Verify Operation of the Pie Chart
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 shown in Illustration
39.
Illustration 39: Select Bikes as the Product Category ...
3.
Click the View
Report button.
The new report
generates, displaying both the original matrix and new Pie chart
data regions.
4.
Scroll down,
as required to focus upon the new Pie chart data region.
The Pie
chart data region appears as depicted in Illustration 40.
Illustration 40: The Pie Chart Report, Preview Tab
We can
easily verify the displayed simple Pie chart totals against the matrix
data region by comparing any given Sales Reason’s Internet Sales
Amount displayed in the Pie chart data region to the total Internet
Sales Amount corresponding to the respective Sales Reason in the matrix
data region. For example, if we add CY 2003 – Europe – Price – Internet
Sales (1,519,252) and CY 2004 – Europe – Price – Internet Sales (2,066,776),
we obtain a total that corresponds with the total Internet Sales Amount
(consisting of a combination of amounts for Calendar Years 2003 and 2004)
displayed for Europe (3,586,028) in the original matrix data
region that we have left within the report.
Our enhanced
Pie 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 Pie chart on the canvas, realignment /
resizing of the point labels to better fit the slices of the pie,
etc.), 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, perhaps even more sophisticated, Pie charts.
5.
Experiment
further with the report, if desired.
6.
When finished
with the report, click the Layout tab.
7.
Select File
-> Save RS062_Pie_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 Pie 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.
8.
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 a Reporting Services enhanced Pie
chart, from within a copy of an existing sample Reporting Services 2005 report
that we created for this purpose. Our focus, as we stated in the introduction,
was to create an enhanced, working Pie 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 Pie 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 Pie chart we created here as a basis from which we can
concentrate on in-depth procedures and nuances that we can use 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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