Verify Operation of the Simple Doughnut 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
33.
Illustration 33: Select Bikes as the Product Category ...
3.
Click the View
Report button.
The new report
generates, displaying both the original matrix and new Simple Doughnut chart
data regions.
4.
Scroll down,
as required to focus upon the new Simple Doughnut chart data region.
The Simple
Doughnut chart data region appears as depicted in Illustration 34.
Illustration 34: The Doughnut Chart Report, Preview Tab
We can
easily verify the displayed Simple Doughnut chart totals against the matrix
data region by comparing any given Sales Reason’s Internet Sales Amount
displayed in the Doughnut chart data region to the total Internet Sales Amount corresponding
to the respective Sales Reason in the matrix data region.
Our Simple
Doughnut 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 Doughnut 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 Doughnut charts.
5.
Experiment
further with the report, if desired.
6.
When finished
with the report, click the Layout tab.
7.
Select File -> Save RS067_Doughnut_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 Doughnut
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 the Reporting Services Simple Doughnut 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 Doughnut 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 Doughnut 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 Doughnut 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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