| | |  | Manager's Guides to Computing | Home » » » Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services | | | | | | | Description: | | The Definitive Guide to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting ServicesCreate and deliver data-rich reports across the enterprise using this complete server-based reporting solution. Written by a member of the original Reporting Services development team, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services covers the entire report-building and distribution process, including data extraction, integration with desktop and Web applications, and end-user access. The book explains how to maximize all of the powerful features, including the new Tablix data format, as well as enhanced performance, scalability, and visualization capabilities. Install, configure, and customize SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Create SELECT queries to extract data Generate reports from the Report Wizard and from scratch Add charts, images, and gauges Build reusable report templates - Use the new Tablix data format to create reports with any structure
- Export reports to Word, Excel, PDF, HTML, XML, and other formats
- Enable end-user access to reports via the Report Server and its Report Manager web interface
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Brian Larson | | Paperback:
| 866 pages | | Publisher:
| McGraw-Hill Osborne Media | | Publication Date:
| August 21, 2008 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0071548084 | | Product Length:
| 9.0 inches | | Product Width:
| 7.3 inches | | Product Height:
| 1.8 inches | | Product Weight:
| 3.25 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.1 inches | | Package Width:
| 7.4 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.7 inches | | Package Weight:
| 3.2 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 30 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 30 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 34 found the following review helpful:
 A book that may have really saved my job.Jun 11, 2009
By Steven
What a life saver!
I'm a software developer in a small shop and our biggest client is a large law firm with LOTS of data and users hungry for easy to read reports reflecting said data. None of us have much experience with SQL Reporting Services as most of our experience for reporting is in Crystal Reports.
I've heard of SSRS but until recently I didn't have much experience using it. Our client was in great need of a simple report so I went ahead and setup a report server and decided to give SSRS a whirl. Thankfully Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) was easy for me to grasp as I am a C# developer and I was already in comfortable territory (BIDS is really just a reporting solution in Visual Studio afterall).
I was able to create their report in a very short time and the users were comfortable using the Report Manager Website. Of course what happened next is predictable to anyone that has been in a similar situation - I became "The Report Guy" - for better or worse.
Of course our client started demanding more and more reports - increasing in complexity. I only scratched the surface of what SSRS was capable of and during that time I thought a lot of their report specs may be impossible to realize using SSRS. I began to worry. They wanted graphs, complex groupings, drill down style reports... I needed someone to throw me a life raft. Thank you Brian for throwing me that raft!
This book saved me. Even though this book is rather big weighing in at over 860 pages (including index) it was a breeze to work through. Brian has a clean, easy to read writing style and he injects a bit of humor throughout. I thought this book was going to take forever to work through but because Brian is such a good Author it really became a page turner. This book is one of the easier books to absorb. This book starts very simple and increases in complexity. Parts of the book were so relevant to my business needs that it almost seemed like he was right there telling me how to write my reports!
If there was ever a book that may have really saved my job then this is it. I now don't mind being the "Report Guy" - I feel like I can tackle just about any report spec they throw at me - all thanks to Brian Larson.
If you need to learn about SSRS then I don't see how you can do much better then this book.
19 of 19 found the following review helpful:
Another Home Run by BrianMar 06, 2009
By Keith S. Safford
"CyclingFoodmanPA"
I also purchased Brian's book on SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services and moved up to 2008 and the book is an excellent step-by-step recipe book on how to create reports utilizing SQL Server 2008. It is an excellent book on stepping you through the numerous examples and examining how to create complex business reports.
Another great point is that when I was learning SSRS 2005 and had a problem, I emailed Brian, figuring I might hear back from him in a week or so. He replied to my email within the day and explained to me what I had to do to correct my problem. Best of all, it was right and I moved on.
His writing style is clear and concise and he doesn't miss any steps in his tutorials on creating the reports. This is one book that will be "dog eared" due to heavy use.
16 of 17 found the following review helpful:
Effective for getting up to speed with Reporting ServicesNov 11, 2008
By Jennifer Louie
If you are just learning Reporting Services, this is a book targeted for you. It's very effective as a step-by-step tutorial, read cover to cover.
Like many said about the previous version of this book, this book is less useful as a reference. Larson writes with a clear, concise style, providing lots of examples, and doesn't assume that you know anything about reporting. For complete database novices, he even has a chapter on basic database concepts that provides probably all that the layperson needs to know to create basic reports. Having done some work with 2005 Reporting Services already, the basic/conceptual chapters were less valuable for me and I ended up skipping many sections. However, I still found the book quite useful and learned a couple of things that I didn't know Reporting Services could do.
This is a fine book for those having to get up to speed quickly with SSRS. Definitely not material you could get off of SQL Server Books Online.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Useful and clear, but little verboseJul 28, 2010
By Luigi Zambetti
It's a good book for learning, almost from scratch, the Reporting Services 2008 without prior knowledge of them.
The numerous step-by-step procedures (often composed from 50 steps and over) need to keep a pc in front of the book, since it would make little sense to simply read it without trying what explains. Unfortunately, in many pages, the author is rather verbose, and would have been desirable greater concision. A quarter of the book is covered by the appendices, even if those relating to the properties of various controls are almost useless, since such information can be retrieveb from the guide quickly.
The binding and pagination are impeccable. Despite the considerable size of the book is easy to keep it open on the desktop near the pc.
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Resource for Reporting Services 2008May 12, 2009
By Nancy D.
This book is an excellent resource for learning Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services. The author leads you step by step from easy examples to more complex examples. And, the examples work! I am on page 468 of the book, and have zero complaints. He covers easy to complex reports, exporting the report and the different formats, and then Report Serving (getting it out to the customers). His style of writing is easy to understand which is very important. I would highly recommend this book. I can't say enough good about it. It's great!
See all 30 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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