6
Aug 2014
ReportServer 2.2 Preview 1
We are happy to announce the first preview release of ReportServer 2.2 which is available for download on sourceforge now. Besides many improvements ReportServer 2.2 introduces some new functionality which we want to present in this post. We are looking forward to hear your thoughts and comments!
OLAP
Probably the most notable new feature of ReportServer 2.2 is its support for OLAP. For this we have added mondrian support and adapted the beautiful Saiku OLAP frontend. OLAP reports are added as a new report engine allowing you to use all the nice ReportServer goodies, such as, scheduling, variants, dashboards and teamspaces.
Pivot Support for Dynamic Lists (Self-Service OLAP).
Besides using Saiku as the frontend for our OLAP integration we have also combined this with the dynamic lists to allow users to transform their lists into interactive pivot tables. When switching to pivot mode, ReportServer automatically generates an OLAP cube configuration for the current dynamic list. This brings the power of an OLAP engine to your dynamic lists.
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| Use dynamic list as pivot report. |
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| Explore data using Pivot functionality or create beautiful charts. |
Dashboard Charting
As seen in the screenshot above pivot-enabled dynamic lists as well as Saiku/Mondrian reports allow for easy chart generation. We have added charting options as potential export formats which allows to easily display charts directly on the dashboard.
jXLS with direct Database Access
So far you could use jXLS as a template engine for dynamic lists to directly export data into previously prepared Excel spreadsheets. With ReportServer 2.2 we have added jXLS as a first class report engine that allows you to specify reports directly in jXLS. This comes with one extra twist. When creating a jXLS report you can embed SQL statements directly into the template.
(Preliminary) Translations in over 30 Languages
We have (automatically) translated ReportServer in over 30 languages. The translations are probably not of a high quality at the moment, but we intend to improve them with time. If you are fluent in any of the languages (or any language that we do not cover, yet) and would like to help us improve the translation, please contact us.
Extended Support for Embedding ReportServer
Executing reports via URL is a great way of embedding reports into other applications or portals. With ReportServer 2.2 we halso allow to easily integrate ReportServer dashboards as well as the entire report component into other web applications.
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| ReportServer 2.2 allows to easily embed just the report execution component. |
A Simple Datatable Editing Report
Sometimes you might want to allow users to not just view and edit reports but to actually edit some data in a database table. ReportServer 2.2 comes with a simple, yet flexible solution to allow just that. The GridEditing component opens a new avenue within ReportServer and we are eager to hear what you think.
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| The component is parameterized by a ReportServer script that in its simplest form allows to specify the component with only a few lines of code. Basically all you need is to tell ReportServer what the database table is and what columns to display. Of course, you can also specify a lot more. |
A JavaScript Parameter to Master any Challenge
The JavaScript parameter enables you to extend ReportServer with custom parameter views. For example you could want to display a map and allow users to select an area or pick a county. For these special use cases we have added a very flexible parameter that allows you to code the parameter directly in JavaScript.
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| Here we have used leafletjs to display a simple map that allows the user to select an area on a map. |
Upgrade of Libraries
We have upgraded all libraries including JasperReports which we now support in version 5.6 and Birt which is now included in version 4.4.
Improvements of Crystal Engine
We have rewritten large parts of the crystal integration and hope that this makes the ReportServer experience with Crystal even more enjoyable.