SQLServer Reporting Services Kerry Hataley Nanook Software, Inc #CollaborateCanada

Summit 2017 SQL Shootout Champ! Kerry Hataley - Nanook Software, Inc khataley@nanooksoftware.com Independent Dynamics GP Consultant Specialization in: SQL (I LOVE DATA!), Data Corrections, Upgrades, Independent Reviews, Change Management Project Accounting, Fixed Assets, Canadian Payroll, Inventory, Accounts Payable, Cogsdale CSM Dundas Dashboards, Solver BI360, eOne Extender Enterprise Installing and Supporting Dynamics Great Plains since 1994 2.0 on Macintosh using Btrieve and then C-Tree Member of GPUG Partners, PASS, Microsoft CSP / Business ISV Summit 2017 SQL Shootout Champ!

What Will We Learn What is SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) SSRS Architecture Install SSRS Deploy Dynamics GP SRS Reports New Features in 2016 / 2017 Cool Features Security Overview Samples!

What is SSRS?

What is SSRS? SQL Server Reporting Services A component of the Microsoft BI (Business Intelligent) Stack Contains a set of ready made solutions to help Create, Deploy and Manage reports Creates Rich Reports Tabular, Interactive, Free-Form, Graphical - Charts & Maps View from WEB

Cont… Export Capabilities - Excel, PDF, Word, Image Files Scriptability and Automation Scheduled Report Delivery - E-Mail or Shared Folder Location Host of Security features, allowing the control of who and what data is made visible Extend Reporting functionality using C#, VB and other programming languages

Quick History of SSRS & Dynamics GP SSRS was introduced in 2004 as an add-on to SQL 2000 Was available as an add-on wizard in Dynamics GP 10.0 Current version / installer form was introduced in 2010 R2 Includes over 200 out of the box reports Many ISV’s now include SSRS stock reports

SSRS Architecture

SSRS Architecture 3 Main Components of SSRS Environment Report Server A set of components that allows interaction with the Report Server DBF and other Data Sources Report Manager Allows the management and configuration of reports and users Report Designer Allows for the creation of reports and report data sources via tools (Report Designer and Report Builder)

Why SSRS Why Not? No Single Reporting Solution fits all needs Have a Reporting Strategy Keep an up to date Report Catalog

Deploy SSRS

Deploy SSRS Installing SSRS Configure SSRS Server Deploy Dynamics GP SSRS Reports

Installing SSRS Part of the SQL Server Installation Native vs Integrated (Sharepoint) Select Install Only Automatic Config is not recommended

Configure SSRS Reporting Services Configuration Manager Web Service URL - Verify

Cont… Reporting Services Configuration Manager Web Portal URL - Verify

Deploy Dynamics GP SSRS Reports MSDynGP >> Tools >> Setup >> System >> Reporting Tools Setup I suggest always using a subfolder… Verify Report Server URL & Report Manager URL

Cont… Deploy Reports Verify Reports

Errors Deploying SSRS Reports When you upload a report or create a subscription, if the report size is higher than this value, you will bump into this error - Default is 4mb - 4096 Since SQL 2016 this limit is now hard coded to 100mb limit for portal and SOAP, but the 4mb limit still exists for Report Server, so it needs to be changed Dynamics GP suggests 20.2MB (20690) If you are using for other reports, then their size needs to be considered I find these values work best for all SSRS: 2005/2008 = 30720 2012 = 51200 2016/2017 = 102400

20690 Error Fix… Edit web.config file for SSRS (SQL2016) %programfiles%\Microsoft SQL Server\MSRS13.MSSQLSERVER\Reporting Services\ReportServer Change / Add maxRequestLength=xxxxx to the web.config file Restart Report Server

Errors… While trying to Deploy Reports Check those blog posts: https://community.dynamics.com/gp/b/dynamicsgp/archive/2012/10/11/dynamics-gp- ssrs-report-deployment-errors http://dynamicsgpblogster.blogspot.ca/2013/06/microsoft-sql-server-security-roles- and.html

SSRS New Features

SSRS 2016 Biggest improvement since 2008 HTML5 Rendering Engine PowerPoint Export Format Improvements to Subscriptions PDF Printing - with out ACTIVE X! New SQL Server Data Tools New Report Builder Interface New Web Portal KPI’s Custom Branding Mobile Reports Tree Map and Sunburst Charts

SSRS 2017 Sharepoint is OUT PowerBI Report Server is IN DAX queries REST API support Open API compliant

SSRS Security

SSRS Security Security is setup in 3 places SSRS Web Access (SSRS Reports) Limit access to the SSRS Report Server Report Folders / Reports Access Both Reports and the Folders they belong to can have security defined for them SQL Server Data Access When setting up new objects for reports, don’t forget to grant proper rights Tables, Views, Stored Procedures, Functions

SSRS Security Tips Don’t Give too Much Access Rights granted from within SQL, are for any application that has access to the user / service ID Lock down data - Use READ only accounts for reporting Active Directory Security Groups / Windows Authentication Create a AD group for report access Grant all NON DynGP users via Windows Authentication only

Best Practice Tips Don’t use ‘SA’ Plan your needs, design and data flows Be restrictive Enable remote Errors for logging Document your reports and security strategy Test Test Test Test

Development Tools

What Tool to Use? Report Builder Great for end users Runs from Report Manager (URL) 2016 - Download from MSFT Creates simple reports with basic layouts - But still powerful Limitations Query Editor is lightweight Can’t create sub-reports on its own Only one report open at a time

Report Builder

Cont… Report Designer For Power Users and Developers Requires Visual Studio with SSDT (SQL Server Data Tools) Built on BIDS (Business Intelligence Development Studio) Has access to all functions of SSRS and SQL Enhanced graphs, charts, data access Comparison of Builder vs Designer

Report Designer

Fun Things…

Subscriptions Auto Delivery of SSRS Reports Can be delivered via E-Mail or to a Network Share E-Mail individuals or groups Schedules can run as often as you like Requires E-Mail Settings to be configured in Reporting Services Configuration Manager

Custom Formatting Use Windows Credentials to Filter Data Current user credentials can be a parameter Allows for a single report to be used by many people Graybar Format Alternate colors on every other row - Add as a background colour property

Cont… Sparklines Sub-Reports Drill to Another Report Small charts or graphs that show trends at a glance Sub-Reports Embed a separate report into a row of an existing report Like Crystal Reports Drill to Another Report Hyperlinks all the opening of a a second report

Cont… Auto Hide / Expand Related Rows

Dashboards Charts and Graphs as Dashboards PowerBI has become Microsoft’s dashboard tool More PowerBI features have been added to SSRS

Branding Branding the SSRS Portal (2016+) Need 3 components - Contained within a zip file metadata.xml logo.png () colors.json More Info

Samples…

Demo Notes Show Report Portal DYN16 Folder Folders Paginated Reports - Business Analyzer Configurations Branding Ugly Nanook Software Lets look a Reports Data Set Row Change Color (Payroll >> Check History) =IIF(RowNumber(Nothing) MOD 2,”LightGrey”, “LightBlue”) Links to Dyn (Financial >> Charts & KPIs >> Accounts Payable Days Outstanding Detail) Charts (Financial >> Charts & KPIs >> Total Expenses KPI)

Demo Notes Lets look a Reports… Maps (AdventureWorks >> Sales_by_region)

Thank You Email: khataley@nanooksoftware,com Twitter: @KerryHataley WEB: www.nanooksoftware.com (Live Dec 2017) Attendee Reminders to complete survey. #CollaborateCanada