Reporting Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX)

Dynamics AX 2009

Microsoft Dynamics AX provides a model-based approach for creating reports by providing project templates and modeling tools that are incorporated into the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment. The reporting features provided by Microsoft Dynamics AX are based on a tight integration with SQL Server Reporting Services.

Using the Microsoft Visual Studio reporting tools provided by Microsoft Dynamics AX has the following benefits:

  • You can create reports quickly using the auto design reporting feature. This feature automatically creates a report design based on the report data. Most reports can be created this way.

  • You can use SQL Report Designer for reports that require a very precise design. SQL Report Designer can be launched directly from within your reporting project.

  • You can create a consistent look and feel for your reports using style templates. One style template can be applied to many reports. Style templates allow you to separate the style settings from the actual report definition.

  • You can preview reports at design time from within the Microsoft Visual Studio development environment.

Reports created with the Microsoft Visual Studio reporting tools can be integrated into Microsoft Dynamics AX. They can be displayed as menu items on menus and forms in the Microsoft Dynamics AX client and in Enterprise Portal Web parts. For more information, see Report Integration and Customization Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX).

The first step in creating your reports is to create a reporting project in Microsoft Visual Studio by selecting one of the project templates: Visual C# or Visual Basic. After you have created a reporting project, you can define a report within the model that is provided. You can add, remove, and modify report items using the context menus that appear when you right-click the nodes in the model. For example, you can right-click the Images node for a report, and then click Add Image to add an embedded image to a report definition. You can also move or create new elements in a model by using drag-and-drop functionality. For example, when you drag a report dataset onto the Designs node, an auto design is created for the report. For more information about the elements in a model, see Model Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX). The following illustration shows an example of a report in a model.

Model file

Microsoft Dynamics AX provides two tools, Model Editor and Model View, to edit and view models. If you double-click a model (.moxl file) in Solution Explorer, the model opens in Model Editor. For more information about the modeling tools, see Model Editor Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX) and Model View Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX).

When you create a report, you must define the data that will display in the report. To do this, you must first identify the data sources that will be used. A data source represents a source of data for one or more reports. A report can display data from more than one data source. You can use the predefined data source called Dynamics AX, which connects to the Microsoft Dynamics AX application database. When you use this data source, you can use queries that are defined in the Application Object Tree (AOT) within Microsoft Dynamics AX or you can write data methods within your reporting project to retrieve data for your reports. If you want to connect to a legacy system, OLAP data, or an external database, you must define a new data source and specify connection information. There are two provider types that can be used when defining a new data source: SQL and OLAP.

After you define data sources, you must define one or more datasets. A dataset identifies data that is displayed in a report. When you define a dataset, you must specify the data source and the means used to retrieve the data, such as a query, data method, or stored procedure. Data sources and datasets are defined in the model along with your reports. For more information about data sources and datasets, see Report Data Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX).

A report design represents a particular layout of a report. A report can have multiple designs. The following table provides a description of the types of report designs that you can create.

Type

Description

Auto design

An auto design is a report design that is automatically generated based on the report data. It is created by using Model Editor. The auto design functionality provides an efficient way to create the most common types of reports, such as a customer list or a list of inventory items.

Precision design

A precision design is a report design that is created by using SQL Report Designer. Precision designs are typically used when a report requires a very precise layout, such as invoices or bank checks. SQL Report Designer allows you to manually drag-and-drop fields onto a report and place them exactly where they need to be.

Auto Design Layout

An auto design follows a particular layout. It has a header, a body containing one or more data regions, and a footer, as shown in the following illustration.

Auto design report layout

You control the content that is displayed in each area within an auto design. For example, you can include a report title and the date in the header and display the page number in the footer. Or, you may not want to display anything in the header and footer.

The data regions that display in an auto design depend upon the datasets that you created when you defined the data for the report. When you define a dataset, you can specify the type of data region that will be used to render the data whenever the dataset is used in an auto design. Data can be displayed in table, list, matrix, or chart formats. For more information about data regions, see Report Data Region Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX). One way to create an auto design is to simply drag a dataset onto the node for the auto design in the model.

Precision Design Layout

A precision design is free-form where you define the layout using SQL Report Designer. Therefore, the format of a precision design can vary depending upon the layout that is required.

There are several features that you can add to your reports to allow users to interact with and control the data that they see in a report. For example, you can display a document map in a report. A document map allows users to easily navigate to different areas in the report by clicking an item within the document map. A document map is useful when a report displays a large amount of data. You can add data groupings and drill-down features that allow users to expand or collapse areas within a report. You can create drillthrough reports and add URL drill through actions. You can also create parameters and filters that allow users to select or filter the data that they see in a report. For more information, see Adding Interactive Features to Reports (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX).

Style templates are used to modify the appearance of a report. Style templates contain properties that control the visual elements of a report, such as the size of the text or the background color of a data region. There are several predefined style templates that you can use to keep your reports consistent with existing reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX. You can also create your own style templates and apply them to a set of reports. Style templates ensure consistency and uniformity throughout your reports. For more information, see Using Report Layout and Style Templates (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX).

You can display images in reports. Images can be embedded directly in a report, or they can be referenced from a database table. Embedded images are typically used when the set of images to display is constant, as in key performance indicator (KPI) reports. Images from a database table are typically used when you want to provide images for a set of items listed in a report, which is common in product listings. For more information, see Report Images Overview (Visual Studio Reporting Tools for Microsoft Dynamics AX).

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