Chapter 4
Basic Report Design
What's in this chapter?
Understanding the basic building blocks of report design
How to design a report using the Matrix Wizard to learn the essential components
A tour of the Report Builder design tool
How to design a simple report using manual design steps to learn basic report structure
It's time to jump in and design a report! This chapter is designed to guide you through the steps necessary to design a basic report, first using the Matrix Wizard and then again using manual steps that will help you understand the components and design process a little at a time. The purpose of this first exercise is to demonstrate high-level report design without getting into the nuts and bolts of the process. We'll cover all the nuances and details later, but in this quick tour, you'll see how to create a simple report in a few easy steps.
What Good Are Wizards, Anyway?
I go back and forth on using the Report Wizard when I teach report design classes. I decided not to use it in this chapter, as I have in the past. The Report Wizard is handy if you want to throw together a quick report. If you know how to create a report manually, you'll be able to use the Report Wizard on your own, and you don't need me to hold your hand through the process. I figured that you probably didn't buy this book so that you could learn how to run a wizard, so I chose not to waste your time with this step. We will, however, use wizards to create a matrix data region.
In this quick tutorial, ...
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