Procedure: Create Linked Reports
As we discussed in the
introduction, a Linked Report acts as a duplicate of a "common"
report file. This original, source report can have as many "children"
(the Linked Reports) as we need, all of which share the .rdl of the
common source report. The differences in the Linked Reports are varying
parameters or other properties we assign to them, to "custom fit"
them, for instance, to restrict the data they return to the specific audiences
for whom we are providing the Linked Reports. As we noted earlier, the
power of Linked Reports lies in the fact that they rely upon a single
source .rdl file. This means a central point of maintenance that enables us to
make enhancements or other modifications in one file, while updating all the "child"
reports simultaneously.
Create
New Folders in Report Manager to House the Linked Reports
We are ready to move to Report
Manager to create and work with Linked Reports.
1.
Open an
instance of Internet Explorer.
2.
Type in the
URL of the Report Server (the server we input above, within the TargetServerURL property of the AdventureWorks Sample Reports
Properties Pages dialog).
Report
Manager appears,
with the folders in evidence (depending on the settings made earlier on the AdventureWorks
Sample Reports Properties Pages dialog, and, obviously, depending upon our
local environments prior to our deployment steps), similar to those depicted in
Illustration 29.
Illustration 29: Example
View of Report Manager from Internet Explorer
Let's
create three folders in Report Manager to house our Linked Reports.
This way, we can manage security by controlling access to the folders, limiting
the groups of users to, in our example, Sales Territory Groups. (We
could also assign different roles to the Linked Reports, as well as
taking other approaches, but we will keep things simple for our immediate
purposes).
3.
Click the New
Folder button atop the Report Manager Home page, as shown in Illustration
30.
Illustration 30: Click
New Folder ...
The New
Folder page opens.
4.
Type the
following into the Name field:
Europe
5.
Type the
following into the Description field:
European Sales Territory Reports
The
New Folder page appears, with our input, as depicted in Illustration 31.
Illustration 31: The New
Folder Page, with Our Input
6.
Click OK
to create the folder and return to the Home page.
The
Europe folder appears, with a "!New"
icon alongside, on the Home page.
7.
Click the New
Folder button, once again.
8.
Type the
following into the Name field of the New Folder page:
North America
9.
Type the
following into the Description field:
North American Sales Territory Reports
10.
Click OK
to create the folder and return to the Home page, as before.
The
North America folder appears, with a "!New"
icon alongside, on the Home page.
11.
Click the New
Folder button, once more.
12.
Type the
following into the Name field of the New Folder page:
Pacific
13.
Type the
following into the Description field:
Pacific Sales Territory Reports
14.
Click OK
to create the folder and return to the Home page, as before.
The
Pacific folder appears, with a "!New" icon alongside, on
the Home page.
The Home page appears, with all new folders, as shown in Illustration
32.
Illustration 32: The New
Folders on the Home Page ...
15.
Click the AdventureWorks
Sample Reports folder to enter it.
The
folder opens.
16.
Click the Show
Details button, on the right of the toolbar, atop the AdventureWorks
Sample Reports page, as depicted in Illustration 33.
Illustration 33: Click
Show Details ...
17.
Click the Properties
icon, underneath the Edit column heading, to the left of RS030_Linked
Report (Name column), as shown in Illustration 34.
Illustration 34: Editing
the Report Properties (Partial Page View)
The Properties
page for RS030_Linked Report opens.
18.
Click the Create
Linked Report button, toward the bottom of the page, as depicted in Illustration
35.
Illustration 35: Click
Create Linked Report
19.
Type the
following into the Name field of the next Properties page that
opens next.
Sales Reason Comparison
20.
Type the
following into the Description field:
European Territory Sales Reason Comparison
21.
Click the Change
Location button, as shown in Illustration 36.
Illustration 36: Specifying
the Location of the Linked Report ...
The Folder
Location page opens.
22.
Click the Europe folder in the folder tree.
The Location
box reflects our selection of Europe, as depicted in Illustration 37.
Illustration 37: Assigning
the Linked Report to the Europe Folder
23.
Click OK
to accept the location modification and return to the previous Properties
page.
The
new location appears,
to the left of the Change Location button, as shown in Illustration 38.
Illustration 38: The New
Location Appears ...
24.
Click OK
once again, to finalize creation of the new Linked Report within the new
location
The
report generates and displays. (Note that, at this stage, it displays data for
all three Sales Territory Groups, just as the source report did in
earlier Previews.)
NOTE: Data Source and other error messages here may
indicate inadequate permissions / security setup for the user within which we
are working. For instruction in setting up security, see the Books
Online, together with local policy documentation, etc., as
appropriate).
25.
Once the
report generates, return to the Home page using the breadcrumb trail
atop the page, as depicted in Illustration 39.
Illustration 39: Returning
to the Home Page ...
We
arrive at the Report Manager Home page, once again.
Let's
create the second Linked Report of our practice exercise, this time for
the North American Sales Territory users, next.
26.
Click the AdventureWorks
Sample Reports folder to re-enter it.
The
folder opens.
27.
Click the Show
Details button, once again, if necessary.
28.
Click the Properties
icon, underneath the Edit column heading, to the left of RS030_Linked
Report (Name column), as we did earlier.
The Properties
page for RS030_Linked Report opens, once again.
29.
Click the Create
Linked Report button, toward the bottom of the page, as we did before.
30.
Type the
following into the Name field of the next Properties page that
opens next.
Sales Reason Comparison
31.
Type the
following into the Description field:
North American Territory Sales Reason Comparison
32.
Click the Change
Location button, as we did earlier.
The Folder
Location page opens, once again.
33.
Click the North America folder in the folder tree.
The Location
box reflects our selection of North America.
34.
Click OK
to accept the location modification and return to the previous Properties
page.
35.
Click OK
once again, to finish creating the new Linked Report within the new
location, as we did for the first Linked Report.
36.
Once the
report generates, return to the Home page using the breadcrumb trail
atop the page, as we did after creating the first Linked Report.
Let's
create the last Linked Report of our practice exercise, for the Pacific Sales Territory users, next.
37.
Click the AdventureWorks
Sample Reports folder to re-enter it, once more.
The
folder opens.
38.
Click the Show
Details button, once again, if required.
39.
Click the Properties
icon, underneath the Edit column heading, to the left of RS030_Linked
Report (Name column), as before.
The Properties
page for RS030_Linked Report opens, once again.
40.
Click the Create
Linked Report button, as we did to begin creation of the previous two Linked
Reports.
41.
Type the
following into the Name field of the next Properties page that
opens next.
Sales Reason Comparison
42.
Type the
following into the Description field:
Pacific Territory Sales Reason Comparison
43.
Click the Change
Location button, as we did earlier.
The Folder
Location page opens, once again.
44.
Click the Pacific
folder in the folder tree.
The Location
box reflects our selection of the Pacific folder.
45.
Click OK
to accept the location modification and return to the previous Properties
page.
46.
Click OK
once again, to finalize creation of the new Linked Report within the new
location, as we did for the first and second Linked Reports.
47.
Once the
report generates, return to the Home page using the breadcrumb trail
atop the page, as we did after creating each of the first two Linked Reports.
Having
created the Linked Reports, we are now positioned to customize each to
limit the data it returns to the respective Sales Territory Group
users. We will handle this in our next section, and then verify the operation
of the Linked Reports.
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