SQL Server – Christopher Finlan

Leveraging ChatGPT to Generate RDL Output for Paginated Report Files

Introduction

Report Definition Language (RDL) is an XML language that provides a robust, standardized format for defining reports. It’s commonly utilized in conjunction with SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), which allows you to create, deploy, and manage reports for your organization.

This blog post is aimed at guiding you on how to leverage the power of ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art AI developed by OpenAI, to assist in generating XML output for RDL files. The beauty of this approach is that the AI can generate the necessary XML code based on your inputs, which you can then copy and paste into an .rdl file, creating a functional report almost instantaneously.

Step-by-Step Guide to Create an RDL File with ChatGPT Assistance

Step 1: Defining the Objective of Your Report

Start by clearly stating the goal of your report. This will help ChatGPT understand the type of data that needs to be included and how it should be structured.

User: I need to create a report that shows the sales revenue by product category for the current year.

ChatGPT: Sure, for such a report you would need access to sales data including product details, sale dates, and revenue. Do you have a database where this information is stored?

Step 2: Defining the Data Source

Once you’ve clarified the objective of your report, the next step is defining the data source. This includes providing the type of database you’re using, server name, database name, and the necessary authentication details.

User: The data is stored in a SQL Server database named 'SalesDB' on the server 'Server01'. The authentication method is SQL Server Authentication.

ChatGPT: Great! Let's create the DataSource XML for your RDL file.

At this point, ChatGPT will generate the necessary DataSource XML.

ChatGPT:
```xml
<DataSources>
    <DataSource Name="SalesDB">
        <ConnectionProperties>
            <DataProvider>SQL</DataProvider>
            <ConnectString>Data Source=Server01;Initial Catalog=SalesDB;User ID=your_username;Password=your_password;</ConnectString>
        </ConnectionProperties>
    </DataSource>
</DataSources>

Step 3: Defining the Dataset

The Dataset comprises the SQL query that retrieves the desired data from the database.

```chat
User: The necessary data can be retrieved with the following SQL query: 'SELECT ProductCategory, SUM(Revenue) as TotalRevenue FROM Sales WHERE YEAR(SaleDate) = YEAR(GETDATE()) GROUP BY ProductCategory'.

ChatGPT: Great, let's use that query to define the Dataset in your RDL file.

ChatGPT then generates the corresponding Dataset XML.

ChatGPT:
```xml
<Datasets>
    <Dataset Name="SalesData">
        <Query>
            <DataSourceName>SalesDB</DataSourceName>
            <CommandText>
            <![CDATA[SELECT ProductCategory, SUM(Revenue) as TotalRevenue FROM Sales WHERE YEAR(SaleDate) = YEAR(GETDATE()) GROUP BY ProductCategory]]>
            </CommandText>
        </Query>
        <Fields>
            <Field Name="ProductCategory">
                <DataField>ProductCategory</DataField>
                <rd:TypeName>System.String</rd:TypeName>
            </Field>
            <Field Name="TotalRevenue">
                <DataField>TotalRevenue</DataField>
                <rd:TypeName>System.Decimal</rd:TypeName>
            </Field>
        </Fields>
    </Dataset>
</Datasets>

Step 4: Defining the Report Layout

The report layout defines how the retrieved data should be presented in the report. This typically involves specifying items such as tables, matrices, or charts.

```chat
User: I want to present the data in a simple table with two columns: one for the Product Category and one for the Total Revenue.

ChatGPT: Alright. Let's create the report layout XML for your table.

ChatGPT then generates the report layout XML based on your requirements.

