Why I created a new SQL SRS rdl program
Don’t get me wrong, the latest attempt at saving the Humpty Dumpty holy grail of Reporting Services engines – the rdl file. These kinds of files not only place restraints on what can be created, the also dictate the way in which the file is generated and the way in which the end result — the report — can be used.Just try attaching the file to an e-mail and see how far that gets you.
Okay, so the tool, like so many Microsoft products serve to sell Microsoft.
Who said the king of monopoly was dead? After all, the tool is free isn’t it?
Well, free doesn’t exactly mean better or best. And while free sedates the fallacies of the product, id doesn’t mean the work required to produce one single report through it is free. Nor is its upkeep or are the maintenance and storage costs.
So, if your going to have to use a tool like this, shouldn’t it be a quick and easy to use tool?
Well, it isn’t which is why this article is titled: Why Report Builder 3.0 For SQL 2016 Is Still In The Dark Ages and why I’m offering a solid, better solution.
Consider the following issues:
- The tool doesn’t provide the user with a way to easily generate a custom query solely based on table selection. You have to know what the table name is and then build a query based on it.
- The tool doesn’t automatically adjust the width of the fields. You have to manually adjust the sizes of the fields and when you have 60 fields to deal with, the additional time spent on making the adjustments increases the time and the cost of each report.
- The tool doesn’t address or resolve the issue of SCOM name and GUID field combinations.
- The tool doesn’t automatically remove fields which return nulls. Many WMI calls have fields with null values and are constantly empty.
- The lack of documentation and “hand holding” for first timers show a fatal flaw and a lack respect for users whose boss wants a report done and their job is on the line if its not done right.
- The tool has a width constraint of 1089. Which is why I believe Microsoft has not opted to auto adjust the fields.
Bottom line: There needs to be a tool built that gets the job done.
There is.
See that little number up at the top left hand corner? That’s how many seconds it took to produce this:
No need to do anything more to the report.
In alphabetical order, with the guids removed, with automatically adjusted fields.
