Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services

An Interface Exclusive Combination Course of Microsoft Curriculum 2793 and case study

Deliverables:
Attendees receive the following items when taking this course:

• Microsoft courseware 2793 (Implementing and Maintaining Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2005 Reporting Services)
• Microsoft SQL Server(TM) 2005 Reporting Services Step by Step Book
• Certificate of Achievements for 2793

This 4 day course will introduce Enterprise Reporting, its characteristics and relation to current business projects. It will provide System Administrators with the knowledge necessary to understand and manage a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Enterprise Reporting Solution, and Report Designers the skills necessary to design different kinds of reports. Ad-hoc reporting functionalities are state-of-the-art and you will learn how and when to use them. You will also be learning additional topics such as setup, configuration, maintenance, and extensibility.

This class incorporates a case study. The case study provides the students with a real world scenario via a set of requirements. The student must design and implement their solution based on the requirements. This gives the students the ability to exercise the skills they learned during the class in a real world situation. The courseware includes a copy of the Microsoft Press Book SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Step-by-Step.

Prerequisites:

Before attending this course, students must have:

• Exposure to creating reports in Microsoft Access or other third-party reporting products, such as Crystal Reports.
• Exposure to Visual Studio.
• Conceptual understanding of the push and pull distribution/subscription paradigm.
• Experience navigating the Microsoft Windows Server environment.
• Experience with Windows services (starting and stopping)
• Experience creating service accounts and permissions
• Experience with Microsoft SQL Server, including:
• SQL Server Agent.
• SQL Server query language (SELECT, UPDATE, INSERT, and DELETE).
• SQL Server System tables.
• SQL Server accounts (users and permissions).

In addition, it is strongly recommended that attendees take the following course before taking this class (or have at least 6 months experience writing Transact-SQL statements):

• SQL200 Transact-SQL Programming

Audience:

This course is intended for information technology (IT) professionals and developers who need to implement reporting solutions by using Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services.

Topics Covered:

• Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
• Authoring Basic Reports
• Enhancing a Report
• Manipulating Data Sets
• Using Report Models
• Publishing and Executing Reports
• Using Subscriptions to Distribute Reports
• Administering Reporting Services
• Programming Reporting Services
• Reporting Services Case Study

At Course Completion:

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Describe SQL Server Reporting Services and its components.
• Create a Reporting Services report.
• Enhance a Reporting Services report.
• Create and manipulate data sets.
• Use report models to implement reporting for business users.
• Configure report publishing and execution settings.
• Implement subscriptions for reports.
• Administer Reporting Services.
• Implement custom Reporting Services applications.

Course Outline:

Module 1: Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

• This module introduces the role that Reporting Services plays in an organization's reporting life cycle, the key features offered by Reporting Services, and the components that make up the Reporting Services architecture.

Lessons

• Overview of SQL Server Reporting Services
• Installing Reporting Services
• Reporting Services Tools

Lab 1: Using Reporting Services Tools

• Exercise 1: Exploring Report Designer
• Exercise 2: Exploring Report Manager
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Describe the features of SQL Server Reporting Services.
• Install Reporting Services.
• Describe the Reporting Services tools.

Module 2: Authoring Basic Reports

• This module introduces the fundamentals of report authoring, including configuring data sources and data sets, creating tabular reports, summarizing data, and applying basic formatting.

Lessons

• Creating a Basic Table Report
• Formatting Report Pages
• Calculating Values

Lab 2: Creating a Simple Report

• Exercise 1: Creating a Basic Table Report
• Exercise 2: Formatting Report Pages
• Exercise 3: Adding Calculated Values
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Create a basic table report.
• Format report pages.
• Calculate values for a report.

Module 3: Enhancing Basic Reports

• This module introduces navigational controls and some additional types of data regions, and discusses how to use them to enhance a basic report.

Lessons

• Interactive Navigation
• Displaying Data

Lab 3: Enhancing a Report

• Exercise 1: Using Dynamic Visibility
• Exercise 2: Using Document Maps
• Exercise 3: Initiating Actions
• Exercise 4: Using a List Data Region
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Create reports with interactive navigation.
• Display data in various formats.

