Data Dynamics Reports Frequently Asked Questions

• What are the differences between Data Dynamics Reports and ActiveReports for .NET 3.0?
• What are the differences between Data Dynamics Reports and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services 2005?
• What is the Report Definition Language and why do I care that Data Dynamics Reports supports it?
• Does Data Dynamics Reports require Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?

Question: What are the differences between Data Dynamics Reports and ActiveReports for .NET 3.0?

Answer: Data Dynamics Reports targets reporting as a function of business intelligence applications while ActiveReports for .NET focuses on providing the most flexible object model that gives developers the freedom to customize and create complex reports with ease.

Data Dynamics Reports is designed to require less code "behind" the report and instead to use Visual Basic .NET expressions within report item properties to evaluate values. ActiveReports for .NET on the other hand, is a very developer-oriented system that features events for complete run-time customization of the report.

Both Data Dynamics Reports and ActiveReports for .NET include WebForms report preview controls, however ActiveReports also includes an ActiveX-based viewer that renders the report graphically instead of through HTML and CSS. Both products also include Windows Forms report preview controls and end-user designer components. Data Dynamics Reports ships with pre-built applications for report viewing and creation.

Data Dynamics Reports supports different data regions. In ActiveReports for .NET, a report is created in a series of bands, each band displaying its data in certain parts of the report. Data Dynamics Reports supports this data region, called the Banded List, and also supports Table, Chart, Matrix (crosstab), and List data regions.

Features available only in Data Dynamics Reports include:

• Less code (no code-behind events; uses VB.NET expressions)
• Data Visualization functions
• Report Drilldown
• Matrix (crosstab)
• FormattedText report item that displays XHTML and CSS content
• Multiple Datasets or Data Sources in a report
• Pre-built report viewer and designer applications
• Advanced aggregate functions
• Master reports that act as templates for child reports
• Themes that allow you to set up common styles, colors, and images in one location.
• Word Rendering Extension
• Image Rendering Extension that renders reports to BMP, EMF, GIF, JPEG, TIFF, and PNG formats
• Layout-based reporting

Features available only in ActiveReports for .NET include:

• Code behind and an Event system for complete run-time customization
• ActiveX Report Viewer
• OLE Object and Windows Forms Controls can be used on reports
• Unbound mode events for run-time data binding to any data source
• Flexible object model
• RTF content
• Excel Export
• RTF Export
• Plain Text Export
• Graphical canvas-based reporting

Special Data Dynamics features that save you time and money in both products include:

• A chart that supports all of the most commonly-used chart types plus a diverse array of financial chart types
• A barcode that supports all of the most popular symbologies
• PDF Export (or Rendering Extension)
• HTML Export (or Rendering Extension)
• Royalty-free developer licensing

Question: What are the differences between Data Dynamics Reports and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services 2005?

Answer: Both products implement the Report Definition Language (RDL) 2005 specification but from there the products differ.

Data Dynamics Reports introduces several features not found in SSRS.

• Master Reports:

  Master Reports are similar in design to Master Pages in ASP.NET. Reports can specify a live-template that provides a common set of report items, data sources, data sets, report theme, and report parameters.

• Report Theme

  Report Themes allow report authors to easily follow a consistent look for their reports by providing a set of colors, fonts, and images.

• Data Visualizers

  Data Visualizer functions allow the user to display a graphic based on some set of data instead of forcing the user to read individual values. A color scale selects a color from a range based on a value from that range. A data bar or range bar displays a rectangle with the length dependant on the value. An optional progress indicator can be used as well. The icon set allows the report to display one of 5 images to represent the state of some data.

• FormattedText Report Item: Renders XHTML and CSS into your reports
• Barcode Report Item: Supports over 20 of the most popular barcode types
• Banded List data region: Gives report authors the freeform placement of the List data region with enhanced grouping support
• Enhanced chart control with additional chart types not found in SSRS
• Enhanced PDF support with built in security options, font embedding, and font subsetting
• Developer support
  • Report API allows developers to create and render reports programmatically without using the viewer or designer controls.
  • The Designer control allows your end-users to create their own reports with the same design capabilities as found in the Visual Stduio 2005 IDE.
  • The Viewer controls allow the full functionality of Data Dynamics Reports; connect to any supported data source, use any of the custom report items, or custom rendering extensions.

Question: What is the Report Definition Language and why do I care that Data Dynamics Reports supports it?

Answer: The Report Definition Language (RDL) sets out both a file format and how elements in a report should be rendered. It also defines a base set of functionality that should be available in a report.

Some of the features required in the RDL 2005 specification include:

• Table, Chart, List, and Matrix data regions
• Grouping, sorting, and filtering support
• Multiple Data Sources and Data Sets in a report
• Textbox, image, rectangle, and line report items

Data Dynamics Reports and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services are just two products that implement the RDL 2005 specification.

Question: Does Data Dynamics Reports require Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services?

No, Data Dynamics Reports does not build on Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). Data Dynamics Reports is a self-contained reporting library that contains its own report engine, API, viewer, and designer controls.

Data Dynamics Reports can read and execute the RDL files produced by SSRS because the files follow the RDL format, but that is the only connection.