Creating SSRS reports

To use SSRS reports natively in iMIS, you work with three associated objects:

1.   Query — provides the data needed for the report.

2.   Template (Reporting Services Template, the .RDL file) — provides the formatting to display the results, such as a matrix or pie chart. IQA uses a default template that you can generate from any query, either to save in the Document System or to export as an RDL, for editing and reimport.

3.   Report (the runtime report, an iMIS output process) — binds the query and the template, sets the name, parameters, and security, and makes the report usable from an iPart or list of reports.

You can generate a default table-based SSRS report just by using the Report command in IQA. These you can export so that you can craft production-quality page layouts or add charting and graphing.

Can’t I just use IQA?

Yes, take advantage of queries and special iParts to filter and present iMIS data to your users. See Displaying query results in iParts for the growing number of query-based iParts available.

But some situations require the full power of Reporting Services. You might, for example, need

■    a different type of chart or graph than is available

■    to change the chart from listing counts to showing percentages

■    to add special header/footer and page layout for production quality

■    to output the records in list format, one per page

How hard is adding a report?

Faster than you can brew a cup of tea, you can publish a new report in iMIS. Suppose that you need a new report, and you want this report added to your site, for easy access. Without using report editors at all, you can achieve this in a few steps:

1.  Create and save your query.

2.  Click Report to generate the default report.

3.  Click Save Report Definition to iMIS. Select the name and location you want and click Save, which creates the template  and report  file, already bound to your query.

4.  Add access to your new report by adding an SSRS Report iPart (Utility folder) to an appropriate content record. Enable Excel and PDF exporting as needed.

What is the easiest way to change a report?

Suppose that you already added a default report to your site, but you now need to add a pie chart. The essential process is this:

1.  Download the RDL template: edit the query, click Report, click Save Report Definition to Workstation, and Save it.

2.  Edit it in your report writer.

□    Tutorial: Adding a Pie Chart to a Report

□    How to: Display Data Point Labels Outside a Pie Chart

3.  Upload it to iMIS as a new template: in the Document Browser, select New > Reporting Services Template, and browse to your RDL file.

4.  Update the report runtime to use it: edit the report  file, and browse to your new template.

See Getting report layouts from iMIS.