ChatGPT:
```xml
<ReportItems>
    <Tablix Name="SalesTablix">
        <TablixBody>
            <TablixColumns>
                <TablixColumn>
                    <Width>3in</Width>
                </TablixColumn>
                <TablixColumn>
                    <Width>2in</Width>
                </TablixColumn>
            </TablixColumns>
            <TablixRows>
                <TablixRow>
                    <Height>0.25in</Height>
                    <TablixCells>
                        <TablixCell>
                            <CellContents>
                                <Textbox Name="ProductCategoryHeader">
                                    <Paragraphs>
                                        <Paragraph>
                                            <TextRuns>
                                                <TextRun>
                                                    <Value>Product Category</Value>
                                                </TextRun>
                                            </TextRuns>
                                        </Paragraph>
                                    </Paragraphs>
                                </Textbox>
                            </CellContents>
                        </TablixCell>
                        <TablixCell>
                            <CellContents>
                                <Textbox Name="TotalRevenueHeader">
                                    <Paragraphs>
                                        <Paragraph>
                                            <TextRuns>
                                                <TextRun>
                                                    <Value>Total Revenue</Value>
                                                </TextRun>
                                            </TextRuns>
                                        </Paragraph>
                                    </Paragraphs>
                                </Textbox>
                            </CellContents>
                        </TablixCell>
                    </TablixCells>
                </TablixRow>
                <TablixRow>
                    <Height>0.25in</Height>
                    <TablixCells>
                        <TablixCell>
                            <CellContents>
                                <Textbox Name="ProductCategory">
                                    <Paragraphs>
                                        <Paragraph>
                                            <TextRuns>
                                                <TextRun>
                                                    <Value>=Fields!ProductCategory.Value</Value>
                                                </TextRun>
                                            </TextRuns>
                                        </Paragraph>
                                    </Paragraphs>
                                </Textbox>
                            </CellContents>
                        </TablixCell>
                        <TablixCell>
                            <CellContents>
                                <Textbox Name="TotalRevenue">
                                    <Paragraphs>
                                        <Paragraph>
                                            <TextRuns>
                                                <TextRun>
                                                    <Value>=Fields!TotalRevenue.Value</Value>
                                                </TextRun>
                                            </TextRuns>
                                        </Paragraph>
                                    </Paragraphs>
                                </Textbox>
                            </CellContents>
                        </TablixCell>
                    </TablixCells>
                </TablixRow>
            </TablixRows>
        </TablixBody>
        <TablixColumnHierarchy>
            <TablixMembers>
                <TablixMember />
                <TablixMember />
            </TablixMembers>
        </TablixColumnHierarchy>
        <TablixRowHierarchy>
            <TablixMembers>
                <TablixMember />
                <TablixMember />
            </TablixMembers>
        </TablixRowHierarchy>
        <DataSetName>SalesData</DataSetName>
    </Tablix>
</ReportItems>

Step 5: Assembling the Full RDL File

At this point, you have all the necessary XML for your RDL file. You can put these pieces together into a full RDL file, ensuring that you include the necessary boilerplate XML for an RDL file. Don’t forget to adjust connection string information for your data source, where necessary.

Here it is as an example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Report xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sqlserver/reporting/2010/01/reportdefinition" xmlns:rd="http://schemas.microsoft.com/SQLServer/reporting/reportdesigner">
    <DataSources>
        <DataSource Name="SalesDB">
            <ConnectionProperties>
                <DataProvider>SQL</DataProvider>
                <ConnectString>Data Source=Server01;Initial Catalog=SalesDB;User ID=your_username;Password=your_password;</ConnectString>
            </ConnectionProperties>
        </DataSource>
    </DataSources>
    <DataSets>
        <DataSet Name="SalesData">
            <Query>
                <DataSourceName>SalesDB</DataSourceName>
                <CommandText>
                <![CDATA[SELECT ProductCategory, SUM(Revenue) as TotalRevenue FROM Sales WHERE YEAR(SaleDate) = YEAR(GETDATE()) GROUP BY ProductCategory]]>
                </CommandText>
            </Query>
            <Fields>
                <Field Name="ProductCategory">
                    <DataField>ProductCategory</DataField>
                    <rd:TypeName>System.String</rd:TypeName>
                </Field>
                <Field Name="TotalRevenue">
                    <DataField>TotalRevenue</DataField>
                    <rd:TypeName>System.Decimal</rd:TypeName>
                </Field>
            </Fields>
        </DataSet>
    </DataSets>
    <ReportSections>
        <ReportSection>
            <Body>
                <ReportItems>
                    <Tablix Name="SalesTablix">
                        <TablixBody>
                            <TablixColumns>
                                <TablixColumn>
                                    <Width>3in</Width>
                                </TablixColumn>
                                <TablixColumn>
                                    <Width>2in</Width>
                                </TablixColumn>
                            </TablixColumns>
                            <TablixRows>
                                <TablixRow>
