Myth: Can you return sub reports from other report projects
Hey Folks, in this continuation of this blog series we will try to figure out another myth. Today we will investigate and try to determine if it’s possible to use a report from another project as a sub-report.
In my current SSRS report project I have 2 reports. However, I would like to be able to use another report called IsAlive from another report project called Number5. This should be easy enough because all I have to do is add a sub-report and reference the third report.
As you can see from the image above when I add a sub-report to my Johnny5 report you can see that we’re limited to only the reports from within our current SSRS project.
Luckily for us though we can reference SSRS reports from other projects as long as they have been deployed out to the report server. So in our current report we can reference this third report using a relative path. You can set up the relative path in the ReportName of the sub-report properties as shown below.
So now go ahead a preview your report. Even if you did everything correctly you will see an error message similar to mine below.
So our myth isn’t looking to good is it? However, what happens when we deploy our new report to the report server?
It should work if all of the reports have been deployed to the report server and all of the relative paths are correct. In my example the sub-report is just an image.
A quick review, I have a report that we just created called Johnny5 that has been deployed to a folder named ShortCircuit on the report server. I have another report that was already created called IsAlive that has been deployed to another folder named Number5 on the report server. In the Johnny5 report we referenced this third report (IsAlive) using the relative path in the sub-report properties.
Myth confirmed, you can use reports as sub-reports from other projects.
Myth: Report Parts can only be published through BIDS/SSDT?
Recently I heard some chatter about Report Parts. In this conversation I heard this, ‘Report Parts can only be published from within BIDS.’
Luckily for me I knew this to be false because I had just published a few Report Parts from report builder.
Once you’re in the report builder and you have the (Chart, Image, Tablix, Etc.) that you want to publish as a Report Part Completed. All you have to do is click on the SQL Server logo on the top left hand of the screen and select ‘Publish Report Parts.’ After you click on this it will prompt you on how to upload the report part just as you would from within BIDS.
After the Report Parts have been published navigate to the appropriate folder in the Report Manager to confirm they have been uploaded.
Dashboard Design Do’s and D’oh: But it’s so Pretty
This is the first part of a series of blogs I will be doing over the next several weeks pertaining to dashboard design so stay tuned.
When I first started to create and work with dashboards I always thought you needed to make it as flashy as possible. I would always use a heap of bright colors with gauges and indicators galore. Looking back at it I thought they looked great and was proud of what I was able to create. I am not saying that the use of bright colors, gauges, and indicators are bad but use them wisely. Use them in a way that highlights something good or bad just don’t use them across the board. Try to keep it basic and use neutral earth tone colors. I didn’t believe this at first either but after seeing other dashboards with more neutral colors it clearly made sense. I also realized that I was more concerned of creating something that looked flashy and not as concerned about displaying the data in an easy to digest way. I now realize that the purpose of a dashboard is to provide a clear message to the person viewing it. Just like when you’re driving down the street your cars dashboard is designed to give you a quick glimpse of how it’s operating. You should try to do the same thing when creating your dashboard as well.
The definition of a dashboard according to Stephen Few the author of Information Dashboard Design is this ,“A dashboard is the visual display of the most important information needed to achieve one or more objectives which fits entirely on a single computer screen so it can be monitored at a glance.”
Below are a few examples of what I mean.
Here’s an example in my opinion of a dashboard that’s too busy.
Here’s a better example of dashboard in my opinion that displays the data more clearly without all the distraction.
Here are a few resources that may be useful to you when creating and working with dashboards.
http://www.amazon.com/Information-Dashboard-Design-Effective-Communication/dp/0596100167
And mostly just remember just because it’s new and shiny doesn’t make it better.
ChrisAlbrektson 