MSBI Interview Questions

5/9/2015 MSBIInterviewQuestions|SSIS|SSAS|SSRS|InterviewQuestions

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MSBIInterviewQuestionsSSISSQLServerIntegrationServicesQ:WhatisSSIS?HowitisrelatedwithSQLServer.SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is a component of SQL Server which can be used to perform a wide range of Data Migration and ETLoperations.SSISisacomponentinMSBIprocessofSQLServer.ThisisaplatformforIntegrationandWorkflowapplications.ItisknownforafastandflexibleOLTPandOLAPextensionsusedfordataextraction,transformation,andloading(ETL).ThetoolmayalsobeusedtoautomatemaintenanceofSQLServerdatabasesandmultidimensionaldatasets.

Q:WhatarethetoolsassociatedwithSSIS?WeuseBusinessIntelligenceDevelopmentStudio(BIDS)andSQLServerManagementStudio(SSMS)toworkwithDevelopmentofSSISProjects.WeuseSSMStomanagetheSSISPackagesandProjects.

Q:WhatarethedifferencesbetweenDTSandSSIS

DataTransformationServices SQLServerIntegrationServices

LimitedErrorHandling ComplexandpowerfulErrorHandling

MessageBoxesinActiveXScripts MessageBoxesin.NETScripting

NoDeploymentWizard InteractiveDeploymentWizard

LimitedSetofTransformation GoodnumberofTransformations

NOBIfunctionality CompleteBIIntegration

Q:WhatisaworkflowinSSIS2014?WorkflowisasetofinstructionsontospecifytheProgramExecutoronhowtoexecutetasksandcontainerswithinSSISPackages.Q:Whatisthecontrolflow?

Acontrolflowconsistsofoneormoretasksandcontainersthatexecutewhenthepackageruns.Tocontrolorderordefinetheconditionsforrunningthenexttaskorcontainerinthepackagecontrolflow,weuseprecedenceconstraintstoconnectthetasksandcontainersinapackage.Asubsetoftasks and containers can also be grouped and run repeatedly as a unitwithin the package control flow. SQLServer Integration Services (SSIS)provides three different types of control flow elements: Containers that provide structures in packages, Tasks that provide functionality, andPrecedenceConstraintsthatconnecttheexecutables,containers,andtasksintoanorderedcontrolflow.

Q:Whatisthedataflow?Dataflowconsistsofthesourcesanddestinationsthatextractandloaddata,thetransformationsthatmodifyandextenddata,andthepathsthatlinksources,transformations,anddestinationsTheDataFlowtaskistheexecutablewithintheSSISpackagethatcreates,orders,andrunsthedataflow. A separate instance of the data flow engine is opened for each Data Flow task in a package. Data Sources, Transformations, and DataDestinationsarethethreeimportantcategoriesintheDataFlow.

Q:HowdoesErrorHandlingworkinSSISWhenadataflowcomponentappliesatransformationtocolumndata,extractsdatafromsources,orloadsdataintodestinations,errorscanoccur.Errorsfrequentlyoccurbecauseofunexpecteddatavalues.TypeoftypicalErrorsinSSIS:DataConnectionErrors,whichoccur incasetheconnectionmanagercannotbe initializedwiththeconnectionstring.ThisappliestobothDataSourcesandDataDestinationsalongwithControlFlowsthatusetheConnectionStrings.DataTransformationErrors,whichoccurwhiledataisbeingtransformedoveraDataPipelinefromSourcetoDestination.ExpressionEvaluationerrors,whichoccurifexpressionsthatareevaluatedatruntimeperforminvalid

Q:WhatisenvironmentvariableinSSIS?Anenvironmentvariableconfigurationsetsapackagepropertyequaltothevalueinanenvironmentvariable.Environmentalconfigurationsareusefulforconfiguringpropertiesthataredependentonthecomputerthatisexecutingthepackage.

Q:WhataretheTransformationsavailableinSSIS?

