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Web ReportViewer and Multi-value Parameter Bug (or how I spent my weekend)
December 20, 2005 / 2 Comments »
This weekend, I was working on the second part of my Report Viewers article for DevX. As usual, it all started with an innocent idea which turned out into a whole-day affair. I wanted to demonstrate how to integrate the VS.NET 2005 web ReportViewer with a server report that takes a multi-value parameter. Of course, to save time to lay out the presentation layer, I decided to use absolute positioning for my web controls. Much to my surprise, the ReportViewer wouldn’t expand the multi-value parameter. It would helplessly repost the page each time I would click on a report parameter. So, I got on an ambitious and arduous quest to find out what I am doing wrong. The most puzzling finding was that the Report Manager (which behind the scenes uses the web Report Viewer) would render the report just fine. This left me utterly perplexed and convinced that I...
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My book is selling from Amazon and B&N
December 17, 2005 / No Comments »
At last, my book "Applied Microsoft Analysis Services 2005" is available for purchase from the retail outlets, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This completes the arduous and time-consuming book lifecycle which readers are probably unaware of. Here is how it goes... Once the author hands off the final manuscript to the publisher, the publisher sends the electronic copy to the printer. In the case of my book, it took one month for the printer to produce the book. Next, the printer ships the book to the distributor. Then, the distributor sends the books to the wholesalers (Ingram and Baker & Taylor). Retailers, such as Amazon and B&N, get the books from the wholesalers. So, from the time the book is received from the distributor, it takes another 30 or so days until the books fill the channels. So, setting the book publication date on Amazon is nothing more than an...
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RS 2005 RDL Available
December 9, 2005 / No Comments »
In his blog, Brian Welcker (Group Program Manager for Reporting Services) announced yesterday the arrival of the much anticipated RDL 2005 specification.
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RS 2005 Tips and Tricks Code Available
December 8, 2005 / No Comments »
The code samples for my web seminar "Reporting Services 2005 Tips and Tricks" can be found here. They include: Using external images (URL and web service) Expression-based connection strings XML extension to render ADO.NET datasets streamed from a web service OLAP report from SSAS CLR stored procedure integration ASP.NET Handler to echo in the incoming URL and SOAP requests to the Report Server WinReporter demo that demonstrates the WinForms ReportViewer in remote and local mode.
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New Wave of Presentation Delivery – Web Seminars
December 7, 2005 / No Comments »
Yesterday, I delivered a web seminar for WindowsITPro (sponsored by Microsoft) about RS 2005. I have to admit that I really enjoy it. I got more than 340 attendees. This broke my previous of record of 300 for my RS presentation at TechEd Europe 2004. The best thing about a web seminar is that you do it from the comfort of your house or office. No travel, hassle, and travel expenses. No cell phones and other annoying sound effects. Enjoy the silence! The questions get logged in an orderly fashion, so you could preview them before you answer (or don’t :-)). You can do polls too. What could be better? The only negative thing about this particular seminar is that I was restricted to static content only and I couldn’t share my desktop for live demos. This was a limitation of the technology WindowsITPro is using, of course. Microsoft...
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SQL Server 2005 Documentation Refresh
December 7, 2005 / No Comments »
Microsoft has released a refresh of the SQL Server 2005 documentation. On the same page, you will find also a link to a SQL Server 2005 Samples and Sample Databases download.
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Great Plains Report Pack
December 5, 2005 / No Comments »
Microsoft has come up with a new Report Pack for Great Plains which uses SQL Server Reporting Services and comes with a number of report templates.
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Using SQL Reporting Services 2005 and Forms Authentication with the Whidbey/2.0 SQLMembershipProvider
December 5, 2005 / No Comments »
As you probably know, when the RS Windows-based security doesn’t meet your requirements, you can replace it with custom security. Not many products out there allow you do this. In hist blog, Russell Christopher explains how you can use the Whidbey/2.0 SQLMembershipProvider with custom security.
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KPIUtil Tool Released
December 5, 2005 / No Comments »
Courtesy to the Marco Russo’s blog, I've learned that Microsoft released a KPIUtil tool for Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005.The tool allows users to export KPIs from both a Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005 server and a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services server.
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My Top 10 RS Wish List
December 2, 2005 / No Comments »
In the spirit of the season, I compiled a list of the top 10 things that I would love Santa to implement in the next release of Reporting Services (although it may look like this won't happen next year :-). I purposely excluded enhancements to the RS data regions since it should be relatively easily to compile a list of the feature most folks complain about in the public ng. Exposing the intrinsic RDL object model to manipulate data regions and items programmatically. It will be great if this works similar to the ASP.NET user controls where controls can be added, changed, or removed at runtime. For example, custom code should be able to reference a table region to add, remove, and bind columns at runtime. Server-side events, e.g. OnReportRender, OnBodyRender, OnPrint, OnRegionRender, etc. A supported way to maintain state in custom code. Exposing the report datasets to custom code...
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