| Q: |
What’s
the relationship between Microsoft’s Reporting Services and
SoftArtisans OfficeWriter? |
| A: |
OfficeWriter
is a separate product that is seamlessly integrated with Reporting
Services, allowing users an option to design reports in Excel and
Word and then deliver the reports without ever leaving Microsoft Office.
OfficeWriter gives users full Excel and Word support that is currently
not available with Reporting Services alone. With OfficeWriter, you
can still take advantage of all of Reporting Services’ key features
like report security, management and delivery. |
| Q: |
How
and where do I install OfficeWriter for Reporting Services? |
| A: |
The
OfficeWriter for Reporting Services installer is run on the server
that also hosts Microsoft’s Reporting Services. This installs
the custom rendering extensions required to output pure Excel and
Word reports created with the OfficeWriter Designer |
| Q: |
How
do I install the OfficeWriter Designer? |
| A: |
The
OfficeWriter Designer is part of the overall OfficeWriter kit. The
installer for the Designer gets unpacked when you install OfficeWriter
on the Report Server. Just run the installer on every client machine
where report designing takes place. The designer toolbar can be freely
distributed. |
| Q: |
Is
Microsoft Office necessary with OfficeWriter for Reporting Services? |
| A: |
With
any edition of OfficeWriter, Microsoft Office is NOT required on the
server. However, to design reports created by OfficeWriter, Excel
AND Word are required on the client machines. To view reports client-side,
Excel, Word or equivalent software like Open Office, is required. |
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| Q: |
The
spreadsheets that I generate with Microsoft’s standard Excel
rendering extension, which is included with Reporting Services (SP1),
appear to be a “watered down” version of Excel. Why is
this? |
| A: |
The
“out of the box” Microsoft Excel renderer can only produce
output that is based on the lowest common denominator between a static
(HTML or PDF) and an Excel file. This is due to the fact that the
Excel features are interpreted from the XML structure of the report
which has no facility to store advanced Excel features such as charts,
pivot tables, VBA, etc. |
| Q: |
How
do I guarantee the publishing of full-featured Excel and Word reports? |
| A: |
To
enjoy dynamic spreadsheets that contain all Excel and Word features
when using Reporting Services, end users must employ the OfficeWriter
Designer to generate an Excel or a Word “template-behind”
and associate it with an RDL published to Reporting Services. The
RDL must be exported using the “Excel designed by OfficeWriter”
or “Word designed by OfficeWriter” custom extensions provided
by OfficeWriter Reporting Services version. |
| Q: |
How
does the OfficeWriter Designer differ from the design tool, Report
Builder, which is shipping with SQL Server Reporting Services 2005? |
| A: |
The
obvious difference is that Report Builder will be a brand new tool
with a steep learning curve, whereas the OfficeWriter Designer leverages
the user’s existing knowledge of Excel and Word to design reports.
Microsoft’s Report Builder requires .NET and supports only RDL.
Because RDL must render to the lowest common denominator between all
Reporting Services outputs, Report Builder will produce reports with
extremely limited functionality. In addition, developers must create
a meta model before utilizing Report Builder. A developer/designer
only needs to know the structure of his/her Excel/Word report to use
the OfficeWriter Designer. |
| Q: |
How
do I connect to my database to design reports? |
| A: |
You
can create a parallel connection to a data source and shape queries
by using the OfficeWriter Designer’s client-side query tool.
With OfficeWriter V3, you will also have the option to create a “shared
data source” that can contain parameters. This is done by starting
the Report Definition in VS.NET and then downloading the RDL into
the OfficeWriter Designer. The OfficeWriter Designer will be able
to open the RDL file and allow users to build reports using the pre-defined
queries, which are then locked for editing. |
| Q: |
Can
I still use VS.NET to design my reports and render them with OfficeWriter
to gain full Excel/Word functionality? |
| A: |
With
the advent of OfficeWriter V3, you will have the option to retrieve
into the client-side OfficeWriter Designer an existing RDL file that
was designed using VS.NET. All existing static (HTML) representation
of the report will be preserved, along with “shared” data
sources. When the RDL is uploaded and overwritten on the Report Server,
you will have the option to display the static rendition or a full-formatted
Excel or Word version, based on which rendering extension is selected |
| Q: |
I’ve
designed a report in VS.NET and it looks fine in PDF and HTML. What
happens when my users try to view it with the OfficeWriter Rendering
Extensions? |
| A: |
An
error will occur at render-time. The OfficeWriter Rendering Extensions
can only be called to render reports created with the OfficeWriter
Designer. This is due to the fact that the “template-behind”
required to publish the report must be embedded at design-time by
means of the OfficeWriter Designer. |
| Q: |
How
can I tell if a report has been generated from SoftArtisans (SA-RDL)? |
| A: |
Check
for the presence of a <Custom> tag in the <Report> section
of the RDL file. When the “Excel designed by OfficeWriter”
or “Word designed by OfficeWriter” custom extension is
called on the Report Server, this <CUSTOM> tag is located and
the report is hydrated with data. If the custom tag contains a base64-encoded
template, you can assume it's a SoftArtisans RDL (SA-RDL). |
| Q: |
Can
I create a single RDL file that includes both an Excel and Word template? |
| A: |
Due
to limitations in the RDL specification this can’t be done.
You’ll need to create different versions of the report for Excel
and Word. |