Being careful in Business Objects (DeskI)

When you’re running a query, one of the things you should consider is that you might forget a filter and get way too much data from the database.

Secondly, that query might run for multiple hours and you don’t have multiple hours because you want to get to the part where you layout the report before running the query and returning all the data.

Here’s a few things you can do :

1) Create the query, save the query but don’t run it yet.

In the query panel, instead of blindly hitting Run, Hit Save and Close. This will save the query, but you won’t get data. Next, you can start modifying the layout of the report (use View>Structure) and when you’re ready, refresh the report to get your data (e.g. before leaving the office)

 

2) Limit the amount of data that can be returned by the query

If you don’t know in advance, how much data you’re going to get, maybe it’s a good idea, at first run, to limit the returned data to the first 10 or 100 lines, in stead of getting the lot. Especially, if you’re in doubt which kind of data will be returned by each of the fields.

When you click the options button, you get to choose how many lines you would like to get from the database:

this will of course return ‘Partial results’.

 

There you go folks – for the sake of prudence, don’t get all your data at once.

 

Binabik

A Document Map in Reporting Services

This topic deals with Report Builder 2.0 – it’s also possible to do this through Visual Studio, but that will have to wait for later.

Instead of setting all sorts of filters, you can choose to get all the data from the server and make it more accessible by creating a table of contents for it.

So, when you click the table of contents in the left column, you jump to that particular part of the report.

That’s what this particular article is about. How do you create a ‘Document Map’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

First, you need to insert a ‘list’

Next, rightclick the left bar of the list, change the tablix properties to make the list refer to the right dataset.

Subsequently, rightclick the left bar and change the group-properties

 

In those group properties, on the advanced-tab, choose, which field you would like to have as a document map.

 

Drag the field in the list and drag any other items inside that list. Tables or Other lists will do fine.

Nested lists can also have nested document maps – works great.

 

Enjoy

 

Binabik