Module 4: Manipulating Data Sets

• This module explores data sets to a greater depth, including the use of alternative data sources and interacting with a data set through the use of parameters. Students learn how to dynamically modify the data set underlying a data region by allowing parameters to be sent to the underlying query. They also learn to use best practices to implement static and dynamic parameter lists when interacting with queries and stored procedures.

Lessons

• Defining Report Data
• Using Parameters and Filters
• Using Parameter Lists

Lab 4: Manipulating Data Sets

• Exercise 1: Using parameters to restrict query results
• Exercise 2: Using parameters to filter report data
• Exercise 3: Creating dynamic parameter lists
• Exercise 4: Using parameters with a stored procedure
• If Time Permits: Displaying all categories in a parameter list
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Define report data.
• Use parameters and filters.
• Use parameter lists.

Module 5: Using Report Models

• This module describes how to create a report model so that business users can create their own reports without using the full Report Designer development environment. Students also learn how to use Report Builder to create a report from a report model.

Lessons

• Creating Report Models
• Using Report Builder

Lab 5: Working with Report Models

• Exercise 1: Creating a Report Model
• Exercise 2: Using Report Builder to Create a Report
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Create Report Models.
• Use Report Builder.

Module 6: Publishing and Executing Reports

• This module explains the various options you can use to publish reports to the report server and execute them.

Lessons

• Publishing Reports
• Executing Reports
• Creating Cached Instances
• Creating Snapshots and Report History

Lab 6: Publishing and Executing Reports

• Exercise 1: Publishing Reports
• Exercise 2: Executing a Report On Demand
• Exercise 3: Configuring and Viewing a Cached Report
• Exercise 4: Configuring and Viewing a Snapshot Report
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Publish reports.
• Execute reports.
• Create cached instances.
• Create snapshots and report history.

Module 7: Using Subscriptions to Distribute Reports

• This module describes how to implement subscriptions so that you can distribute reports either automatically by e-mail or by publishing reports to a shared folder.

Lessons

• Introduction to Report Subscriptions
• Creating Report Subscriptions
• Managing Report Subscriptions

Lab 7: Implementing Subscriptions

• Exercise 1: Creating a Standard Subscription
• Exercise 2: Creating a Data-Driven Subscription
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Describe report subscriptions.
• Create report subscriptions.
• Manage report subscriptions.

Module 8: Administering Reporting Services

• This module discusses how to administer the Reporting Services server, how to monitor and optimize the performance of the report server, how to maintain the Reporting Services databases, and how to keep the system secure.

Lessons

• Server Administration
• Performance and Reliability Monitoring
• Administering Report Server Databases
• Security Administration

Lab 8: Administering Reporting Services

• Exercise 1: Using Reporting Services Configuration Manager
• Exercise 2: Securing a Reporting Services Site
• Exercise 3: Securing Items
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Administer the reporting server.
• Monitor performance and reliability.
• Administer the Report Server databases.
• Administer security.

Module 9: Programming Reporting Services

• This module explains how to query Reporting Services information programmatically and how to automate report management tasks. Students also learn how to render reports without relying on Report Manager, and how you can extend the feature set of a report server by creating custom code.

Lessons

• Querying for Server Information Using a Web Service
• Automating Report Management
• Rendering Reports
• Creating Custom Code

Lab 9: Programming Reporting Services

• Exercise 1: Using URL Access to Display a Report
• Exercise 2: Building a Reporting Services Web Service Client
• Exercise 3: Using the Report Viewer Control
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Query server information by using a Web service.
• Automate report management.
• Render reports.
• Create custom code.

Module 10: Reporting Service Case Study

• This module provides the student the opportunity to build their reports solely based on user requirements. While working in a team environment, the student will have an opportunity to exercise the skills learned during the class.
• After completing this module, students will be able to:
• Design and create multiple report types based on user requirements.
• Enhance the report to make them user friendly.
• Deploy the reports into a production environment.
• Secure the reports.

Exams:

70-445: TS: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence Implementation and Maintenance