What is this course about?

SQL Server Reporting Services augments the ability of SQL Server, and other relational database management systems, to seamlessly deliver reports to customers, partners, suppliers and employees. In this course, you gain the knowledge required to author reports to extract business intelligence out of your data, deploy reports to a Report Server for centralised access and administration, and extend Reporting Services through the programming of custom extensions. A series of extensive hands-on exercises help you acquire the skills to exploit the full power of Reporting Services, and teaches you how to go beyond the physical limitations of your organisation to deliver data and share information with others; when you want and how you want.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is valuable for database developers, data analysts, application developers, administrators, managers, and anyone responsible for designing, creating or using reports. Those who need to understand Reporting Services, or plan to employ Reporting Services within their organisation, will also greatly benefit.

What background do I need?

It is assumed that you have a working database knowledge (i.e., SQL statements, relational model concepts) of SQL Server or equivalent experience on other relational database management systems such as Access or Oracle. A basic understanding of the Windows environment is assumed. Visual Studio knowledge and a fundamental programming background are helpful, but not required.

I am currently using a database other than SQL Server. Will this course benefit me?

Yes! While SQL Server is used as the database of choice, you will find that the material in this course is applicable to any OLE DB-compliant relational database management system (RDBMS), such as Access or Oracle. One of the primary advantages of SQL Server Reporting Services is that it supports any RDBMS.

My organisation has its reports written in Access. Why do I need Reporting Services?

SQL Server Reporting Services provides a centralised server-based solution with deployment options such as subscription-based delivery of reports, centralised management, enhanced security and snapshots, that exceed the feature set of Access. This course has a hands-on exercise that will show you how to import your Access reports into Reporting Services.

I'm a manager, will this course be too technical for me?

Although there are strong technical elements of this course, as a manager, the more you understand about the capabilities and advantages of Reporting Services, the better you will be able to work with your team on an effective product implementation.

I'm not a programmer. How much programming is done on this course?

Programming is a small part of this course, and the programming that is done does not require you to write code. Learning Tree has been a pioneer in the application of "Active Learning" techniques, featuring paired hands-on exercises and group activities. This ensures that, even if you have basic programming skills, you can be teamed with a fellow course participant whose skills are stronger. With this method you can learn, not only from your instructor, but from the experience of other participants.

How much time is spent on each topic?

How much time is devoted to hands-on exercises?

Approximately 40 percent of class time is devoted to hands-on exercises. Throughout this course, you gain experience creating and managing reports using Reporting Services. Exercises include:

• Authoring free-form reports including images, calculated fields and groups
• Implementing advanced navigation using drill down, drill through and document maps
• Deploying reports manually and automatically
• Creating cached instances, snapshots and subscriptions
• Configuring and testing security on report items
• Building and applying a currency converter function

I am currently running SQL Server 2000. Will this course be applicable to my needs?

Yes! Although this course runs on SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services, it is targeted towards users of both SQL Server 2005 and 2000. The differences between the two versions are minor in scope and clearly highlighted in the course.

I am not confident in my ability to write SQL queries. Will I struggle in this course?

No. This course does not expect you to write SQL queries. All of the queries used in the hands-on exercises are already written for you, you will deploy them to get data from the RDBMS.

To learn more about writing basic queries, Learning Tree offers Course 532, SQL Server Transact-SQL^® Programming: Hands-On, for the SQL environment, and Course 493, Oracle^® PL/SQL Programming: Hands-On, for the Oracle environment. Both Course 534, Developing SQL Queries for SQL Server^®: Hands-On, and Course 234, Developing SQL Queries for Oracle^® Databases: Hands-On, offer training in advanced query writing.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

The SQL Server courses you take vary depending on the role you play in your organisation. Please refer to the SQL Server 2005 Curriculum Q&A for details on which courses are most appropriate to your role and the order I which you should take them.

• 131, SQL Server® 2005: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction is strongly recommended for anyone who is not familiar with the basics of SQL Server. It is a prerequisite for this course.
• 132, SQL Server® 2005 Database Administration: Hands-On provides detailed coverage of SQL Server 2005 from a DBA perspective. The course covers issues such as backup and recovery, database storage, jobs and alerts, and other administrative tasks.
• 532, SQL Server Transact-SQL® Programming: Hands-On focuses on SQL Server from a developer perspective. The course provides experience using Transact-SQL to accomplish the task of building stored procedures and triggers, as well as covering query performance optimisation.
• 382, Relational Database Design, Tools and Techniques: Hands-On emphasises the concepts and addresses the "whys" of databases. This course covers what relational databases are, why they are used, and how to design and set them up.
• 534, Developing SQL Queries for SQL Server®: Hands-On offers the knowledge and skills needed to develop complex and robust SQL queries for SQL Server 2000 and 2005.
• 535, Developing High-Performance SQL Server® Databases: Hands-On provides the skills required to achieve a high-performance SQL Server 2000 or 2005 database solution.
• 134, SQL Server® Integration Services: Hands-On provides the skills necessary to solve data management problems by creating dynamic packages for migrating, processing and reporting on data for business intelligence.