bi tips and tricks with sql server reporting services adam aspin sql bits xii, 19th july 2014
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BI Tips and Tricks with SQL Server Reporting Services
Adam Aspin
SQL Bits XII, 19th July 2014
What we are here to see…
• Solutions to:– Impress the boss– Stun your colleagues– Save time and money
• By:– More fully exploiting the potential of existing technology– Leveraging current skills– Avoiding costly and time-consuming alternatives
What we are discussing
• Corporate BI – using SQL Server Reporting Services• “Canned Reports”:
– Regular delivery / Agreed, predefined metrics– Limited interactivity
• Add a “BI” flavour to SSRS:– Scorecards– KPIS– Dashboards
• SSRS as a Corporate BI delivery platform– Basic parameter-driven interactivity– No attempt at interactive development
KPI and Scorecard basics
• Key Performance Indicators– Value– Goal– Status– Trend
• See what a result is, how it maps to target and where it is going (Context, Threshold, Evolution)
• Anything that can be measured of strategic or tactical importance
Dashboard Basics
• Many possible overviews of multiple aspects of a business
• Can include targets and objectives• Composed of multiple elements “Widgets”
– Scorecards– Tables– Charts– Gauges– Sparklines– Maps– Etc…
How do we Apply SSRS?
• Design element– Appreciation of the diverse elements which can make up a dashboard
and/or a scorecard– Understand which type of presentation element gets the information
across best
• Technology aspect – essentially applied to the Interface– Parameters– Expressions– Datasets
Design Elements
• Presentation Choices– Tabular, text-based, graphical – or hybrid. – Effective – and different - Charts and Gauges
• Design Choices– Backgrounds, borders, images and text– Colours to alert and display thresholds
• Figures or chart/gauge?– Tooltips to display data
Presentation – Classic Scorecard
• Indicators (Status and Trend)• Standard tabular format• Background Image
Presentation - “Graphic” Scorecard
• Pointers for Actuals and Target
• Colour for Threshold
• Trend as Indicator
Presentation – Text-based Scorecard
• Allows for multiple KPIs• Sparkline for Trend analysis
Design Tricks: Gauges
• Vary Pointer Types– Needle for single elements– Bar for one or two elements– Marker for multiple elements– Mix pointer types to hierarchize
• Mix Pointer Types• Group Gauges• Rarer Gauge Types
– Thermometer– Multi-Scale / Multi-Gauge
• Gauge Enhancements– Overlay Data as text– Multiple Ranges – colour sensitive to
thresholds– Add Legends
Design Tricks: Charts
• Appropriate Chart Types – Read the classics (Few, Tufte)• Add Markers• Less Traditional Charts
– Radar– Pyramid– Bubble– Waterfall
• Remember less used, but “Out of the Box” techniques:– Order chart elements– Striplines– Vary Category Colours– Add markers– Order charts in a table
Design Tricks - Images
• Images as backgrounds– Tablix– Textbox– Chart– Gauge
• Images as borders– 8 images to make an extensible border (BackgroundRepeat)
• Text as Image– Vertical or Diagonal
• Swap images for effect:– Selection (Slicer and Highlight)– Visual Alert
Design Tricks: Maps
• First find your (geographical) data!– .Shp (Shape) files (Ex: BoundaryLine – Ordnance Survey)– Shape2SQL – convert shape file data to SQL Server
geographical data types
• Store in database not Report for speed of rendering• Cache reports containing Maps
Layout Tricks
• Force vertical alignment of charts and gauges using tables
• Nested tables• “Dummy” tables for images• Invisible lines and rectangles to force vertical
alignment across a page
Putting It All Together – One Example
Putting It All Together – Another Example
Interface Tweaks
• Revamping the user interface– Replace the tired UI for parameter selection– Define limited recordsets for efficient paging
• Enhance Interactivity (well – to some extent) through more modern interface techniques:– Slicers– Tiles– Highlighting– Recordset Paging
Technology I - Hidden Parameters
• “Passback” – an attempt at viewstate• Have to be applied everywhere there is
interactivity!• Uses:– Replace the parameter ribbon– Replace the toolbar– Example:• Slicers• Selection• Menus
Technology II - Expressions
• Clunky - but the key method of enhancing BI reports• Possible with nearly every object and Property• A few simple elements do all the work:
– IIF– Lookup– Choose– Lookup/Lookupset/Multilookup
• Can test on data and parameters!• Some uses:
– Apply Colours– Add Images– Show/Hide elements– Example – printer-friendly output
Mobile BI using SSRS
• Only from 2012SP1 onwards• Report Server not Report Manager URL• Manage reduced screen space:
– Consider revamping the report access interface– Fewer elements - drillthrough-based
Technology II - Data Tricks
• Use a single dataset to calculate and return maximum values for gauges
• Link datasets (Lookup function)• Share Datasets• Cache datasets• Linked SSAS server to return data to T-SQL complex
queries (target data for instance)• Paged data sets (2012)
To Finish
• Much, much more that could be shown, for instance:– Optimisation techniques– Standardisation approaches (templates, styles etc)
• Any questions?• Happy BI Development with SSRS.
Adam Aspin
• IT consultant and Contractor• Over 30 years experience• 25 years in databases and reporting
(now “Business Intelligence”)
• Author:– SQL Server 2012 Data Integration Recipes– High Impact Data Visualization with
Power View, Power Map and Power BI– Many articles for SQLServerCentral.Com
• Adam@Calidra.co.uk
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