What is MS SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) 2008

SSRS stands for Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.

History of SQL Server reporting Services : –

For ages Microsoft was not into Reporting services competition. Microsoft SQL server didn’t have any such tool to create enriched user-friendly reports which can help the end-users to vividly visualize data stored in warehouse. Then in the year 2004, Microsoft came up with an idea of having a reporting service in the form of an add-on with SQL Server 2000. Eventually when Microsoft found the growing popularity of this add-on, it decided to put in some efforts to enhance this add-on to make it a core feature of SQL Server .And then came the existence of SQL Server 2005 with the release of reporting service along with integration and analysis services in late 2005.In the year 2010, SQL Server 2008 got released in which more features were added such as Gauge, Charts, etc.The latest version i.e. MS SQL Server 2012 is recently released in the year of 2012.

Introduction Of SSRS : –

1. Microsoft SSRS is a server based reporting tool which is used as a platform to Create, Deploy, and manage reports.
2. SQL Server 2008 Reporting services or higher versions are no longer depended on IIS (Internet Information Services) to make it easier to configure. Now, it uses HTTP.SYS which helps to reduce the attack surface of the Report server.
3. It can be designed using Microsoft Visual Studio (with Business Intelligence product) and is defined in Report Definition Language (an Extensible Markup Language).
4. With SSRS, we can create attractive and interactive reports that summarize information in ways that makes sense to business users.
5. SSRS comes as an install option with Microsoft SQL Server Developer, Standard and Enterprise editions.
6. The main Repository Database of Reporting service is Report Server.

Main Competitor Of SSRS : – SAP Crystal Reports and other Business Intelligence Reporting tools like Tableau, Cognos TM1, etc.

Features Of SSRS : – SSRS is a full featured Report engine and have many features such as:-

1. There are 2 modes in SSRS – Design mode and Preview mode. Preview mode is one of the powerful features which act as a prototype to the report author that displays the layout in which the report will be published.
2. With the use of programming languages like C# and VB, we can enhance the reporting functionality of this tool.
3. Reports can be created in various formats like Tabular, Free- form, Graphical, Interactive and the data in these reports can be visualized with the given tools such as Maps, Graphs, Charts, Sparkline, etc.
4. Query can be entered by 3 numbers of ways – Text, Table, Stored procedure.
5. SSRS provides ease for writing Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) and Data Mining Expressions(DMX) Queries by providing drag-n-drop interface.
6. While writing expressions the IntelliSense feature indicates errors in syntax of expression by underlining them with red lines. It also gives hints for the syntax format while using functions in expressions and names of class members etc.
7. SSRS allows creating ad hoc reports and saving them to the server. It also provides subscription-based reports and on-demand reports.
8. Reports can be viewed via a web browser and can be exported into many formats such as EXCEL, MS word-DOC, PDF, CSV, XML, TIFF and HTML web archive.

 SSRS Tool Box contains :-

1. Text Box.
2. Table.
3. Matrix.
4. Rectangle.
5. List.
6. Image.
7. Subreport.
8. Chart.
9. Gauge

This completes the Introduction and Features of MS Sql Server Reporting services. In next article, we will talk about the Architecture Of SSRS.