                                    <Height>0.25in</Height>
                                    <TablixCells>
                                        <TablixCell>
                                            <CellContents>
                                                <Textbox Name="ProductCategoryHeader">
                                                    <Paragraphs>
                                                        <Paragraph>
                                                            <TextRuns>
                                                                <TextRun>
                                                                    <Value>Product Category</Value>
                                                                </TextRun>
                                                            </TextRuns>
                                                        </Paragraph>
                                                    </Paragraphs>
                                                </Textbox>
                                            </CellContents>
                                        </TablixCell>
                                        <TablixCell>
                                            <CellContents>
                                                <Textbox Name="TotalRevenueHeader">
                                                    <Paragraphs>
                                                        <Paragraph>
                                                            <TextRuns>
                                                                <TextRun>
                                                                    <Value>Total Revenue</Value>
                                                                </TextRun>
                                                            </TextRuns>
                                                        </Paragraph>
                                                    </Paragraphs>
                                                </Textbox>
                                            </CellContents>
                                        </TablixCell>
                                    </TablixCells>
                                </TablixRow>
                                <TablixRow>
                                    <Height>0.25in</Height>
                                    <TablixCells>
                                        <TablixCell>
                                            <CellContents>
                                                <Textbox Name="ProductCategory">
                                                    <Paragraphs>
                                                        <Paragraph>
                                                            <TextRuns>
                                                                <TextRun>
                                                                    <Value>=Fields!ProductCategory.Value</Value>
                                                                </TextRun>
                                                            </TextRuns>
                                                        </Paragraph>
                                                    </Paragraphs>
                                                </Textbox>
                                            </CellContents>
                                        </TablixCell>
                                        <TablixCell>
                                            <CellContents>
                                                <Textbox Name="TotalRevenue">
                                                    <Paragraphs>
                                                        <Paragraph>
                                                            <TextRuns>
                                                                <TextRun>
                                                                    <Value>=Fields!TotalRevenue.Value</Value>
                                                                </TextRun>
                                                            </TextRuns>
                                                        </Paragraph>
                                                    </Paragraphs>
                                                </Textbox>
                                            </CellContents>
                                        </TablixCell>
                                    </TablixCells>
                                </TablixRow>
                            </TablixRows>
                        </TablixBody>
                        <TablixColumnHierarchy>
                            <TablixMembers>
                                <TablixMember />
                                <TablixMember />
                            </TablixMembers>
                        </TablixColumnHierarchy>
                        <TablixRowHierarchy>
                            <TablixMembers>
                                <TablixMember />
                                <TablixMember />
                            </TablixMembers>
                        </TablixRowHierarchy>
                        <DataSetName>SalesData</DataSetName>
                    </Tablix>
                </ReportItems>
            </Body>
        </ReportSection>
    </ReportSections>
</Report>

The example provided here should be fully functional, but there are some considerations to keep in mind:

Database Schema: The SQL query included in the report depends on your database schema. The given example assumes that there’s a table called ‘Sales’ with the columns ‘ProductCategory’, ‘Revenue’, and ‘SaleDate’. Make sure that your database contains this table and these columns or adjust the SQL query to match your actual database schema.
Authentication: The example uses SQL Server Authentication for simplicity, but you might be using a different authentication method, such as Windows Authentication or Azure Active Directory. Make sure to adjust the connection string to match your actual authentication method.
Report Design: The example includes a very basic report design that outputs a simple table. In a real-world scenario, your report might require additional elements, such as a header, footer, grouping, sorting, filtering, images, subreports, etc. RDL is very flexible and allows you to create complex report designs.
Data Types: The provided XML assumes that ‘ProductCategory’ is a string and ‘TotalRevenue’ is a decimal. If your actual data types are different, make sure to adjust the <rd:TypeName> elements accordingly.
