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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...
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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...
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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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The road ahead
November 21, 2004 / 1 Comment »
Many folks have been asking me about the book authoring process. “Oh, you’ve authored a book” they will gasp. Once the awe evaporates, questions start. How did you do it, how long it took, what’s the royalty fee (the most popular but usually asked last question for courtesy reasons I suppose :-). For there reasons, I would like to start a new blog category devoted on writing. In the spirit of the season, I am reflecting on the ending year and charting plans for the future. As you probably know, Microsoft is working hard on the next release of Microsoft Reporting Services which will coincide with SQL Server 2005 scheduled for an official release during the summer of 2005. One of the things I am currently contemplating is whether to write a new book on Reporting Services 2005 or not. Based on my preliminary study and knowledge of the new...
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Report-enable your web apps with Microsoft Reporting Services
October 22, 2004 / No Comments »
Pinnacle Publications published this article 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. You need a paid subscription to read it and download the code. I hope MSDN will pick it up as well in the next month or so.
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And the MVP award goes to…
October 2, 2004 / 2 Comments »
I would like to share my excitment with you that Microsoft has recognized my contribution and peer support around Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services. Today, I received the valuable Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for Windows Server System - SQL Server. This represents a major milestone in my professional career as a consultant and trainer. Thank you for helping me to achieve this status!
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Vote for my book
September 26, 2004 / 1 Comment »
If you liked my book “Microsoft Reporting Services in Action” please take a moment to vote for it at the Second Annual .NETDJ Readers' Choice Awards website. Thank you in advance for your support!
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Export to Excel and Word with SoftArtisians’ OfficeWriter
September 12, 2004 / 1 Comment »
Version 1.0 of Reporting Services doesn't support exporting reports to Microsoft Word format. It does support exporting to Excel but developers have limited control over the Excel renderer. For example, you may need provide placeholders (bookmarks in Word or markers in Excel) which will be populated during runtime with fields from your report query. SoftArtisians will release soon an RS version of their flagship product OfficeWriter which will bring flexible exporting to Excel and Word formats in the form of two additional rendering extensions. Currently, you can try out this product by subscribing to the SoftArtisians beta program here. You will most likely find the process of creating a Word or Excel report with OfficeWriter very straightforward. For example, to create a Word report you need to: 1. Create a new Word file. 2. Using the SoftArtisians Word toolbar set up a new query. Unfortunately, the query is not saved in the Word...
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Extending Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services with Custom Code
September 10, 2004 / No Comments »
In this article, I will show you how to leverage the Reporting Services unique extensible architecture to supercharge your report capabilities. First, I will explain how embedded and custom code options work. Next, I will show you how you can leverage custom code to author an advanced report with sales forecasting features. Read the full article here ...
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Supercharge your reports with custom code
September 9, 2004 / 1 Comment »
Microsoft has just published my article “Microsoft Reporting Services in Action: Extending Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services with Custom Code“ on MSDN. Excerpted from my book Microsoft Reporting Services in Action, this article demonsrates how to implement advanced features in reports by integrating them with .NET assemblies.
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