Pro SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services

CHAPTER 4  LAYING OUT A REPORT

Figure 4-1. Report Properties Layout tab

If you are using 2005, the Layout tab will also have a Columns setting, where you can specify the

number of columns. This section was removed in 2008, but it is still a property of the Report. We use

multi-column reports frequently in the medical industry, primarily for printing labels.

Using Report Objects

In the next few sections, you will look at the report objects to see their basic functionality and learn how

you can tap into each one’s unique versatility when developing reports. At this point, if you have not

already done so, open the Pro_SSRS solution that we have provided with starting points and completed

samples, and refer to it as you work through the individual object sections. We will cover the following

report objects:

List: This is a free-form container object for a single data grouping.

Textbox: The textbox report in SSRS 2008 is probably the most long-awaited

enhancement. In previous version of SSRS, textboxes were nothing more than

containers for strings of uniform literal text and/or field values from data sets;

all had to have the same formatting. Since the SSRS 2008 release, this is no

longer the case.