View and Interact with SSRS Reports

You will usually use the SQL Server Report Builder to design a SSRS Report and assess it from the Reporting Services Configuration Manager. When designing the report, you specify the location to receive the data, which data to get, and how to display the data.

The output of the of the Report Builder is a .rdl file which holds the report definition. RDL stands for Report Definition Language and is an XML representation of a SSRS Report definition. A report definition contains data retrieval and layout information for a report. To display the report, in the Document View/Summary View within the AIM Dashboard, the SSRS interprets the .rdl file, which involves querying the database, before producing the HTML file that is displayed to the end user.

Interacting with Sample SSRS Reports

The procedure described here for interaction with a sample Report applies to the Equipment Mismatch.rdl report template. It enables you to display the content card of an item within the AIM Dashboard when a Tag Name in the Report page is selected. To achieve this, you need to modify the default report template, using the SQL Server Report Builder.

To modify the report template in Report Builder:

1. Open the Equipment Mismatch.rdl file from SSRS using the Report Builder.

2. In the report design view, right-click TagFullName, and then select Text Box Properties.

3. In the Text Box Properties dialog box, click Action.

   

4. Select the hyperlink Expression (fx) button to edit the expression.

5. In the hyperlink Expression dialog box, enter the following code:

   ="javascript:SelectItem('" & Fields!TagFullName.Value & "'); function SelectItem(label){ var message={event:'SetReportSelected', fullId: label}; parent.window.postMessage(message, '{URL}');}"

   Note: You must modify URL to be the URL of the AIM Dashboard site that uses this SSRS report so that it can capture the selections. A value of '*' can be used, but this is not recommended as it presents security concerns. TagFullName indicates the field name for an item’s full name value, which you can change according to the actual field name of a specific data set declared in the report template.

   The code mentioned above (for the Expression dialog box) assumes that the field value is the Full ID of an object in AIM (that is, including context). If you have only a partial ID (that is, not including context), then the code should be as the following:

   ="javascript:SelectItem('" & Fields!TagName.Value & "'); function SelectItem(label){ var message={event:'SetSelected', label: label}; parent.window.postMessage(message, '{URL}');}"

6. Select Save to save the changes, including saving the Report at the top level.

7. SQL Server Reporting Services disallows JavaScript calls in hyperlinks by default, so JavaScript calls will need to be enabled as follows:

   1. Start SQL Server Management Studio.

   2. Connect to a report server instance.

   3. Right-click the report server name, and select Properties.

   4. Select Advanced to open the page.

   5. SupportedHyperlinkSchemes sets a comma separated list of the URI schemes allowed to be defined on Hyperlink actions. Add javascript to the list. For example, http,https,mailto,javascript.

   6. Select OK. For more information see https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/reporting-services/tools/server-properties-advanced-page-reporting-services.

Configure a URL for displaying SSRS Report

In SSRS, URLs are used to access and display specific reports in a web browser, which can be inserted into an existing web page using an <iframe> HTML element. This is the mechanism used to display a Report in the Document View/Summary View within the AIM Dashboard.

To configure a URL based on the AIM Workhub and SSRS domain specifications, you must use the Reporting Services Configuration Manager. If the AIM Workhub and SSRS are on different domains, select the specified URL for the Report Server Web service (as shown the following image). In a single domain instance, select the specified URL for the Report Manager.

To configure a URL for the Report Server Web service:

8. Start the Reporting Services Configuration Manager and connect to a local report server instance.

   

9. Select Web Service URL.

   Note: Select Report Manager URL to select URL for Report Manager.

10. Select the Report Server Web Service URLs link to display the available reports.

11. Select the required report from the list.

    Note: The URL displayed in the web browser address bar is the basic URL you use to display a report within the AIM Dashboard (the FILE's InfoLocator attribute value in EIWM terms). You must add the following string at the end of the URL: &rc:LinkTarget=_self, for example, http://{myserver}:2000/TestReportServer/Pages/ReportViewer.aspx?%2fEquipment+List_New&rs:Command=Render&rc:LinkTarget=_self. In an AIM implementation instance, the URL may be different depending on the name of the Hostname and Report Server. If the InfoLocator value is in the EIWM, the character & should be replaced with escape character &amp; or, it will cause an error when it is imported via the import controller. If you have implemented these changes to the URL, selecting the hyperlink in the SSRS report web page within the AIM Dashboard opens the content card of the item and the link to open the Summary View will be displayed. This function will be same for both single domain and multiple domain instance of the AIM Workhub and SSRS Report.