Data Source Security: The provided example includes the username and password in the connection string for simplicity, but this isn’t secure. In a real-world scenario, you should consider more secure methods to store and retrieve your credentials, such as storing them in the Reporting Services Configuration Manager or using Integrated Security.
Error Handling: While this isn’t strictly necessary for the RDL file to be functional, it’s a good idea to implement error handling in your reports, such as displaying a meaningful message if the SQL query returns no data.

As long as your report’s requirements align with what’s defined in this XML, you should be able to generate a functional report by replacing the placeholders with your actual values. However, this is a basic example and real-world reports can get much more complex. For more advanced features, you might need to manually edit the RDL file or use a tool like SQL Server Data Tools or Report Builder, which provide a GUI for designing reports.

Conclusion

Leveraging AI models like ChatGPT to generate RDL file content allows you to quickly and accurately create complex reports. By providing your specifications to the AI, you can obtain a ready-to-use XML output for your RDL file, reducing the time spent on manual coding and minimizing the potential for human error. Happy reporting!

This blogpost was created with help from ChatGPT Pro.

How to Create Professional-Looking Invoices using Power BI Paginated Reports

In this blog post, we will explore how to create professional-looking invoices using Power BI Paginated Reports. We’ll start with an overview of Paginated Reports, then dive into creating a custom invoice design, and finally discuss how to publish and share these invoices.

Preparing Data for Invoices

To create an invoice, we first need to prepare the underlying data. This includes data about customers, products, and transactions. You can import data from various sources, such as Excel files, SQL databases, or other data sources supported by Power BI. Once you have imported the data, you can create relationships and perform data cleaning and transformations as necessary.

Designing the Invoice Layout in Report Builder

To start designing the invoice, open the Report Builder tool and create a new Paginated Report. The Report Builder interface consists of a design surface, a report data pane, and a properties pane. Begin by organizing your report data in the report data pane.

2.1. Add a Header

To create a header for your invoice, click on the ‘Insert’ tab, and select ‘Header’ from the dropdown menu. In the header, you can include elements such as your company logo, address, and contact information. To add an image, use the ‘Image’ tool from the ‘Insert’ tab and position it in the header.

2.2. Add a Title

Add a text box from the ‘Insert’ tab to include the invoice title (e.g., ‘Invoice’). Customize the text’s font, size, and alignment as needed.

2.3. Customer Information

Add a table or a series of text boxes to display the customer’s name, address, contact information, and invoice number. You can use expressions to bind the text boxes to the appropriate data fields in your dataset.

2.4. Invoice Line Items

Insert a table from the ‘Insert’ tab to display the invoice line items. Bind the table to your invoice data source and configure the columns to display the product name, quantity, unit price, and line item total. Apply formatting and styling to match the overall design of the invoice.

2.5. Summary and Footer

Add a summary section to display the subtotal, taxes, and total amount due. You can use expressions to calculate these values based on the line items in the invoice. Finally, add a footer to include any additional information, such as payment terms or a thank you message.

Publishing and Sharing Invoices

Once you’ve finished designing the invoice, save the report and publish it to Power BI Report Server or Power BI Premium. To generate individual invoices for your customers, create a parameterized report, allowing you to filter the data for a specific customer or invoice number. Share the published invoices with your customers by providing them with a link or exporting the invoices as PDFs, Word documents, or Excel files.

Conclusion

Power BI Paginated Reports offer a flexible and powerful solution for creating professional-looking invoices. By leveraging the Report Builder tool, users can create custom invoice designs that meet their specific

This blogpost was created with help from ChatGPT Pro.

Unveiling the Hidden Gems: Lesser-Known Features of Paginated Reports in Power BI and SSRS

Introduction

Paginated reports, commonly referred to as “pixel-perfect” reports, are an essential tool for creating data-rich, highly customizable, and print-ready reports. While many users are familiar with the basic features of paginated reports in Power BI and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), there are several lesser-known capabilities that can enhance the overall reporting experience. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of these hidden gems and explain how they can add value to your paginated reports.

Document Map

The Document Map feature allows you to create a navigable outline or table of contents for your paginated report, making it easier for users to quickly jump between different sections or categories within the report. By adding a Document Map, you can provide a more organized and user-friendly reporting experience, especially for lengthy and complex reports.

Interactive Sorting

Interactive Sorting enables users to sort data in a table or matrix directly within the report by clicking on column headers. This powerful feature provides users with more control and flexibility to explore and analyze the data according to their needs. To enable interactive sorting, simply set the “InteractiveSort” property of the table or matrix column header textbox.

Custom Code and Expressions

Paginated reports support custom code and expressions, allowing you to create complex calculations, data transformations, or conditional formatting rules that might not be achievable with built-in functions. You can use Visual Basic.NET (VB.NET) to write custom code within the report, and then reference the custom functions in your report expressions.

Fixed Headers and Footers

When dealing with long tables or matrices that span multiple pages, it can be helpful to keep the headers and footers visible as users scroll or navigate through the report. To achieve this, simply set the “FixedData” property of the table or matrix header row to “True.” This ensures that the headers and footers remain in place, providing users with essential context as they explore the data.

Data-Driven Subscriptions

