Pro SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services

CHAPTER 2  REPORT AUTHORING: DESIGNING EFFICIENT QUERIES

Assuming you are familiar with the database, begin the query design process in SSMS, either

graphically or by coding the query with the generic query designer. Both methods are available within

SSMS.

 Note We’ll cover setting up the data source connection required for building an SSRS report in Chapter 3. For

now, you’ll connect directly to the data with the available query design tools within SSMS. It is important to

mention that though you are designing the query within SSMS, similar tools are available within the BIDS

environment so that you can create your queries at the same time you create your report. We chose SSMS in this

case because it contains lists of database objects that you may need to reference as you begin to develop the

query.

We’ll show you how to design the query with the graphical tool to demonstrate how the underlying

SQL code is created. You can access the graphical query designer by right-clicking anywhere in the new

query window within SSMS and selecting Design Query in Editor (see Figure 2-2).

Figure 2-2. Accessing the query design tool in SSMS

After you open the query designer, you can perform tasks such as adding and joining additional

tables and sorting, grouping, and selecting criteria using the task panes (see Figure 2-3).