Datasheet
Chapter 1: Introducing Reporting Services
19
Portal Integration
As web technologies and products have matured, a new breed of web applications has evolved. Most
web sites consist of several HTML page files, which contain mainly text content. Portal frameworks like
Microsoft Office SharePoint Services, IBM Websphere, Plumtree, and DotNetNuke have replaced many
large, complex web sites. A portal server takes much of the programming out of web - site construction by
providing a framework and the building blocks to assemble an intricate web site from modules. Most of
the content is managed in a database rather than in physical web pages.
Now your corporate reporting solution can be completely integrated into the enterprise intranet portal.
Chapter 16 covers report server integration with SharePoint. Rather than managing reports, security, and
configuration settings on a separate report server and then using a SharePoint portal to just display the
reports, SharePoint integrated mode allows all your reports and report administration to be managed
completely within SharePoint. If you choose to manage the report server separately from your
SharePoint portal, you can still use ShapePoint web parts to navigate folders and reports and to view
reports hosted on the report server running in Reporting Services Native mode.
SharePoint integrated mode is supported in Microsoft Office SharePoint. A Reporting Services report can
integrate with practically any portal site in some of the same ways that it integrates standard web
pages — by using IFrames and hyperlinks. SharePoint integration is particularly easy for non - developers
because it involves the use of simple menu options rather than writing script or program code. Adding
the report viewer web part to a portal site page is as easy as dragging and dropping it into a page zone
and then setting some simple properties. Microsoft offers a simple portal framework with limited
features with Windows Server, called Windows SharePoint Services ( WSS ). The full - featured, corporate -
scale edition — SharePoint Portal Server — is a separate product that adds features and advanced
scalability to the WSS foundation.
Windows Application Integration
Reports may be viewed in custom Windows desktop applications using one of two techniques. The
ReportViewer control or embedded web browser may be used to view server - based reports in a form.
These reports are still managed on the report server and maintain all the security settings and
configuration options defined by an administrator. Queries and data access are still performed on the
server. The other option is to embed these reports directly into the client - side application. The Windows
Forms ReportViewer controls can act as a lightweight report - rendering engine. This means that reports
built into a custom application can run independently from the report server. Figure 1 - 6 shows a report
rendered on a Windows Form using the ReportViewer control.
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