AGGREGATEItappliesaggregatefunctionstoRecordSetstoproducenewoutputrecordsfromaggregatedvalues.AUDITAddsPackageandTasklevelMetadatasuchasMachineName,ExecutionInstance,PackageName,PackageID,etc..CHARACTERMAPPerformsSQLServercolumnlevelstringoperationssuchaschangingdatafromlowercasetouppercase.CONDITIONALSPLITSeparatesavailableinputintoseparateoutputpipelinesbasedonBooleanExpressionsconfiguredforeachoutput.COPYCOLUMNAddacopyofcolumntotheoutputwecanlatertransformthecopykeepingtheoriginalforauditing.DATACONVERSIONConvertscolumnsdatatypesfromonetoanothertype.ItstandsforExplicitColumnConversion.DATAMININGQUERYUsedtoperformdataminingqueryagainstanalysisservicesandmanagePredictionsGraphsandControls.DERIVEDCOLUMNCreateanew(computed)columnfromgivenexpressions.EXPORTCOLUMNUsedtoexportaImagespecificcolumnfromthedatabasetoaflatfile.FUZZYGROUPINGUsedfordatacleansingbyfindingrowsthatarelikelyduplicates.FUZZYLOOKUPUsedforPatternMatchingandRankingbasedonfuzzylogic.IMPORTCOLUMNReadsimagespecificcolumnfromdatabaseontoaflatfile.

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LOOKUPPerformsthelookup(searching)ofagivenreferenceobjectsetagainstadatasource.Itisusedforexactmatchesonly.MERGEMergestwosorteddatasetsintoasingledatasetintoasingledataflow.MERGEJOINMergestwodatasetsintoasingledatasetusingajoinjunction.MULTICASTSendsacopyofsuppliedDataSourceontomultipleDestinations.ROWCOUNTStorestheresultingrowcountfromthedataflow/transformationintoavariable.ROWSAMPLINGCapturessampledatabyusingarowcountofthetotalrowsindataflowspecifiedbyrowsorpercentage.UNIONALLMergemultipledatasetsintoasingledataset.PIVOTUsedforNormalizationofdatasourcestoreduceanalomoliesbyconvertingrowsintocolumnsUNPIVOTUsedfordenormalizingthedatastructurebyconvertscolumnsintorowsincaseofbuildingDataWarehouses.

Q:HowtologSSISExecutions?SSISincludesloggingfeaturesthatwritelogentrieswhenruntimeeventsoccurandcanalsowritecustommessages.Thisisnotenabledbydefault.IntegrationServicessupportsadiversesetof logproviders,andgivesyou theability tocreatecustom logproviders.The IntegrationServices logproviderscanwritelogentriestotextfiles,SQLServerProfiler,SQLServer,WindowsEventLog,orXMLfiles.Logsareassociatedwithpackagesandareconfiguredatthepackagelevel.Eachtaskorcontainerinapackagecanloginformationtoanypackagelog.Thetasksandcontainersinapackagecanbeenabledforloggingevenifthepackageitselfisnot.

Q:HowdoyoudeploySSISpackages?SSISProjectBUILDprovidesaDeploymentManifestFile.WeneedtorunthemanifestfileanddecidewhethertodeploythisontoFileSystemorontoSQLServer[msdb].SQLServerDeploymentisveryfasterandmoresecurethenFileSystemDeployment.Alternatively,wecanalsoimportthepackagefromSSMSfromFileSystemorSQLServer.

Q:Whatarevariablesandwhatisvariablescope?VariablesstorevaluesthataSSISpackageanditscontainers,tasks,andeventhandlerscanuseatruntime.ThescriptsintheScripttaskandtheScriptcomponentcanalsousevariables.Theprecedenceconstraintsthatsequencetasksandcontainersintoaworkflowcanusevariableswhentheirconstraintdefinitions includeexpressions. IntegrationServices supports two typesof variables:userdefinedvariablesandsystemvariables.Userdefinedvariablesaredefinedbypackagedevelopers,andsystemvariablesaredefinedbyIntegrationServices.Youcancreateasmanyuserdefinedvariablesasapackagerequires,butyoucannotcreateadditionalsystemvariables.

Q:CanyounamefiveofthePerfmoncountersforSSISandthevaluetheyprovide?

SQLServer:SSISServiceSSISPackageInstancesSQLServer:SSISPipelineBLOBbytesreadBLOBbyteswrittenBLOBfilesinuseBuffermemoryBuffersinuseBuffersspooledFlatbuffermemoryFlatbuffersinusePrivatebuffermemoryPrivatebuffersinuseRowsreadRowswritten

