Verify Operation of the 100% 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 100% Stacked Column chart data region.
The new 100
% Stacked Column chart appears as shown in Illustration 43.
Illustration 43: The 100% Stacked Column Chart Report, Preview Tab
We can
easily verify the displayed 100% 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 100%
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 100% 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 100% 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 RS069_100_%_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 100% 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.
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 100% 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 100% 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.
