Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Standard Subscriptions

Creating, Modifying, and Deleting S...

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SQL Server 2005

SQL Server 2008 Books Online (June 2009)

Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Standard Subscriptions

A standard subscription is one that is created by individual users who want to have a report delivered through e-mail or to a shared folder. A standard subscription is always defined through the report on which it is based.

A user who creates a subscription owns that subscription. Each user can modify or delete the subscriptions that he or she owns. Ownership cannot be changed or transferred among users. Depending on RSReportServer configuration file settings, users may be able to add more users to a subscription (for example, a manager adds the e-mail addresses of his or her direct reports so that they each receive a copy of the report). Whether this is supported depends on whether the To: field is visible when defining individual subscriptions. For more information, see Configuring a Report Server for E-Mail Delivery.

This topic provides information about standard subscriptions that are created and managed by individual users. Data-driven subscriptions have different requirements and steps, and are discussed in a separate topic. For more information, see Creating, Modifying, and Deleting Data-Driven Subscriptions.

Subscription Requirements

Before you can create a subscription to a report, the following prerequisites must be met:

Requirement	Description
Permissions	You must have access to the report. Before you can subscribe to a report, you must have permission to view it. Your role assignment must include the "Manage individual subscriptions" task.
Stored credentials	The report must use stored credentials or no credentials to retrieve data at run time. You cannot subscribe to a report that is configured to use the impersonated or delegated credentials of the current user to connect to an external data source. The stored credentials can be a Windows account or a database user account. For more information, see Specifying Credential and Connection Information for Report Data Sources
User dependent values in a report	For standard subscriptions only, you can create subscriptions to reports that incorporate user account information in a filter or as text that appears on the report. In the report, the user account name is specified through a User!UserID expression that resolves to the current user. When you create a subscription, the user who creates the subscription is the considered the current user.
No model item security	You cannot subscribe to a Report Builder report that uses a model as a data source if the model contains model item security settings. Only reports that use model item security are included in this restriction.
Parameter values	If the report uses parameters, a parameter value must be specified with the report itself, or in the subscription you define. If default values have been defined in the report, you can set the parameter value to use the default. For more information, see Setting Parameters in a Subscription.

Creating Subscriptions

To create a subscription, choose the tool and approach that is valid for your report server deployment:

How to: Subscribe to a Report (Report Manager) explains how to create subscriptions on a native mode report server. After you define a subscription, you can access it in Report Manager through the My Subscriptions page or the Subscriptions tab of a specific report.
How to: Create and Manage Subscriptions (Reporting Services in SharePoint Integrated Mode) explains how to use the application pages in a SharePoint site to subscribe to reports on a report server that runs in SharePoint integrated mode.

You can create multiple subscriptions for a single report to vary the subscription options; for example, you can specify different parameter values to produce two versions of a report, such as a Western region sales report and an Eastern region sales report. However, the reverse is not true; you cannot use a single standard subscription to produce multiple versions of a report. If you want to generate multiple versions of a report from the same subscription, you must use a data-driven subscription.

For each subscription that you create, you must specify delivery options. Delivery options are determined by the delivery extension you choose. A delivery extension is a module that supports some manner of distribution. Reporting Services includes several delivery extensions. Additional delivery extension may be available through third-party vendors. For more information, see Managing Subscriptions.

Parts of a Subscription

A subscription definition consists of the following parts:

A pointer to a report that can run unattended (that is, a report that uses stored credentials or no credentials).
A delivery method (for example, e-mail) and settings for the mode of delivery (such as an e-mail address).
A rendering extension to present the report in a specific format.
Conditions for processing the subscription, which is expressed as an event.
Usually, the conditions for running a report are time-based. For example, you may want to run a particular report every Tuesday at 3:00 P.M. UTC. However, if the report runs as a snapshot, you can specify that the subscription runs whenever the snapshot is refreshed.
Parameters used when running the report.
Parameters are optional and are specified only for reports that accept parameter values. Because a subscription is typically user-owned, the parameter values that are specified vary from subscription to subscription. For example, sales managers for different divisions will use parameters that return data for their division. All parameters must have a value explicitly defined, or have a valid default value.

Subscription information is stored with individual reports in a report server database. You cannot manage subscriptions separately from the report to which they are associated. Note that subscriptions cannot be extended to include descriptions, other custom text, or other elements. Subscriptions can contain only the items listed earlier.

Modifying a Subscription

You can modify a subscription at any time. If you modify a subscription while it is being processed, the updated settings are used if they are saved to the report server database before the delivery extension receives the subscription data. Otherwise, the existing settings are used.

To locate a subscription, use the My Subscriptions page or view the subscription definitions that are associated with a report. You cannot search for subscriptions directly, nor can you search for a subscription based on owner name, trigger information, status information, and so forth.

Subscriptions can also be modified or deleted by report server administrators.

Note:
A report server administrator cannot manage from one place all the individual subscriptions that are in use on a given report server. However, report server administrators can access each individual subscription to modify or delete it.

Deleting a Subscription

To delete a subscription, open My Subscriptions in Report Manager or the Subscriptions page of a report, select the report, and click Delete.

For instructions on how to cancel a subscription, see Managing a Running Process.

If you want to end a subscription and you cannot locate the subscription easily, make a note of the report you are receiving and search for it by name. Once you access the report, you can remove yourself from the subscription. If you cannot locate the subscription, the subscription may be a data-driven subscription. For more information, see your report server administrator.

A subscription is deleted automatically if the underlying report is deleted. If you delete a subscription while it is being processed, the subscription stops if the delete operation occurs before the delivery extension receives subscription data. Otherwise, the subscription continues to be processed.

Parts of a Subscription

Tasks

Concepts

Other Resources

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