SSASSQLServerAnalysisServicesQ:WhatisAnalysisServices?Listoutthefeatures?MicrosoftSQLServer2014AnalysisServices(SSAS)deliversonlineanalyticalprocessing(OLAP)anddataminingfunctionalityforbusinessintelligence



applications.AnalysisServicessupportsOLAPbylettingusdesign,create,andmanagemultidimensionalstructuresthatcontaindataaggregatedfromotherdatasources, suchas relationaldatabases.Fordataminingapplications,AnalysisServices letswedesign, create,andvisualizedataminingmodelsthatareconstructedfromotherdatasourcesbyusingawidevarietyofindustrystandarddataminingalgorithms.AnalysisServicesisamiddletierserverforanalyticalprocessing,OLAP,andDatamining.Itmanagesmultidimensionalcubesofdataandprovidesaccesstoheapsofinformationincludingaggregationofdata.OnecancreatedataminingmodelsfromdatasourcesanduseitforBusinessIntelligencealsoincludingreportingfeatures.AnalysisserviceprovidesacombinedviewofthedatausedinOLAPorDatamining.ServiceshererefertoOLAP,Datamining.Analysisservicesassistsin creating, designing and managing multidimensional structures containing data from varied sources. It provides a wide array of data miningalgorithmsforspecifictrendsandneeds.

Someofthekeyfeaturesare:

Easeofusewithalotofwizardsanddesigners.FlexibledatamodelcreationandmanagementScalablearchitecturetohandleOLAPProvidesintegrationofadministrationtools,datasources,security,caching,andreportingetc.Providesextensivesupportforcustomapplications

Q:WhatisUDM?ItssignificanceinSSAS?TheroleofaUnifiedDimensionalModel(UDM)istoprovideabridgebetweentheuserandthedatasources.AUDMisconstructedoveroneormorephysicaldatasources,and then theenduser issuesqueriesagainst theUDMusingoneofavarietyof client tools, suchasMicrosoftExcel.Ataminimum,whentheUDMisconstructedmerelyasathin layeroverthedatasource,theadvantagestotheenduserareasimpler,morereadilyunderstoodmodelofthedata,isolationfromheterogeneousbackenddatasources,andimprovedperformanceforsummarytypequeries.Insomescenariosa simpleUDM like this is constructed totallyautomatically.Withgreater investment in theconstructionof theUDM,additionalbenefitsaccruefromtherichnessofmetadatathatthemodelcanprovide.

TheUDMprovidesthefollowingbenefits:Allowstheusermodeltobegreatlyenriched.Provideshighperformancequeriessupportinginteractiveanalysis,evenoverhugedatavolumes.Allowsbusinessrulestobecapturedinthemodeltosupportricheranalysis.

Q:WhatistheneedforSSAScomponent?

AnalysisServicesistheonlycomponentinSQLServerusingwhichwecanperformAnalysisandForecastoperations.SSASisveryeasytouseandinteractive.FasterAnalysisandTroubleshooting.AbilitytocreateandmanageDatawarehouses.ApplyefficientSecurityPrinciples.

Q:ExplaintheTWOTierArchitectureofSSAS?

SSASusesbothserverandclientcomponentstosupplyOLAPanddataminingfunctionalityBIApplications.TheservercomponentisimplementedasaMicrosoftWindowsservice.EachinstanceofAnalysisServicesimplementedasaseparateinstanceoftheWindowsservice.ClientscommunicatewithAnalysisServicesusingthestandardXMLA(XMLForAnalysis),protocolforissuingcommandsandreceivingresponses,exposedasawebservice.

Q:WhatarethecomponentsofSSAS?

AnOLAPEngineisusedforenablingfastadhocqueriesbyendusers.Ausercaninteractivelyexploredatabydrilling,slicingorpivoting.Drillingreferstotheprocessofexploringdetailsofthedata.Slicingreferstotheprocessofplacingdatainrowsandcolumns.Pivotingreferstoswitchingcategoriesofdatabetweenrowsandcolumns.InOLAP,wewillbeusingwhatarecalledasDimensionalDatabases.

Q:WhatisFASMI?AdatabaseiscalledanOLAPDatabaseifthedatabasesatisfiestheFASMIrules:

FastAnalysisisdefinedintheOLAPscenarioinfivesecondsorless.SharedMustsupportaccesstodatabymanyusersinthefactorsofSensitivityandWriteBacks.MultidimensionalThedatainsidetheOLAPDatabasemustbemultidimensionalinstructure.InformationTheOLAPdatabaseMustsupportlargevolumesofdata..

Q:WhatlanguagesareusedinSSAS?

StructuredQueryLanguage(SQL)MultidimensionalExpressions(MDX)anindustrystandardquerylanguageorientatedtowardsanalysisDataMiningExtensions(DMX)anindustrystandardquerylanguageorientedtowarddatamining.AnalysisServicesScriptingLanguage(ASSL)usedtomanageAnalysisServicesdatabaseobjects.

