MSSQL Server Reporting Services: Black Belt Administration: "Governor" Capabilities: Report Execution Timeout - Page 5

March 21, 2005

Add the Report Data Source

We learned in Managing Reporting Services: Data Connections and Uploads that when we refer to a data source in Reporting Services, we are referring to a collection of properties, in effect, that represents a connection to a given data source. This collection of properties has a name, as it does in other applications where data sources exist (a scenario with which most of us are familiar). Data sources contain the following, where applicable:

• Specification of the data processing extension we use to process queries of the type for which we intend to use the connection;
• A connection string that allows us to locate the source;
• Access credentials involved in allowing us to read the data within the source.

As we have noted in various articles of the series, a data source connection can be embedded in a report (where it is typically defined within the creation process); it can also be defined as a shared data source item that is managed by a Report Server. The data source connection can be created either within the Report Designer in Visual Studio .NET, or at within the Report Manager. In this section, we will "import" the data source to which our sample report clone is already pointed, to make things quick and easy. This way, we can concentrate on Report Execution Timeout settings, the primary focus of the article.

The Add Existing Item dialog for the project appears.

AdventureWorks.rds is added to the folder, as shown in Illustration 10. (The Shared Data Sources folder is expanded in order to see the file.)

All that remains in our preparation phase is to add, test and publish the clone report.