Datasheet

Server Reports
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mode, you may use the Report Manager web application to access and manage reports. If you are using
SharePoint integrated mode, you will use SharePoint to manage reports and then deploy and view them
in a document or report library.
HTML Viewer
Web browsers, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, are the most popular tools for viewing Reporting
Services reports. In most cases, when a report is rendered to HTML, Reporting Services adds JavaScript
to provide several interactive features. These features include a toolbar, document maps, fixed table
headers, and table sorting. Collectively, these script-based features are referred to as the HTML Viewer.
To ensure compatibility with the HTML Viewer, it is recommended that you use the latest version
of Internet Explorer. Currently, Microsoft guarantees full HTML Viewer functionality in Internet
Explorer version 8.0 with up-to-date service packs and scripting enabled.
Other web browsers can be used to view Reporting Services reports rendered to HTML, but many
of the HTML Viewer features will not be available. Refer to Books Online for more details on which
features are supported by which browsers if you plan to distribute reports to users employing browsers
other than current versions of Internet Explorer.
Report Viewer Control
The Report Viewer control allows Reporting Services reports to be displayed within custom applica-
tions. The Report Viewer control is actually two controls — one for use in web applications and the
other for Win Forms applications. Each supports the same functionality.
The Report Viewer control runs in one of two modes. In the default Remote Processing mode, reports
are rendered by a Reporting Services instance and displayed through the control. This is the preferred
mode as the full feature set of Reporting Services is available and the processing power of the Reporting
Services server can be employed.
In situations in which a Reporting Services server is not available or retrieving data directly through
the client system is required, the Report Viewer control can be run in the Local Processing mode. In
this mode, the application retrieves data and couples it with the report definition to produce a rendered
report on the host system without the support of a Reporting Services server. Not all Reporting Services
features are available when the control is executed in Local Processing mode.
Reporting Services Processors and Extensions
What exactly is Reporting Services? The core processing engine is a Windows service whose func-
tionality is performed by several processing extensions. Theses .NET assemblies perform security
authentication, data processing, format-specific report rendering, and report delivery. These processing
extensions can be extended by developers by registering additional assemblies on the server and in the
development tools.
Microsoft’s Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) technology provides a mechanism for
the consistent management of devices and applications running on Windows platforms. The Report-
ing Services Windows service exposes itself to WMI by registering two classes with the local WMI