Professional SQL Server Reporting Services

Rating:
Summary: This one is just right!
Review: I have looked over a number of books about SQL Server Reporting Services (RS), and after comparing them decided that this one is best for my needs.

The book starts with a clear overview of just what RS is, what its components are, and how they work together. This seems to be the part that many other books just miss. Other books seem to get caught up in the hype but fail to deliver a direct, no-frills or buzzwords, account of the actual architecture.

I also like that the books assumes that the reader already knows SQL, .NET programming (although you don't have to be a professional to understand their examples), and SQL Server. This enables them to avoid repeating material which is better covered on other books, and allows them to focus on explaining just what Reporting Services can do, and lets the reader get started using RS right away.

My one beef is that their code examples are in both VB.NET and C#, which takes up unnecessary space in the text. But that's a minor complaint when they otherwise do a great job explaining this fascinating and powerful product.

Rating:
Summary: waste of money
Review: I have never wrote a review online here at amazon, but this book was such a disappointment that i decided to tell people about it. Basically this is an extension of "The Rational Guide to: SQL Server Reporting Services" by Anthony T. Mann, book with lots of screen shots. It does have a few simple excersises but thats about it. For example on pages 80-81 of the book in the grooping section it reads: "Tabular or matrix data may be sorted and grouped on one or multiple levels" then there is a nice screen shot of grouped design, it does not tell you how to do it. Then a few paragraphs later after the another screen shot it reads: "In this design for this report, there are four list controls placed inside one another. Grouping have been created for each of the lists to organize them into hierarchy" It says nothing about designing such a thing. Basically the book lacks hands on excersises. I found it totally useless.

Rating:
Summary: waste of money
Review: I have never wrote a review online here at amazon, but this book was such a disappointment that i decided to tell people about it. Basically this is an extension of "The Rational Guide to: SQL Server Reporting Services" by Anthony T. Mann, book with lots of screen shots. It does have a few simple excersises but thats about it. For example on pages 80-81 of the book in the grooping section it reads: "Tabular or matrix data may be sorted and grouped on one or multiple levels" then there is a nice screen shot of grouped design, it does not tell you how to do it. Then a few paragraphs later after the another screen shot it reads: "In this design for this report, there are four list controls placed inside one another. Grouping have been created for each of the lists to organize them into hierarchy" It says nothing about designing such a thing. Basically the book lacks hands on excersises. I found it totally useless.

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful book
Review: I just got started using Reporting Services and was completely lost using the BOL. This book really helped me understand how to get started and to write some more advanced reports. Some of the screen pictures were a little out of date (apparently taken from the beta version) but this was not a big deal. The errata info at the Wrox forums was also very helpful and I was able to get answers from the authors on the P2P forum. In all, I'm happy I bought the book. Good job.

Rating:
Summary: Very helpful book
Review: I just got started using Reporting Services and was completely lost using the BOL. This book really helped me understand how to get started and to write some more advanced reports. Some of the screen pictures were a little out of date (apparently taken from the beta version) but this was not a big deal. The errata info at the Wrox forums was also very helpful and I was able to get answers from the authors on the P2P forum. In all, I'm happy I bought the book. Good job.

Rating:
Summary: The title should be "How to Frustrate Readers"
Review: The amount of errors in this book is pathetic... obviously the pressures of publishing early is as great as the pressure to release software before it's ready.

Rating:
Summary: Big On Errors And Small On Utility
Review: The architecture overviews are good, but from there on it's full of errors and lacking the detail needed to make it useful. It has what you could loosely call "excercises" that I've gone through (step-by-step) and found many errors with. Errors that require many hours of debugging and fixing on the part of the reader. The writing is very cursory, overly broad and not detailed enough to be useful. The book often mentions that something useful CAN be done with Report Services but doesn't explain HOW to do it. Perhaps a revised edition is in order. One with more detail and with walkthroughs that have been followed, tested and confirmed accurate.

Rating:
Summary: Big On Errors And Small On Utility
Review: The architecture overviews are good, but from there on it's full of errors and lacking the detail needed to make it useful. It has what you could loosely call "excercises" that I've gone through (step-by-step) and found many errors with. Errors that require many hours of debugging and fixing on the part of the reader. The writing is very cursory, overly broad and not detailed enough to be useful. The book often mentions that something useful CAN be done with Report Services but doesn't explain HOW to do it. Perhaps a revised edition is in order. One with more detail and with walkthroughs that have been followed, tested and confirmed accurate.

Rating:
Summary: Advanced Reporting Services
Review: There are 2 RS (Reporting Services) books out right now, this one, and Brian Larson's book. Larson's book is good if you are a newbie to RS, but the examples he uses are very minimal.

How to Choose:
1. If you're a solid SQL Server user and are comfortable setting up RS and have a little C# or VB.NET experience; go with this book.
2. If you're moderately clueless but really want to learn; use Larson's book "Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services," {and maybe pick-up Murach's C# (.Net Developer)}

You may have to do what I did and go through both RS books. I started out clueless and the WROX book would have been too much to start with. Larson's book was a good starter for me, "an advanced newbie" but left me wanting much more.

This review will eventually be out of date, but I think I'll stand by the WROX book (though it has errors). Larson's book is going to get beat out as the entry level book pretty quickly. (as soon as someone publishes another one)

WARNING: If you have never installed SQL Server, this is not the place to start. Reporting Services is not Word. It takes a moderate level of Server knowledge to even get started.

Rating:
Summary: BI Consultant's review
Review: This book does an excellent, thorough job of introducing the product (which is awesome!), and then going all the way through to advanced coding & custom manipulation. The authors have clearly presented the material in a comfortable style, while remaining seriously technical. As a consultant, seminar presenter, and MS2030 trainer, I use this book extensively as a reference as well as a recomendation. My background includes over 10 years of varied development, & reporting.