Q:HowCubesareimplementedinSSAS?

Cubesaremultidimensionalmodelsthatstoredatafromoneormoresources.CubescanalsostoreaggregationsSSASCubesarecreatedusingtheCubeWizard.WealsobuildDimensionswhencreatingCubes.CubescanseeonlytheDSV(logicalView).

Q:Whatisthedifferencebetweenaderivedmeasureandacalculatedmeasure?Thedifferencebetweenaderivedmeasureandacalculatedmeasure iswhenthecalculation isperformed.Aderivedmeasure iscalculatedbeforeaggregationsarecreated,andthevaluesofthederivedmeasurearestoredinthecube.Acalculatedmeasure iscalculatedafteraggregationsarecreated, and the values of a calculatedmeasure arent stored in the cube. Theprimary criterion for choosingbetweenaderivedmeasure andacalculatedmeasureisnotefficiency,butaccuracy.

Q:Whatisapartition?ApartitioninAnalysisServicesisthephysicallocationofstoredcubedata.Everycubehasatleastonepartitionbydefault.Eachtimewecreateameasuregroup,anotherpartitioniscreated.QueriesrunfasteragainstapartitionedcubebecauseAnalysisServicesonlyneedstoreaddatafromthepartitions that contain the answers to thequeries.Queries run even fasterwhenpartition also stores aggregations, thepre calculated totals for

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additivemeasures.Partitionsareapowerfulandflexiblemeansofmanagingcubes,especiallylargecubes.

Q:Whilecreatinganewcalculatedmemberinacubewhatistheuseofpropertycallednonemptybehavior?Nonemptybehaviorisimportantpropertyforratiocalculations.IfthedenominatorIsempty,anMDXexpressionwillreturnanerrorjustasitwouldifthedenominatorWereequaltozero.ByselectingoneormoremeasuresfortheNonEmptyBehaviorproperty,weareestablishingarequirementthateachselectedmeasurefirstbeevaluatedbeforethecalculationexpressionisevaluated.Ifeachselectedmeasureisempty,thenTheexpressionisalsotreatedasemptyandnoerrorisreturned.

Q:WhatisaRAGGEDhierarchy?Undernormalcircumstances,eachlevelinahierarchyinMicrosoftSQLServerAnalysisServices(SSAS)hasthesamenumberofmembersaboveitasanyothermemberatthesamelevel.Inaraggedhierarchy,thelogicalparentmemberofatleastonememberisnotinthelevelimmediatelyabovethemember.When this occurs, the hierarchy descends to different levels for different drilldown paths. Expanding through every level for everydrilldownpathisthenunnecessarilycomplicated.

Q:WhataretherolesofanAnalysisServicesInformationWorker?

TheroleofanAnalysisServicesinformationworkeristhetraditional"domainexpert"roleinbusinessintelligence(BI)someonewhounderstandsthedataemployedbyasolutionandisabletotranslatethedataintobusinessinformation.TheroleofanAnalysisServicesinformationworkeroftenhasoneofthefollowingjobtitles:BusinessAnalyst(ReportConsumer),Manager(ReportConsumer),TechnicalTrainer,HelpDesk/Operation,orNetworkAdministrator.

Q:WhatarethedifferentwaysofcreatingAggregations?We can create aggregations for fasterMDX statements usingAggregationWizard or thruUBOUsageBasedOptimizations. Always, preferUBOmethodinrealtimeperformancetroubleshooting.

Q:WhatisWriteBack?Whatarethepreconditions?TheEnable/DisableWritebackdialogboxenablesordisableswriteback forameasuregroup inacube.Enablingwritebackonameasuregroupdefinesawritebackpartitionandcreatesawritebacktableforthatmeasuregroup.Disablingwritebackonameasuregroupremovesthewritebackpartitionbutdoesnotdeletethewritebacktable,toavoidunanticipateddataloss.

Q:Whatisprocessing?Processingisacriticalandresourceintensiveoperationinthedatawarehouselifecycleandneedstobecarefullyoptimizedandexecuted.AnalysisServicesoffersahighperformanceandscalableprocessingarchitecturewithacomprehensivesetofcontrolsfordatabaseadministrators.WecanprocessanOLAPdatabase,individualcube,DimensionoraspecificPartitioninacube.

