Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services

Chapter 5

Report Layout and Formatting

What's in this chapter?

Basic report layout types, including the table, matrix, list, and chart reports

Page layout options for table, matrix, list, chart, dashboard, and composite reports

Report navigation features

Formatting properties for visually enhancing various reports

Pagination control

Characteristics of different rendering formats

This chapter is about report design options and the elements you will use to assemble more complex reports. It's not a tutorial or exercise to show you specifically how to design specific reports with these features. It's an introduction to what you can do and where to find the details when you're ready to add these features. You'll read about the design components and techniques used in many common professional business reports. Building on the basic report and dataset design skills you acquired in Chapter 4, you'll learn how to add features to enhance the presentation and functionality of your reports.

I learned long ago that Reporting Services is designed to allow you to resolve certain problems using a specific approach or method. You'll see common examples of the features and capabilities inherent in Reporting Services reports. With an understanding of what the product was architected and optimized to do (as opposed to what it isn't designed to do so well), you can save yourself a lot of energy. You have numerous options for presenting information in a report. One of the most important factors in report ...