Creating Reports
36 | Infor Mongoose - Creating and Customizing Reports
Page footer
Some reports have additional features, such as notes, and some, such as label reports, contain only
data.
SSRS has four container classes. Three of these are subclasses of the Tablix class: Lists, Tables, and
Matrices. The fourth container class is the Rectangle. Data stored in a Tablix object can be filtered,
sorted, and grouped. Tablix objects also change their size and shape to best fit the space provided by
a particular output format. Rectangles are used to contain other objects, like tablix objects, textboxes,
images, and so on. Rectangles are useful to restrain the movement of objects, such as tables, as they
grow. This is especially important for reports like "label reports," where precise control of object
positioning is required.
In general, most reports use a rectangle for the report header, page header, page footer, and one or
more tables for detail data. In some instances, where there is a parent child relationship to data, a list
format can be used for the parent data, and one or more tables for the child data.
Laying Out the Report
The report we are building is fairly simple, consisting basically of a list of tasks grouped by user. Most
of the basic elements, such as report header, page header and footer, and basic data section, have
already been built in to the template we started out with. Basically, all that is left is to modify the data
fields for our purposes and apply any formatting changes we might want.
To add the fields to the report:
1 In the body section of the report, locate the tablix component named Tablix1.
This tablix component currently has two columns.
2 Right-click the tablix component and, from the context menu, select Insert Column > Right.
3 Select the column data sources and header row labels:
a. In the first body row cell (not the header row), click the data selection icon ( ).
b. From the drop-down list, select TaskName.
c. In the second cell, do the same thing and select TaskDescription.
d. In the third cell, do the same thing and select RemindDateTime.
Note that, as you make these selections, Visual Studio automatically adds correctly formatted
header row labels.
4 Add the group by which returned data is to be grouped and sorted:
a. In the Row Groups section (just below the main workspace area), click the drop-down arrow.
b. From the context menu, select Add Group > Parent Group.
c. In the Tablix group dialog box, Group by field, specify [Username].
d. Click OK.
Visual Studio creates a new column, on the left side of the Tablix table, labeled Username.
5 (Optional) Select the Preview tab and view the results of your changes.