Everybody has been bloggin about the new features in SQL 2012, so I thought it would be best to just look at one part of the offering. SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) has not gotten a much love but there are a few good improvements. The list is so short, I covered it in one slide while presenting at SQL Saturday #125 in Oklahoma City. Let’s look at each area a little more.
SSRS Data Alerts
This is definitely a good improvement from the user perspective. It allows users (OK, they may need help) to set up subscriptions based on criteria in the report. An example might be only sending the AdventureWorks sales report when the sales amount was over $x or was in a certain region. I like this feature so much, I’m starting a presentation about it.
Power View for Tabular Models
The PowerView add-in allows report authors to build interactive reports against data from PowerPivot workbooks in a PowerPivot Gallery or tabular models deployed to an SSAS 2012 instance. For a good overview see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh213579.aspx
For a tutorial: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh759325.aspx
SharePoint Mode – Re-architected
This is an under the hood improvement to improve performance, management and content management. Probably the biggest improvement here is the security integration with based on Tickets, which probably deserves an article of its own to explain. The other note is that in Integrated Mode, all administration is done through SharePoint.
SQL Server Data Tools for for Visual Studio 2010
Yes, we finally get to escape from BIDS. No more limited toolset, feeling like step-children while all the other developers get cool stuff for Christmas.
Excel and Word Renderer Updates
These renderers were updated to allow export to the latest versions of Excel and Word with the extensions .XLSX and.DOCX. Nice update for implementations where users want their reports in Office format.
That is it, not a lot of love for SSRS in the 2012 release. The biggest improvement for me is to say goodbye to BIDS and jump into Visual Studio.