Summary
This document includes information on creating a new Citrix EdgeSight report and uploading it as a custom report. This document is intended to be used in conjunction with SQL Server Reporting Services documentation.
Before You Begin
Before creating a report, you should have a working knowledge of SQL Server Reporting Services and, specifically, the Report Designer. For more information, refer to the documentation for your version of Reporting Services and to additional resources available from Microsoft. If you are using SQL Server 2005, go to Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services.
If you are using SQL Server 2000 and Reporting Services SP2, see Reporting Services Resources on the SQL Server 2000.
In planning your report design environment, keep in mind that reports developed on SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services cannot be used on a Citrix EdgeSight Server running a previous version of SQL Server. However, reports developed on SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services SP2 can be used on a Citrix EdgeSight Server running SQL Server 2005.
Overview
Before creating a new report, ensure that there are no existing reports that meet your business needs or could be modified to do so. This helps avoid the creation of duplicate reports. (Keep in mind that you can customize reports using filters and then bookmark the resulting report using the Add to Favorites feature.) You can use the All Reports page to quickly scan existing reports by name or type of data. The decision to create a report should be based on a repeatable business need. If you need to view specific data on a regular basis, creating a report can be the best way to achieve this. For one-time issues, it is preferable to display related reports to gather information.
The basic report creation procedure consists of the following steps:
• Define reporting requirements
• Create the report using the Reporting Services Report Designer
• Upload the new report definition file to the report server
• Verify that the new report is displayed correctly and shows the intended data
Defining Reporting Requirements
As mentioned previously, the decision to create a report should always be based on a repeatable business need. Once the need is identified, you can determine what data needs to be displayed to meet that need. When using the Report Designer, connect to the Citrix EdgeSight database (edgesight) as a shared data source. This will allow you to select the data fields to be displayed in the report.
Creating a Report
When creating a new Citrix EdgeSight report, consider the following guidelines:
Data source—The data source for all reports must be specified as edgesight (all lower case). If a different data source name is specified, the connection to the database will not be established and an error will be displayed.
QueryParameter names—The QueryParameter names, which correspond to the filters for reports, must match the conventions used in the existing reports. The query parameter names are formatted as @ParamName, such as @Device or @Application. Locate a report which uses the filters you want to include in a new report, and then examine the RDL file for the corresponding QueryParameter names.
Page width—All reports are designed with a page width of 6.25 inches. If a greater report width is specified, users will need to scroll to see the entire report.
Uploading a Report
Use the Upload a Report page (Company Settings > Server > Reporting > Upload a Report) to transfer the RDL file to the report server.
Note: You must have the Upload New Report permission to be able to upload a report to the server. This permission is granted by default to all users with a role of Administrator. If you have not been granted this permission, contact your Citrix EdgeSight Administrator.
Always use a unique name when uploading a new report. This ensures that duplicate report names do not appear on the All Reports page. Also, it is best practice to define naming conventions for custom reports. Consistent report names can help users find the reports they need. It is also best practice to be consistent when specifying the Data Area and Report Type fields since users sort report lists by these values.
Use the Public or Private radio buttons to determine whether the report is shared within your company. Public reports are displayed to all users matching the role mapping. Private reports are only displayed to the user uploading the report.
The report attributes cannot be changed once the report is uploaded. To change any of these attributes, you must delete the report and then upload the report again. If you make additional changes to the report, use the Update link on the Properties page to upload the RDL file.
Verifying the New Report
After uploading a new report, navigate to the Custom Reports folder to which the report was uploaded. Display the report and verify that the report is displayed correctly and that the data appears to be correct. If problems appear, review the report definition for accuracy and completeness. After resolving any problems, update and re-verify the report.