Q:NamefewBusinessAnalysisEnhancementsforSSAS?ThefollowingtableliststhebusinessintelligenceenhancementsthatareavailableinMicrosoftSQLServerAnalysisServices(SSAS).Thetablealsoshowsthecubeordimensiontowhicheachbusinessintelligenceenhancementapplies,andindicateswhetheranenhancementcanbeappliedtoanobjectthatwascreatedwithoutusingadatasourceandforwhichnoschemahasbeengenerated.

Enhancement Type Appliedto NodatasourceTimeIntelligence Cube Cube NoAccountIntelligence Dimension Dimensionorcube NoDimensionIntelligence Dimension Dimensionorcube YesCustomAggregation Dimension Dimension(unaryoperator)orcube NoSemiadditiveBehavior Cube Cube YesCustomMemberFormula Dimension Dimensionorcube NoCustomSortingandUniquenessSettings Dimension Dimensionorcube YesDimensionWriteback Dimension Dimensionorcube Yes

Q:WhatMDXfunctionsdoyoumostcommonlyuse?Thisisagreatquestionbecauseyouonlyknowthisanswerbyexperience.Ifyouaskmethisquestion,theanswerpracticallyrushesoutofme.CrossJoin,Descendants,andNonEmpty,inadditiontoSum,Count,andAggregate.MypersonalfavoriteisCrossJoinbecauseitallowsmeidentifynoncontiguousslicesofthecubeandaggregateeventhoughthosecubecellsdontrolluptoanaturalancestor.Indeed,CrossJoinhaseasilybeenmybreadandbutter.

Q:Wheredoyouputcalculatedmembers?ThereflexiveanswerisintheMeasuresdimensionbutthisistheobviousanswer.SoIalwaysfollowupwithanotherquestion.Ifyouwanttocreateacalculatedmemberthatintersectsallmeasures,wheredoyouputit?Ahighpercentageofcandidatescantanswerthisquestion,andtheanswer is Inadimensionother thanMeasures. If theycananswer it, I immediatelyask themwhy. Theanswer is Becauseamember inadimensioncannotintersectitsownrelativesinthatdimension.

Q:HowdoIfindthebottom10customerswiththelowestsalesin2003thatwerenotnull?A:Simplyusingbottomcountwillreturncustomerswithnullsales.YouwillhavetocombineitwithNONEMPTYorFILTER.

SELECT{[Measures].[InternetSalesAmount]}ONCOLUMNS,BOTTOMCOUNT(NONEMPTY(DESCENDANTS([Customer].[CustomerGeography].[AllCustomers],[Customer].[CustomerGeography].[Customer]),([Measures].[InternetSalesAmount])),10,([Measures].[InternetSalesAmount]))ONROWSFROM[AdventureWorks]WHERE([Date].[Calendar].[CalendarYear].&[2003])

Q:HowinMDXquerycanIgettop3salesyearsbasedonorderquantity?

BydefaultAnalysisServicesreturnsmembersinanorderspecifiedduringattributedesign.Attributepropertiesthatdefineorderingare"OrderBy"and"OrderByAttribute".Letssaywewanttoseeordercountsforeachyear.InAdventureWorksMDXquerywouldbe:

SELECT{[Measures].[ResellerOrderQuantity]}ON0,[Date].[Calendar].[CalendarYear].MembersON1FROM[AdventureWorks]




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SamequeryusingTopCount:SELECT{[Measures].[ResellerOrderQuantity]}ON0,TopCount([Date].[Calendar].[CalendarYear].Members,3,[Measures].[ResellerOrderQuantity])ON1FROM[AdventureWorks]

Q:Howdoyouextractfirsttuplefromtheset?

UsecouldusefunctionSet.Item(0)Example:

SELECT{{[Date].[Calendar].[CalendarYear].Members}.Item(0)}ON0FROM[AdventureWorks]

Q:HowcanIsetupdefaultdimensionmemberinCalculationscript?

YoucanuseALTERCUBEstatement.Syntax:ALTERCUBECurrentCube|YourCubeNameUPDATEDIMENSION,DEFAULT_MEMBER=''

SSRSSQLServerReportingServicesQ:WhatisSSRS?SQLServerReportingServiceisoneoftheserverbasedsoftwaresystemsthatgeneratereportsdevelopedbyMicrosoft.Itisusedforpreparinganddeliveringinteractiveandvarietyofprintedreports.Itisadministeredthroughaninterfacethatiswebbased.Reportingservicesutilizesawebserviceinterfaceforsupportinganddevelopingofcustomizedreportingapplicatons.ItcanbecompetedwithCrystalReportsandotherbusinessintelligencetools.

