• Harden MS Reporting Services Using Custom Extensions (Part 2 of 2)

    February 2, 2005 / No Comments »

    The second part of my article for DevX. In Part 1, you learned to create a custom security model for Microsoft Reporting Services. Now, tighten the screws by adding role membership authentication and stave off problems by troubleshooting and debugging your custom extensions ahead of time. 

  • Writing custom rendering extensions

    January 30, 2005 / 1 Comment »

    As you probably know, the custom rendering specification wasn't documented with RS 2000. The features set was there, only the information was lacking. The SQL Server 2005 Beta 2 documentation now includes the rendering extension specification. James Yip has written an excellent article about writing custom rendering extensions in the February issue of the MSDN magazine. As you can imagine, custom renderers are not trivial to write. For this reason, I highly recommend you check for availability of third-party rendering extensions that support the rendering format you need before you embark on this journey. For example, as I mention in one of previous posts, SoftArtisians provides flexible Excel and Word rendering extensions. Happy rendering!

  • Article here, article there…RS, RS everywhere

    January 15, 2005 / 1 Comment »

    Some of my recent writings see daylight: The publisher of my book donated Chapter 1 of my book (Introducing Microsoft Reporting Services) to The Code Project website. It is available for free access here http://www.codeproject.com/books/MSReportingServices.asp?msg=1015597#xx1015597xx DevX published part 1 of my two-part article about RS Forms Authentication. It is available for free access here http://www.devx.com/dotnet/Article/26759. MSDN has picked up my article first published by Pinnacle Publications  in the November issue of the Visual Basic Developer magazine. The article demonstrates how to leverage Reporting Services to generate reports on the server side of ASP.NET applications using a custom web control called AwReportViewer. You can read the article and download the sample code here (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnhcvb04/html/vb04k8.asp).

  • Introducing Microsoft Reporting Services

    January 15, 2005 / No Comments »

    The publisher donated Chapter 1 of my book (Introducing Microsoft Reporting Services) to The Code Project website. It is available for free access here http://www.codeproject.com/books/MSReportingServices.asp?msg=1015597#xx1015597xx

  • Harden MS Reporting Services Using Custom Extensions (Part 1 of 2)

    January 15, 2005 / No Comments »

    DevX published part 1 of my two-part article about RS Forms Authentication. It is available for free access here http://www.devx.com/dotnet/Article/26759.   "One of the most useful features of Microsoft Reporting Services is its extensibility model. Just about any aspect of Reporting Services can be custom-tailored to meet your specific requirements. Part one of this two-part series explains how to replace the default Windows-based security model of Reporting Services with forms authentication security. First, you'll learn the ropes of implementing forms authentication security and how you can leverage it for Web-based reporting. Then you'll enhance the form's authentication extension by adding role-membership features to simplify the security maintenance." Enjoy it!

  • Service Pack 2 brings client-side printing

    January 1, 2005 / No Comments »

    Printing reports was akward with RS 2000 to say the least. This was especially true when the reports were rendered in HTML since in this case the report is generated inside an IFRAME element. Since the frame could scroll right-clicking and engaging the standard browser printing was problematic. As a workaround, the report had to be exported in PDF format (or other non-HTML renderer) and printed as such. You will be happy to know that SP2 puts this issue to rest by supporting client-side printing in the form of the new print control which allows printing of a report on the client side (inside the browser). This control makes printing a report a breeze. Once you install Service Pack 2 and request a report, you will see a new toolbar button added to the report toolbar (between the Refresh Report and Help buttons).   The print control is implemented as...

  • Where is my ecryption key gone?

    December 31, 2004 / No Comments »

    As I stressed out in one of my previous posts and my book, it is an absolute must that you back up the RS encryption key as one of the first steps after you install RS and lock it up in a safe place. You can back up the encryption key this by using the rskeymgmt utility as follows: rskeymgmt -e -f <filename> -p <password> Trust me on this--sooner or later you will need that key. One situation when you will definately need it is after resetting the ASP.NET account either by explicitly invoking aspnet_regiis.exe or when installing a new version of the .NET framework. For example, recently I installed .NET Framework Beta 2 which effectively reset the ASP.NET account. This caused RS to invalidate the encryption key. As a result, when navigating to the Report Manager, I got the dreaded error: "The report server cannot decrypt the symmetric key used to...

  • You better watch out…SP2 is coming to town

    December 23, 2004 / 3 Comments »

    While we still have to wait for a couple of more months to get the official release, Santa is giving us a Beta preview of the forthcoming RS 2000 SP2. Key new features include: Reporting Services SharePoint Web Parts enable you to explore and view reports located on a report server by using Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services or SharePoint Portal Server. A set of Reporting Services SharePoint Web Parts are installed with SP2. These Web Parts are called Report Explorer and Report Viewer. Using Report Explorer, you can browse available reports on a report server. Using Report Viewer, you view reports hosted on a report server. Included with Report Explorer is a subscription function that allows you to receive reports by e-mail. Both Web Parts are optimized to run within the SharePoint environment; however, they can be run as standalone components also. Yes, the wait is over! SP2 comes with...

  • A case for self-publishing

    December 12, 2004 / 1 Comment »

    An interesting trend has been building momentum recently which has caught my attention. More and more authors are choosing self-publishing as a viable option to commercial publishing. Interestingly, I haven’t come across a technical author who is happy with commercial publishers and has good things to say about them. Although I am not excluding the probability that there may be a few enlighten commercial publishers, the common pattern for aspiring authors is as follows. In the worst scenario, the author doesn’t find a publisher that is willing to carry the book. Even if the author does find a publisher, things are not much better since the odds are stacked against the author. Hardly believing the incredible luck that a well-established publisher would actually debase itself to express interest in the author’s idea, the author signs a contract without much negotiation fearing that any opposition may be a deal-breaker. And it...

  • Get a sneak preview on RS 2005 and more…

    December 9, 2004 / 1 Comment »

    Brian Welcker, Group Program Manager for Reporting Services, will do awebcast on RS 2005 tomorrow at 10 am pacific time. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the new features in RS 2005 from the ultimate authority on this subject. You can subscribe to the event by following this link https://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastRegistrationConfirmation.aspx?culture=en-US&RegistrationID=5154053. There are more webcasts scheduled for tomorrow later during the day including Integration Services (aka DTS) and Analysis Services 2000. Get a sick day tomorrow or a day off and don't miss tomorrow's webcast rollercoaster ride :-(

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