Datasheet
Part I: Getting Started
18
even realize that they are using Reporting Services to view their content. In fact, they may not even
realize that they are viewing a report. From the users ’ perspective, their experience is simply a
convenient and smooth flow of information as they navigate from one simple interface to another,
without ever leaving your business solution.
Part V will help you explore opportunities for integrating Reporting Services reports into applications
and business solutions. Chapter 12 will show you different techniques for including reporting features in
Windows and web applications. You will learn how to program the Reporting Services web service to
gain control over the report - rendering process and to manage reports through custom applications.
Web Application Integration
It ’ s impossible to know for sure, but by some estimates, as many as 90 percent of all desktop business
applications have been replaced by browser - based applications, most in the past five years. The power of
the Web and Internet technologies has drastically changed the way we use our computers. For this
reason, web applications have come a long way in just the past few years. Once stodgy, static web pages,
many “ web sites ” have been replaced with interactive information portals and dynamic application
interfaces that provide feedback and tactile response to user interaction.
The page paradigm has turned once - standard gray window dialogs into artistic - yet - efficient, fashionably
color - coordinated data input and management screens. One of the reasons that Reporting Services
integrates so easily with modern web applications is that it natively supports HyperText Markup
Language (HTML), the standard markup language used to create web pages.
Techniques may be used to incorporate reports into a web application in a variety of ways, for example:
Hyperlinking to navigate the web browser window to a report
Hyperlinking to open reports in a separate web browser window, with control over report
display and browser features
Embedding reports into a page using a frame, IFrame, or ReportViewer web control
Programmatically feeding report content to an Active Server Page (ASP or ASPX) using server -
side custom code
Programmatically writing reports to files available for downloading from a web site
Using a web part to embed reports into a SharePoint Web portal
Fully integrating the report server in SharePoint Integration mode
The fact is that there are a lot of creative ways to integrate reports into a web application. These
techniques range from very simple, requiring little more than a little HTML script, to very complex,
custom methods. And if it ’ s not enough to be able to embed reports into custom web pages, it ’ s also
possible to use custom program code to embed additional content into reports. Imagine the
possibilities . . . actually, you don ’ t have to imagine anything. Just keep reading!
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