Create
Basic "Launch" and "Target" Reports for the Practice
Exercise
Create
a Basic Launch Report from Scratch
Let’s create a basic OLAP report - a "launch"
report that contains data upon which we will base conditional drillthrough - to
fit the hypothetical business requirement we have outlined. We won’t spend a
great deal of time with formatting and other nuances of presentation – the
point here is to illustrate a conceptual option for conditional drillthrough.
1.
In Solution
Explorer, right-click the Reports folder, within the AdventureWorks
Sample Reports project that we have opened.
2.
Select Add
from the context menu that appears.
3.
Select New
Item ... from the context menu that cascades from the first, as shown in Illustration
10.
Illustration 10: Select
Add -> New Item ...
The Add
New Item dialog appears.
4.
Click Report
in the Templates pane, as required, to select it.
5.
Type the
following into the Name box at the foot of the dialog:
RS033_LAUNCH_Country_Cust Base
6.
Click the Add
button in the bottom right corner of the dialog, which should appear as
depicted in Illustration 11.
Illustration 11:
Creating a New, Blank Report
RS033_LAUNCH_Country_Cust
Base.rdl,
currently a blank canvas, opens within the design environment, and appears in
the Solution Explorer, as shown in Illustration 12.
Illustration 12: The New
Report Appears within Solution Explorer
Let’s
create a basic Dataset, upon which to base our new OLAP report.
7.
Click the Data
tab within Report Designer, to open the Data view, if it is
not already open.
8.
Using the "down
arrow" button to the right of the Dataset selector, atop the Data
tab, click <New Dataset...>, as depicted in Illustration 13.
Illustration 13: Adding
a New Dataset ...
The Dataset dialog appears, defaulted to the Query
tab.
9.
Type the
following into the Name box atop the tab:
RS033_LAUNCH_Data
10. Select AdventureWorksAS
(shared) in the Data source box just below the Name box on
the tab.
The Query
tab of the Dataset dialog appears as shown in Illustration 14.
Illustration 14: The
Dataset Dialog for Our New Dataset
11. Click OK to accept the new Dataset
definition, and to dismiss the Dataset dialog.
The MDX Query Designer opens in Design view.
12. Within the Metadata pane,
to the left of the design area, expand the Sales Territory dimension by
clicking the "+" sign to its immediate left.
13. Expand the Sales Territory hierarchy that appears underneath
the dimension (bottom item within the dimension).
The Sales Territory hierarchy expands, exposing its
members within the Metadata tree, as depicted in Illustration 15.
Illustration 15: The
Expanded Sales Territory Dimension and Hierarchy ...
14. Drag the newly exposed Sales
Territory Group into the Results pane of the Dataset design
area, as shown in Illustration 16.
Illustration 16: Adding
Sales Territory Group to the Dataset ...
Sales
Territory Group
appears as a column heading in the design area. Let’s add additional data
fields that we will need in our query.
15. Within the Metadata pane,
once again, expand the Date dimension.
16. Expand the Fiscal folder
that appears within the Date dimension.
17. Expand the Fiscal hierarchy
that appears within the Fiscal folder (bottom item within the folder).
18. Drag the newly exposed Fiscal
Year into the Results pane area, dropping it to the right of the Sales Territory Group column, as depicted in Illustration 17.
Illustration 17: Adding
Fiscal Year to the Dataset ...
Fiscal
Year now appears
as a second column heading in the Results pane area. Let’s add the measure we need to meet the expressed business
requirements.
19. Within the Metadata pane,
expand Measures.
20. Expand the Internet Sales folder
that appears within Measures.
21. Drag the Growth in Customer Base measure (actually a calculation), into the Results
pane area, dropping it to the right of the columns already in place, as shown in Illustration 18.
Illustration 18: Adding
The Measures ...
22. In the Filter pane, located
in the upper right corner of the Query Designer, select Date via
the Dimension column selector button.
23. Select Date.Fiscal Year in
the Hierarchy column, to the immediate right of the Dimension column,
within the Filter pane.
24. Select Equal in the Operator
column.
25. Leave the selector for the Filter
Expression column in its default condition of empty.
26. Place a check (by clicking) in the
checkbox within the Parameters column.
The Query
Designer appears, with our Filter settings at top, as depicted in Illustration
19.
Illustration 19: The
Query Designer with our Filter Settings
NOTE: If the Results pane has not populated, as shown in
the illustration above, click the Execute Query ("!")
button in the toolbar atop the Query Designer, shown circled in Illustration
20.
Illustration 20: The
Execute Query Button in the Toolbar
We now have the data we need to support our simple report
set requirements. Next, we will add a matrix data region, along with data, to
the report canvas on the Layout tab.
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