Verify Operation of the Bar Chart item
Let’s ascertain the
accuracy and completeness of our construction efforts. We will execute the
report with the following steps:
1. Click
the Preview tab, to the right of the Layout tab atop the
design surface.
2. Select Bikes
within the Product Category report parameter picklist, as depicted
in Illustration 42.
Illustration 42: Select
Bikes as the Product Category ...
3. Click
the View Report button.
The new report
generates, displaying both the original matrix and new Bar chart
data regions.
The simple
Bar chart data region appears as shown in Illustration 43.
Illustration 43: The Simple
Column Chart Report, Preview Tab
We can
easily verify the displayed simple Bar chart totals against the matrix
data region (by adding together each of the two years’ totals for any given Territory
Group / Sales Reason, and comparing that total to the corresponding
total in the matrix data region).
Our simple
Bar chart meets the expressed business requirements and demonstrates many
details surrounding its property settings. The client representatives express
satisfaction with our efforts, and state that, with a few cosmetic changes
(including the simple removal of the existing matrix data region, and
the subsequent realignment of the Bar chart on the canvas), the report
will be ready for deployment to the targeted information consumer group.
Moreover, they assure us that the details they have examined within the
practical exercise we have undertaken can be extrapolated to their creation
efforts of other simple Bar charts.
4.
Experiment
further with the report, if desired.
5.
When finished
with the report, click the Layout tab.
6.
Select File
-> Save RS060_Bar_Chart.rdl As ... to save our work, up to this
point, to a location where it can be easily accessed for later reference.
As we
can see from our examination above, Reporting Services offers a wide
range of options for simple Bar chart creation and manipulation to
assist us in the delivery of information within the business environment. We extend our examination of chart
types, specifically examining each type, together with the properties and
methods we can manipulate for the precise presentations we seek to be able to
deliver, in other articles of this series.
7.
Select File
-> Exit to leave the design environment,
when ready (saving as desired), and to close the Business Intelligence Development
Studio.
Conclusion
In this article, we
performed a relatively straightforward examination of the Reporting Services simple Bar
chart type, from within a copy of an existing sample Reporting Services report
that we created for this purpose. Our focus, as we stated in the introduction,
was to create a basic, working Bar chart, using an Analysis Services data source (the Adventure Works DW sample
OLAP database / Adventure Works cube that accompanies the installation
of Reporting Services), and to discuss various characteristics of the Bar chart type
as we progressed.
We examined relevant chart properties, and got some
hands-on exposure to the manipulation of those properties to support the
delivery of information to meet the needs of a hypothetical group of
organizational information consumers. We noted that this article would serve as a basis,
in some cases, for other, more advanced articles within the MSSQL Server Reporting
Services
series, where we use the simple Bar chart we created here as a starting point from which we can
concentrate on in-depth procedures and nuances to achieve precision in meeting
specific requirements and data presentation effects that we might deliver in
the business environment.
About the MSSQL Server Reporting Services
Series ...
This
article is a member of the series MSSQL Server Reporting Services.
This monthly column is designed to introduce MSSQL Server Reporting Services
(“Reporting Services”), presenting an overview of its features, with
tips and techniques for real-world use. For more information on the series in
general, please see my initial Database Journal article, A New Paradigm for Enterprise Reporting.
»
See All Articles by Columnist William E. Pearson, III
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