Pro SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (Paperback)

~ Rodney Landrum (Author), Walter J. Voytek II (Author)
Key Phrases: patient census, web parts, terminal services, Report Manager, Visual Studio, Report Builder (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

<p>SQL Server Reporting Services 2005 is the latest version of the reporting technology from Microsoft, providing the means to design, author, render, and deploy business reports to users, customers, and employees via the Web or the company intranet. The reporting engine is built into the SQL Server 2005 database (and provided as a free add-on with SQL Server 2000), and the report manager is integrated with Visual Studio 2003, offering an effective and familiar environment for SQL Server and .NET developers.</p>

<p>The book is steeped in the day-to-day challenges, discoveries, and successes involved in delivering a successful reporting solution with this technology. Consequently, you will encounter step-by-step guides, best practices, and real code examples that cover all common Reporting Services tasks.</p>

About the Author

Rodney Landrum is a MCSE working as a systems engineer, DBA, and data analyst for a software development company in Pensacola, Florida, that specializes in applications for the healthcare industry. He writes software reviews and feature articles for numerous magazines, including <i> Windows and .NET</i>, <i>SQL Server</i>, <i>Connected Home</i>, <i>T-SQL Solutions</i>, <i>Microsoft Certified Professional</i>, and <i>Electronic House</i>.

Walter J. Voytek II is founder, CEO, and president of HealthWare Corporation, a Microsoft Certified Partner that specializes in IT solutions for the healthcare industry. Voytek has worked in IT for over 30 years, and he spent the past 20 years in healthcare IT. Voytek has spoken publicly at several national conventions and continues to speak at various HealthWare gatherings each year. As chief software architect for HealthWare, Voytek has helped shape the company’s award-winning solutions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (October 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590594983
• ISBN-13: 978-1590594988
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #345,241 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good when Reporting Services 2005 came out but only Fair, March 21, 2006

By	Dave Schinkel "Sr. Software Engineer" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book at the time was a life savor when Reporting Services 2005 first came out. But as I raced to produce very complex reports in SSRS 2005 in 2006, I quickly realized that this book lacked a lot of very complex scenarios. It is a great book if your organization does only basic reporting but if you're looking for in-depth information on expressions, calculations, etc. this book will not do. It's always a very good starter book and recommend it before you jump into any really complex reports and one that I'll probably still reference for a variety of topics since it does cover the topics quickly but at the same time a good introduction at least.

Depending on the timing, if you are currently racing to get Reporting Services under your belt and it's early 2006, I'd recommend this book, otherwise, wait till some more in-depth books come out later.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy to follow, April 5, 2006

By	K. Remail - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I began this book with limited Reporting Services experience, not really knowing what to expect. What I found in every chapter was that the authors really took the time to explain the nuances of this technology that can only be understood from working with it in the real-world and not on a sample database with simple reports. I also learned much more about basic and advanced queries that really helped me out with parameters and stored procedures. I would definitely recommend this book for everyone new to reporting services and those who would like to get answers to detailed reporting scenarios.

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars You should probably look elsewhere, March 16, 2006

By	Terry Smith "http://terrysmith.net -- http:/... (Little Rock, AR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I found this book to be weird quiet frankly. Chapter 2 goes off the deep-end of designing efficient queries before you've even built a report yet. That material should have been put at the end of the book. Creating a report with the report wizard is covered in Chapter 4 but probably would have been best if it was before Chapter 3 which covers creating a report manually. I didn't find anything "Pro", as the name implies, or advanced with the book. It's a broad introductory text only. Also, it only covers using the ReportViewer control for Win Forms and not the one Web Forms. The two are similar enough but coverage of both would have been better.