Verification: Preview the Report to Ascertain Effectiveness
Having
added parameterization (with multivalue input capabilities) for Territorial
Groups, and making alterations to our report file to meet business
requirements for presenting independent matrices based upon the same
geographical parameter selection at runtime, we will next perform a quick preview of the report to ascertain the effectiveness
of our solution.
1.
Click the Preview
tab to execute the RS027_Sales_Reason_Comp_Matrix report.
The
report executes, with default parameter selections, and appears as partially
shown in Illustration 49.
We see
the report appear, executed by default with "All" parameter values
selected for the parameter upon which we are focusing, Sales Territory Group.
We can verify this, not only by the three independent matrix data regions
that appear in the Preview pane, but also by taking a look at what
selections have been made within the parameter picklist.
2.
Click the dropdown
selector button
to the right of the Sales Territory Group parameter.
The
picklist is exposed, as depicted in Illustration 50.
3.
Uncheck the checkbox
for All Sales Territories in the picklist.
4.
Click the
checkboxes to the immediate left of the Europe and Pacific Territory Groups to select them, as shown
in Illustration 51.
5.
Click the View
Report button to refresh the report.
The
report executes and returns one matrix view each for the Europe and Pacific Territory Groups, as depicted in Illustration 52.
Illustration 52: Independent
Matrices for the Europe and Pacific Groups
And so,
we see that our Report Parameter does, indeed, function correctly with multiple
input values. Moreover, the need for the dynamic presentation of a
standalone matrix for each of the picklist items we chose for Sales
Territory Groups is met when the report executes.
6.
Select File
--> Save All from the main menu to save all
work to the present.
7.
Select File
--> Exit to exit MSSQL Server Business Intelligence
Development Studio
when ready.
We
have corroborated the correct operation of the newly incorporated features. We
present the results to the client information consumers, who express
satisfaction that the changes do, indeed, meet specifications.
Conclusion ...
In
this two-part article, we undertook the examination of a scenario where the dynamic nature
of the Reporting Services matrix data region makes it the "object
of choice" for enabling us to meet the expressed needs of a hypothetical
group of information consumers. Part of the requirement was to replace an
existing, but somewhat limited, matrix data region with a more robust matrix
data region that returned identical data. In Part
One, we began
by creating the new matrix data region within the same .rdl file
as the pre-existing data region upon which the new data region
was to be based. This side-by-side contrast afforded us several advantages in
a rapid development scenario, as we "converted" the original data
region to a new data region, which would act as the foundation for
innovative enhancements. Having both regions in physical parallel, made
verification of comparability between the two easy, as we finished the first
half of our examination by ensuring that both regions gave us identical
results.
In
this article, we further evolved the new matrix to meet the less
intuitive facets of the business requirements of the information consumers with
which we are working. First, we added the requested parameterization (with multivalue input
capabilities) that they had requested for territorial groups, using a multivalue
parameter. We then made further structural changes to the report, to meet the
innovative business requirement for presenting independent matrices,
based upon runtime selections within the new Sales Territory Group parameter.
Throughout the two parts of our practice session, we discussed the results we sought to
obtain within the development techniques that we exploited. Finally, we concluded with a preview of the report to ascertain the
effectiveness of our solution.
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