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Reporting Services Built Into SQL Server 2000

Posted on: Wednesday, 25 February 2004, 06:00 CST

Microsoft enables graphical creation of reports

Enhancing its enterprise database with enterprise reporting capabilities, Microsoft Corp. last month announced the availability of SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services.

Tightly integrated with Visual Studio .NET, Reporting Services allows developers to use the drag-and-drop approach to rapidly build reports based on data from multiple sources, including SQL Server, Access, IBM DB2, .NET, ODBC, OLE DB and Oracle databases, said Tom Rizzo, Microsoft's director of marketing for SQL Server.

Complex reports can be built in hours, not weeks, claims Microsoft's Rizzo.

Reporting Services enables developers to output reports in multiple formats by selecting formats such as CSV, Excel, HTML, PDF, TIFF and XML from a dropdown menu. They can then deploy the report to the server with a single click, said Rizzo.

"In the past, developers had to roll their own reports, generating tables and writing code to make the database calls," said Rizzo.

Alternatively, they used third-party reporting tools, such as Ciystal Reports, from Crystal Decisions, which was acquired by Business Objects SA last year.

Microsoft estimates that by using Reporting Services, a developer accustomed to working in Visual Studio .NET could build a complex report that includes graphics, several hundred pages of data and drill-down capabilities in an hour. "Doing this yourself, in say, ASFNET, consists of weeks of work, not hours," said Rizzo.

While Reporting Services is aimed at database developers who create in-house reports, such as a sales report that looks at how salespeople are performing against their quotas, it is also important for enterprise developers, Rizzo said.

For example, a bank might develop a Web application that allows prospective customers to apply for a mortgage online. On a daily basis, the application needs to deliver custom reports to the bank's mortgage officers, as well as to its customers on the Internet, he said.

While Reporting Services is targeted at .NET developers, Java developers who use tools such as Borland's JBuilder can also use Reporting Services using the Web semees API, said Rizzo, noting that it still has to be run on Windows.

Reporting Services is ineluded in the SQL Server license, provided it runs on a server that is already licensed for SQL Server. Otherwise, additional licenses must be acquired. SQL Server standard edition costs US$5,000 per processor; enterprise edition, $20,000 per processor.

Copyright BZ Media LLC Feb 15, 2004

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