Q:ExplainSSRSArchitecture?Reporting services architecture comprises of integrated components. It is a multitiered, included with application, server and data layers. Thisarchitecture is scalable andmodular. A single installation can be used acrossmultiple computers. It includes the following components: ReportManager, ReportingDesigner, Browser TypesSupported byReporting services, Report server, Report server command line utilities, Report ServerDatabase,ReportingServicesExtensibility,DatasourcesthatissupportedbyReportingServices.

Q:ExplainReportingLifeCycle?TheReportingLifecycleincludesReportdesigningThedesigningisdoneinVisualStudioReportDesigner.ItgeneratesaclasswhichembodiestheReportDefinition.ReportprocessingTheprocessingincludesbingingthereportdefinitionwithdatafromthereportdatasource.Itperformsonallgrouping,sortingandfilteringcalculations.Theexpressionsareevaluatedexceptthepageheader,footerandsectionitems.LateritfirestheBindingeventandBoundevent.Asaresultoftheprocessing,itproducesReportInstance.Reportinstancemaybepersistedandstoredwhichcanberenderedatalaterpointoftime.ReportRendering:ReportrenderingstartsbypassingtheReportInstancetoaspecificrenderingextension(HTMLorPDFformats).Theinstanceofreportsispagedifpagingsupportedbyoutputformat.Theexpressionsofitemsareevaluatedinthepageheaderandfootersectionsforeverypage.Asafinalstep,thereportisrenderedtothespecificoutputdocument.

Q:HowtofinetuneReports?To tuneup theReportingServices, follow thebelowmentionedways: Expand theServerorutilizing the reportingservicesofanotherdatabaseserver.Forbetterembeddingofreportcontents,reportapplicationslogicandcharacteristicscanhaveaduplicatecopyofdata.Replicationofdatacontinuously.Usingnolock,theissuesoflockingcanwellberesolvedandtheperformanceofthequerycanbeimproved.Thiscanbedonebyusingdirtyreadatthetimeofduplicatingthedataisunavailable.

Q:WhatareDataDrivenSubscriptions?ReportingServicesprovidesdatadrivensubscriptionssothatyoucancustomizethedistributionofareportbasedondynamicsubscriberdata.Data



drivensubscriptionsareintendedforthefollowingkindsofscenarios:Distributingreportstoa largerecipientpoolwhosemembershipmaychangefromonedistributiontothenext.Forexampledistributeamonthlyreporttoallcurrentcustomers.Distributingreportstoaspecificgroupofrecipientsbasedonpredefinedcriteria.Forexamplesendasalesperformancereporttothetoptensalesmanagersinanorganization.

Q:WhatisLinkedReport?

Q:WhataredifferenttypesofrolesprovidedbySSRS?

Q:DifferencebetweenLogicalPageanPhysicalPageinSSRS.Logicalpagebreaksarepagebreaksthatyouinsertbeforeorafterreportitemsorgroups.Pagebreakshelptodeterminehowthecontentisfittedtoareportpageforoptimalviewingwhenrenderingorexportingthereport.Thefollowingrulesapplywhenrenderinglogicalpagebreaks:Logicalpagebreaksareignoredforreportitemsthatareconstantlyhiddenandforreportitemswherethevisibilityiscontrolledbyclickinganotherreportitem.Logicalpagebreaksareappliedonconditionallyvisibleitemsiftheyarecurrentlyvisibleatthetimethereportisrendered.Spaceispreservedbetweenthereportitemwiththelogicalpagebreakanditspeerreportitems.Logicalpagebreaksthatareinsertedbeforeareportitempushthereportitemdowntothenextpage.Thereportitemisrenderedatthetopofthenextpage.Logicalpagebreaksdefinedonitemsintableormatrixcellsarenotkept.Thisdoesnotapplytoitemsinlists.

Q:UserwantonlytodisplayonlypdfasexportoptioninreportManager.Howtoacheivethis?

Q:NameandDescribefewconsoleutilitiesforSSRS?

Q:NamefewEndpointsexposedbySSRS2012?

Q:DescribedifferentProcessingModesofferedbySSRS?

Q:WhentoUseNullDatadrivenSubscription?CreateadatadrivensubscriptionthatusestheNullDeliveryProvider.WhenyouspecifytheNullDeliveryProviderasthemethodofdeliveryinthesubscription,thereportservertargetsthereportserverdatabaseasthedeliverydestinationandusesaspecializedrenderingextensioncalledthenullrenderingextension. Incontrastwithotherdeliveryextensions, theNullDeliveryProviderdoesnothavedeliverysettings thatyoucanconfigurethroughasubscriptiondefinition.

