you could have all your shared data sources in a file share and use that one location, but I wouldn't say that you should.
Can BIDS be set up to look at a file share for the data sources that have already been set up? ...or should each user use their own "shared" data sources?
This really isn't a BIDS setting, but you could, in each project, do add existing item and select the needed shared data source from the file share. This works because the project actually just stores a reference to the path of the object (data source, report, dataset, etc...) and doesn't actually embed the object in the project.
Should this file share include project files?
I'd say no, but I'm going to tell you why later in the post when I tell you how I would set things up.
Can BIDS be set up on each local install so that the file share is the default project location?
Yes. Under tools - > options -> projects and solutions.
Any other considerations?
Here's where I'll tell you what I really think :-P.
1. Reports and their related objects (data sources, etc...) are code and should be under source control. There are plenty of free source control options out there if you don't want to pay for TFS and there is actually a free cloud-based TFS option for small shops, I think up to 5 users (http://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/visual-studio-homepage-vs.aspx). If you go free, I'd get subversion and then use TortoiseSVN and RocketSVN (Visual Studio add-in).
2. Once you have your report projects in source control then all your users/developers work from source control (essentially your source control system is your file share).
3. You now have the added benefits that source control brings:
1. Change history - meaning if I mess up a report I can roll back to the previous versions
2. Versioning
3. Check-in comments so you know why changes were made.
4. A place for a build and deploy tool to point to to automate builds and deployment
Jack Corbett
Consultant - Straight Path Solutions
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August 14, 2014 at 7:02 am
Thanks, Jack
I very much appreciate the time that you took to clarify this for me. We have TFS, but it's currently only used for c# projects.
Time to learn TFS...
Again, thank you!
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