Set
up a Data Connection and Create a Dataset
Our next step
is to set up a Data Connection. Reporting Services can connect
with, and create the datasets it needs from, virtually any ODBC or OLE
DB-compliant data source (in addition to the obvious MSSQL Server and MSAS
data stores). .NET-based API's add the potential for other data
sources, assuming that you have a legacy, or otherwise eccentric, scenario on
your hands.
Let's set up
a Connection, and create a Dataset within our practice example.
1.
Select New Dataset in
the Dataset selector at the top of the Data tab, as depicted in Illustration
8.
As soon as we click the New Dataset selection, the Data
Link Properties dialog box appears, defaulted to the Connection tab.
2.
Type the name of the computer
housing the targeted OLTP database, AdventureWorks2000.
(My server name, MOTHER1,
appears in this article.)
3.
Select the radio button to the
left of the authentication option that is appropriate for your environment.
(Mine is Windows NT
Integrated security.)
4.
Select AdventureWorks2000
within the Select the database on the server selector.
The settings on the Connection
tab of the Data Link Properties dialog should resemble those shown in Illustration
9.
Illustration
9: Data Link Properties Dialog Connection Tab
5.
Click the Test Connection
button to verify connectivity to the data source.
We receive a message
box, indicating a successful test connection, as shown in Illustration 10.
Illustration
10: We Test Positive for Connectivity
6.
Click OK to accept the
settings we have made, and to close the Data Link Properties dialog.
Report Designer next presents us with the dataset design tool,
based upon our newly connected source. We are immediately positioned to design
our query, which brings us to the next step.
7.
Click the ellipses ("...")
button to the right of the default dataset name of AdventureWorks2000,
which appears in the Dataset selector, as shown in Illustration 11.
Illustration
11: Editing the New Dataset
8.
Enter VendorStateAllocation
for the name of the Dataset dialog box, replacing the default name of AdventureWorks2000.
(AdventureWorks2000 remains selected
for the data source by default.) The Dataset dialog appears as shown in
Illustration 12.
Illustration
12: Completed Dataset Dialog
9.
Click
OK to accept the settings and return to the Data tab, which displays
in the Generic Query Designer.
10.
Type the
following into the SQL pane:
SELECT Vendor.VendorID AS VendorID,
StateProvince.StateProvinceCode AS StateCode
FROM Address
INNER JOIN VendorAddress
ON Address.AddressID
= VendorAddress.AddressID
INNER JOIN Vendor
ON VendorAddress.VendorID
= Vendor.VendorID
INNER JOIN StateProvince
ON Address.StateProvinceID
= StateProvince.StateProvinceID
WHERE (StateProvince.StateProvinceCode IN( 'WA', 'CA', 'OR'))
As we
have noted in earlier articles in the MSSQL
Server 2000 Reporting Services series, we might have
constructed the above query using the Query Builder. Query Builder's
graphical tools are very helpful when we are unfamiliar with the database we
are querying, or if we are learning the syntax of SELECT queries.
Because it is more efficient to simply type the query into the SQL pane
of the Dataset dialog box, or in the Generic Query Designer, we
will take this route in many articles to conserve time and space. (Some queries
cannot be created through the Query Builder, due to complexity or other
complications, but the tool will serve many of us well, in most cases).
Click the
Run button (shown in Illustration 13, atop the query we have
constructed) to ascertain that the syntax is correct.
Illustration
13: Running the Query (Compact View, Run Button Circled)
As we can
see, the resulting dataset contains a simple list of Vendor IDs,
together with the respective States in which they are located. We will
rely upon this dataset to populate our pie chart in the next section. The VendorIDs
will be counted to generate number of vendors in each State (or Category,
in chart property parlance), as we shall see.
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