Q:HowcanyoumonitorthereportUsage?

Q:HowdoesthereportmanagerworkinSSRS?Reportmanagerisawebapplication.InSSRSitisaccessedbyaURL.TheinterfaceofthisReportmanagerdependsonthepermissionsoftheuser.Thismeanstoaccessanyfunctionalityorperformanytask,theusermustbeassignedarole.Auserwitharoleoffullpermissionscanentireallthefeaturesandmenusofthereport.Toconfigurethereportmanager,aURLneedstobedefined.

Q:WhataretheReportingServicescomponents?Reportingservicescomponentsassist indevelopment.Theseprocessingcomponentsincludesometoolsthatareusedtocreate,manageandviewreports.Areportdesignerisusedtocreatethereports.areportseverisusedtoexecuteanddistributereports.areportmanagerisusedtomanagethereportserver.

Q:SQLServerReportingServicesvsCrystalReports.CrystalreportsareprocessedbyIISwhileSSRShaveareportserver.CachinginCrystalreportsisavailablethroughcacheserver.Ontheotherhand,cachinginSSRSisavailableforReporthistorysnapshots.Crystalreportshavestandardsanduserdefinedfieldlabels.SSRSallowsonlyuserdefinedfieldlabels.

Q:WhatisReportBuilder?ReportBuilderisabusinessuser,adhocreportdesignclientthatallowsuserstodesignreportsbasedonthebusinessterms(ReportBuildermodel)theyarefamiliarwith,butwithoutneedingtounderstanddatabaseschemasorhowtowriteSQLorMDXqueries.ReportBuilderworkswithbothSQLServerandAnalysisServicesdatasources.

Q:HowdoesReportBuildersupportAnalysisServicescubes?ReportBuildersupportsrelationalSQLandAnalysisServicesdatasourcesinSQLServer.TocreateamodelforAnalysisServicescube,gotoReportManagerorManagementStudio,createadatasourceforyourAnalysisServicesdatabase,andthenselecttheGenerateModeloptiontocreatethemodel.

Q:HowdousersuseReportBuilderwithSQLServerdatasources?WhilemodelsthatprovideaccesstoSQLServerAnalysisServicesareautomaticallygeneratedonthereportserver,theReportBuilderModelDesignercanbeusedtogenerateormodifythemodelsthatarebuiltontopofSQLServerrelationaldatabases.ThesemodelbuildingprojectsareanewtypeofprojectwithinaVisualStudiobaseddevelopmentshell.

Q:HowdoIgetReportBuildertogenerateaparameterthatcanbesetbyusersviewingthereport?Inthefilterdialogbox,clickthenameofthecriteriathatyouwouldliketoprompttheuserforwhenviewingthereport.Forexample,forthecriteriaOrderYear=2000,clickOrderYear.SelectthePromptoptioninthedropdownlist.

Q:WhatnewdatasourcetypeswereaddedinSSRS2014?InadditiontothedatasourcetypesavailableinSSRS(SQLServer,Oracle,ODBC,OLEDB),thefollowinghavebeenaddedinSSRS2012:SQLServerAnalysisServicesSQLServerIntegrationServicesSQLServerReportBuilderModelsXML(throughURLandWebservices)

Q:HowcanIaddReportingServicesreportstomyapplication?VisualStudio/SSDT/BIDataTools(StandardandEnterpriseeditions)containsasetoffreelyredistributableReportViewercontrolsthatmakeiteasytoembedReportingServicesfunctionalityintocustomapplications.TwoversionsoftheReportViewerexist,oneforrichWindowsclientapplicationsandoneforASP.NETapplications.

Q:DoIneedareportservertorunreportsinmyapplication?Inaddition topublishing reports toa report server,youcanbuild reportsusing theReportDesigner that isdirectly integratedwithVisualStudiolanguageprojects.Youcanembedreportsdirectly inanyWindowsFormsorASP.NETWebapplicationwithoutaccesstoareportserver.ThedataaccessinembeddedreportsisanaturalextensionoftheVisualStudiodatafacilities.Notonlycanyouusetraditionaldatabasesasasourceofdataforyourreports,youcanuseobjectcollectionsaswell.

