Verify Operation of the Stacked Column 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 Column
chart data regions.
4.
Scroll down,
as required to focus upon the new Stacked Column chart
data region.
The new Stacked
Column chart appears as shown in Illustration 43.
Illustration 43: The Stacked Column Chart Report, Preview Tab
We can
easily verify the displayed Stacked Column 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 Stacked
Column 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 removal of the existing matrix data region; the
subsequent realignment of the Stacked Column chart on the canvas; and conditional
font formatting, perhaps, to make the font color vary with the background
colors of the respective stacks, so as to make the values easier to
read in cases where the currently fixed font color is too similar to
that of the respective stack), 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 Stacked Column charts.
5.
Experiment
further with the report, if desired.
6.
When finished
with the report, click the Layout tab.
7.
Select File
-> Save RS063_Stacked_Column_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 Stacked Column 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.
9.
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 Stacked Column
chart type, 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 a basic, working Column 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 Column 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 might serve as a basis for
other, more advanced articles within the MSSQL Server Reporting
Services
series, from which we use the Stacked Column chart we created here as a
platform from which to 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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