Foreword by Jason Carlson

Many people have asked me, "How can you be so passionate about reporting when it is so mundane?" To me, the most exciting thing about reporting is that it is so very common. Like basic transportation, everybody uses it in some way or another. A report is a piece of art meant to convey a message; but unlike traditional art, that message changes based on the data driving it. The potential to help, and be used by, millions of people and companies is one of the reasons I started writing software and eventually joined Microsoft. No other company can reach out to so many people by making great products accessible.

Reporting is a very broad topic, covering areas ranging from packing lists and telephone bills to ad hoc analysis and Excel spreadsheets. When designing Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, I started with a simple definition for it: an information delivery platform. Although this definition is also very broad, it did allow us to focus on our design while leaving us significant room to expand in later versions. This book will help you understand the power of Reporting Services and to fully utilize its capabilities.

Information is not just data; it is data that has been transformed into something meaningful. This transformation is important. Any tool can read and display data; what people really need for doing their jobs is well-thought-out, correct, and pertinent information. There are many tools that let anyone with access to data build "views" or ...

Get Professional Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Reporting Services now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.