Q:CanyouimportMicrosoftExceldatatoSSRS?ReportingServicesdoesnotimportdata.Itonlyqueriesdatainwhateverformatitisstoredintheirnativestoragesystem.Iwillassumethatyou'reaskingwhetheryoucancreatereportsanduseExcelspreadsheetsasdatasources.TheanswerisYes,ReportingServicessupportsawidevarietyofdatasources,includingExcelfiles.You'llgetthebestperformancewiththebuiltinnative.NETprovidersbutyoushouldbeabletoconnecttoanyODBCorOLEDBdatasource,whetheritcomesfromMicrosoftorathirdpartycompany.

Q:CanwedeploySSRSreportsonourpersonalwebsite?Yourreportscanonlybedeployedonareportingservicessite.YouronlyoptionforviewingthemfromothersitesisanHTTPlink.Sometools,likeSharePointoffercontrolsallowingyoutoviewreportsinthecontextoftheotherwebsites,butthereportisstilldeployedtoandhostedfromreportingservices.



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Q:CanweusedatagridsforourreportinSSRS?WehaveanASP.NETprojectthatpopulatesadatagrid.UsingdatagridasmydatasourceformyreportusingSQLServerReportingServices.Isthispossible?Thesimpleanswerisno.However,nothing'seversimple.AsetofreportingcontrolswasaddedinVisualStudio2010allowingyoutoreportinadataset,ondatathatwassuppliedbyyou.So, ifyouretrievedyourdata intoadataset,boundthedatagridtothedatasetso ithaddatatodisplay,youcouldthenusethatdatasetasthedatasourceforthereportingcontrols.Thesearethenclientsidereports,notserverreportsthough.

Q:WhatarethedrawbacksofreportinginSSRS?Formanyyears,MicrosofthadnodirectsolutionforreportingwiththeSQLServerbesidesCrystalReports.Now,theyhaveSQLServerReportingServices,butitdoeshaveseveraldrawbacks.Itisstillcomplextounderstandthecompletefunctionalityandstructureofthisnewcomponent,andmanyusersarestillrelyingonthereportingapplicationtheyaremorefamiliarwith,whichisCrystalReports.Also,componentsinSSRSlikeReportBuilderandReportDesigneraremeantfordifferentusersfordifferentaspectsofthereportprocess,yetcompleteunderstandingandexposuretobothisimportanttoutilizebothfunctionsfullyandextensively.TherearealsoissueswhenexportingverylargereportstoMicrosoftExcel,asitcanleadtoalossofdata.

Q:WillrunningSSRSonWindowsXPlimitthenumberofusers?Yes,butnotbecauseofSSRS.TheInternetInformationServices(IIS)componentofWindowsXPonlyallowsasmallnumberofuserstoconnecttothewebsiteatonce.AsSSRSrunsviaIIS,thiswouldpreventmorethanafewpeoplefromusingSSRSatonce.Also,theonlyeditionofSSRSthatwill install onWindowsXP is theDeveloperEdition.Thisedition cannotbeused forproductionuse.YouneedStandardorEnterpriseEdition forproductionuse,whichrequiresaServerOStoinstallon(Windows2003Standard,Windows2008Standard,etc).

Q:ArethereissueswhenexportingSSRSreportsintoMicrosoftExcel?WhenmyusersaretryingtoexportaSSRSreportintoMicrosoftExcel,oneortwocolumnsinthereportappeartomergetogether.Whymightthisbe?ExportingfromSSRSisnotalwaysperfect,evenifyoustaywithintheMicrosoftrangeofproducts.Ifyouhaveextraresources,youcouldsplurgeforanaddonthatoffersmuchbettercontroloverexportingtoExcel,suchasOfficeWriter.Frommyexperience, though, it isusuallyheadersorfootersthatcauseexportingissues.Ifanyoftheseheadersorfootersoverlapwithdatacolumnsinyourreport,youwillfindthattheexportedversionofthereporthasmergedcells.Also,checkcolumnsnexttoeachothertomakesurethatthereisnooverlap,aswell.

Q:HowtosendaSSRSreportfromSSIS?Oftenthere isarequirementtobeabletosendaSSRSreport inExcel,PDForanotherformattodifferentusersfromaSSISpackageoneithasfinishedperformingadataload.Inordertodothis,firstyouneedtocreateasubscriptiontothereport.YoucancreateaSSRSreportsubscriptionfromReportManager. At the report subscription you canmention the report format and the email address of the recipient.When you create aschedulefortheSSRSreport,aSQLServerAgentJobwillbecreated.FromtheSSIS,byusingsp_start_jobandpassingtherelevantjobnameyoucanexecutetheSSRSreportsubscription.

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