Practice
Our
first objective is to create a copy of a pre-existing sample report, within which we will perform the
addition and setup of the
Stacked Bar Chart data region, for the
reasons noted above. (We typically work with a similar report copy in articles
that are focused on the individual chart types elsewhere in the series.) We will perform our practice session from inside the MSSQL
Server Business Intelligence Development Studio. For more exposure to the
Business Intelligence Development Studio itself, and the myriad design,
development and other evolutions we can perform within this powerful interface,
see other articles in this column, as well as within my Database Journal
series Introduction to
MSSQL Server Analysis Services. In this article, we will be commenting only on the
features relevant to our immediate practice exercise, to allow us to keep to
the focus of the article more efficiently.
Preparation: Create a Clone Report within the Reporting Services
Development Environment
For purposes of our
practice session, we will create a copy of the Sales Reason Comparisons report, one of several samples
that are available with (and installable separately from) the MSSQL Server 2005
integrated business intelligence suite. Making preparatory modifications, and
then making the enhancements to the report to add the functionality that forms
the subject of our lesson, can be done easily within the Business Intelligence Studio
environment. Working with a copy of the report will allow us the luxury of
freely exploring our options, and will leave us with a working example of the
specific approach we took, to which we can refer in our individual business
environments.
Open the Sample Report Server Project
For purposes of our
practice session, we will open the AdventureWorks Sample Reports project, which
contains the sample reports that ship with the Reporting Services component of
the MSSQL Server 2005 suite. We will complete our practice session within the
sample project, so as to save the time required to set up a development
environment from scratch within the Business Intelligence Development Studio.
To open the AdventureWorks
Sample Reports project, please see the following procedure in the References
section of my articles index:
Ascertain Connectivity of the Shared Data Source
Lets
ensure we have a working data source. Some of us may be running side-by-side
installations of MSSQL Server 2000 and MSSQL Server 2005. This means that our
installation of the latter will need to be referenced as a server / instance
combination, versus a server name alone. (The default for the Adventure Works
DW project samples connection is localhost, which will not work correctly in
such a side-by-side installation, as MSSQL Server 2000 will have assumed the
identity of the local PC by default.)
If you do not know how
to ascertain or modify connectivity of the Analysis Services data source,
please perform the steps of the following procedure in the References section
of my articles index:
Create a Copy of the Sales Reason Comparisons Report
We will begin with a copy
of the Reporting Services 2005 Sales Reason Comparisons OLAP report,
which we will use as a basis for our Bar chart types practice exercise. Creating a clone of the report
means we can make changes to select components (perhaps as a part of later
exploration with our independent solution), while retaining the original sample
in a pristine state for other purposes, such as using it to accompany relevant
sections of the Books Online, and other documentation. Such uses may
form a part of learning more about Reporting Services (particularly an OLAP
report using an Analysis Services data source), and other components of the
Microsoft integrated business intelligence solution in general.
If you do not know how
to create a copy of an existing report, please perform the steps of the
following procedure in the References section of my articles index:
We now
have a clone Analysis Services report file within our Reporting Services 2005
Project, and are ready for our hands-on practice session with the Stacked Bar chart
type, which we will begin in the next section.
Preparation: Modify the Analysis Services Report Clone for Use within Our
Practice Session
We will
next make a few modifications to prepare the report for our practice session. Lets open the report clone we
created above in Layout view (for those of us not already there), upon which we
can commence our overview steps.
1.
Right-click DBJ_OLAP_Report.rdl
in the Solution Explorer.
2.
Select Open from
the context menu that appears, as shown in Illustration 1, as necessary.
Illustration 1: Opening the New Report ...
DBJ_OLAP_Report.rdl
opens in Layout view.
Filter the Primary Dataset to Limit the Data Retrieved
First,
we will modify the primary dataset underlying the existing report, called ProductData.
We will simply place a filter on returned data to limit the size of our
ultimate report to two (versus four) Calendar Years activity.
1.
Click the Data
tab.
2.
Ensure that
the ProductData dataset appears within the data selector.
3.
On the Metadata
tab, within the pane that appears under the dataset selector (which now
indicates ProductData), expand the Date dimension by clicking the + sign to
its immediate left.
4.
Expand the Calendar
folder that appears underneath the newly expanded Date dimension.
5.
Click the Date.Calendar
Year hierarchy to select it.
6.
Drag the Date.Calendar
Year hierarchy to the Query pane, dropping it to the immediate left of the Sales
Reason column that is already in place.
The Query
pane, with the newly added Calendar Year column, appears as partially presented
in Illustration 2.
Illustration 2: The Query Pane with the Newly Added Column (Partial View)
7.
Click the Edit
Selected Dataset (...) button to the immediate right of the Dataset selector,
as depicted (circled) in Illustration 3.
Illustration 3: Editing the Dataset ...
The
multi-tabbed Dataset dialog opens.
8.
Click the Filters
tab.
9.
In the first
row of the Filters box, within the leftmost Expression column, select =Fields!Calendar_Year.Value,
as shown in Illustration 4.
Illustration 4: Select =Fields!Calendar_Year.Value in the Expression Column ...
10.
In the Operator
column (to the immediate right of the Expression column), select the >=
operator.
11.
Type (or cut
and paste) the following into the Value column (to the immediate right of the Operator
column):
="CY 2003"
Because
we are stating that we want only Calendar Years greater than or equal to CY
2003, we know we will retrieve only two years data into the dataset (the Adventure
Works cube contains Calendar Years 2001 through 2004).
The Filters
tab of the Dataset dialog appears as presented in Illustration 5.
Illustration 5: The Filters Tab of the Dataset Dialog with Our Additions ...
12.
Click OK to
accept our addition, and to dismiss the Dataset dialog.
Modify the Report Layout to Accommodate Our Focus
Next,
we will make some changes to the report layout to more easily accommodate the
focus of our practice session. We will start with a larger report canvas.
1.
Click the Layout
tab atop the Report Designer.
2.
Click the report
body at some point below the matrix data region that is in place.
The Body
bar assumes the focus (becomes darker). Body also appears in the Properties pane
(by default to the lower right of the design environment). The point here is
to ascertain that the report body is, indeed, selected.
3.
Pass the
cursor over the lower edge of the report body, until it becomes a two-headed
arrow.
4.
Enlarge the
report canvas to about the 3-1/2 point on the scale on the left side of the Layout
tab, stretching it downward to create empty space below the matrix data region
on the report body, as depicted in Illustration 6.
Illustration 6: Stretch the Canvas Downward to Create Empty Space in the Report Body
Because,
from this point, we will be performing procedures that relate only to the chart
type with which we are working in this article, and because we create similar
files for different chart types in other articles, lets rename the .rdl file
to clearly associate it with this article and the Stacked Bar chart type.
5.
Select File
from the main menu.
6.
Select Save
DBJ_OLAP_Report.rdl As ....
7.
Type the
following into the File name box of the Save File As box that appears next:
RS065_Stacked_Bar_Chart
8.
Click the Save
button in the lower right corner of the Save File As box.
The Save
File As box is dismissed, and we see the new name appear in the Solution
Explorer. We are now ready to begin the procedural section of our practice
session.