Data-driven subscriptions enable you to automate the delivery of paginated reports based on dynamic, data-driven criteria. This feature, available only in SSRS, allows you to configure report delivery based on data stored in an external data source, such as a database table or a query result. Data-driven subscriptions can be used to deliver personalized reports to users or to schedule report delivery based on specific conditions or events.

Custom Pagination

By default, paginated reports use automatic pagination to determine the number of pages and the layout of report items. However, you can also take full control over the pagination process by using custom pagination. This allows you to specify the exact number of rows or columns to display per page and to control the placement of report items across multiple pages.

Conclusion

While many users are familiar with the basic features of paginated reports in Power BI and SSRS, exploring lesser-known capabilities can provide a more powerful, flexible, and user-friendly reporting experience. By leveraging features such as Document Maps, Interactive Sorting, Custom Code and Expressions, Fixed Headers and Footers, Data-Driven Subscriptions, and Custom Pagination, you can create truly dynamic and interactive reports that cater to a wide range of user needs and preferences.

This blogpost was created with help from ChatGPT Pro.

Mastering Expressions and Functions in Power BI Paginated Reports: Unleash Your Reporting Potential

Power BI Paginated Reports are a powerful tool in every data analyst’s arsenal. These versatile, high-quality reports allow for a seamless presentation of large amounts of data in a consistent and easy-to-read format. In this blog post, we will dive into the fascinating world of expressions and functions in Power BI Paginated Reports, showcasing their capabilities and providing you with a step-by-step guide to help you make the most of your reporting experience.

Section 1: Understanding Expressions and Functions

1.1 What are Expressions?

In Power BI Paginated Reports, expressions are used to define the content and appearance of report items, data regions, and groups. They are written in Report Definition Language (RDL) and allow you to perform various calculations, conditional formatting, and data manipulation tasks.

1.2 What are Functions?

Functions are pre-built pieces of code that can be used within expressions to perform specific tasks, such as mathematical operations, string manipulation, date and time calculations, and more. Power BI Paginated Reports offers a rich set of built-in functions, making it easier for you to create dynamic, data-driven reports.

Section 2: How to Use Expressions in Power BI Paginated Reports

2.1 Creating Basic Expressions

To create an expression, you’ll need to use the Expression Editor. Follow these steps:

In the Report Builder, select the textbox or other report item you want to add the expression to.
In the Properties pane, locate the property you want to set with an expression, then click the drop-down arrow and select <Expression…>.
In the Expression Editor, type or build your expression using the available functions and operators.
Click OK to save the expression.

2.2 Examples of Common Expressions

Here are some examples of expressions you might use in your Power BI Paginated Reports:

Concatenating strings: =Fields!FirstName.Value & " " & Fields!LastName.Value
Calculating the sum of a field: =Sum(Fields!Sales.Value)
Applying conditional formatting based on a value: =IIf(Fields!Revenue.Value > 10000, "Green", "Red")

Section 3: Working with Functions in Power BI Paginated Reports

3.1 Accessing Built-In Functions

To access built-in functions, follow these steps:

Open the Expression Editor (as explained in Section 2.1).
In the left pane of the Expression Editor, you’ll see a list of categories, such as Common Functions, Text, DateTime, and more. Click on a category to display the available functions.
Double-click a function to add it to your expression.

3.2 Examples of Functions in Expressions

Here are some examples of functions used in expressions:

Calculating the average of a field: =Avg(Fields!Sales.Value)
Formatting a date: =Format(Fields!OrderDate.Value, "MM/dd/yyyy")
Counting the number of items in a dataset: =CountRows()

Expressions and functions in Power BI Paginated Reports provide endless possibilities to create dynamic, data-driven reports that are both visually appealing and informative. By mastering these techniques, you will enhance your reporting capabilities and stand out as a data analyst. Now it’s time to put these skills to the test and create stunning, insightful reports with Power BI Paginated Reports!

This blogpost was created with help from ChatGPT Pro.

An Exclusive Interview with Paginated Report Bear: The Fun Side of Reporting

Introduction

In the world of data analysis and reporting, we often get caught up in the technical aspects and overlook the fun side of things. Today, we’re excited to share an exclusive, light-hearted interview with the internet’s favorite data reporting mascot, Paginated Report Bear! Join us as we delve into the bear’s thoughts on paginated reports, Power BI, and what makes him so passionate about reporting.

The Interview

Me: Thank you for joining us today, Paginated Report Bear! Let’s start with the basics. How did you become so passionate about paginated reports?

Paginated Report Bear: Well, it all started when I stumbled upon a beautifully crafted paginated report in the woods. The way it presented the data in such a precise, pixel-perfect manner was mesmerizing. From that moment on, I knew I had found my true calling – to spread the joy of paginated reports to the world!

Me: That’s quite an inspiring story! What do you think makes paginated reports so special compared to other reporting formats?

Paginated Report Bear: Paginated reports are like a canvas for data. They allow you to design highly customizable, print-ready reports that can span multiple pages with ease. Plus, they’re perfect for handling complex data scenarios, and who doesn’t love the satisfying feeling of flipping through a beautifully formatted, multi-page report?

Me: So true! Now, we know you’re a big fan of Power BI. Can you tell us about your favorite features in Power BI for creating paginated reports?

Paginated Report Bear: Absolutely! I love how Power BI offers a seamless experience for designing paginated reports using the Power BI Report Builder. It’s packed with awesome features like Document Maps, Interactive Sorting, and Custom Pagination, which make it super easy to create dynamic, user-friendly reports. And let’s not forget the amazing Power BI community that’s always there to help and share their knowledge.

Me: You’ve definitely become an icon in the Power BI community. How does it feel to be such a beloved figure?

Paginated Report Bear: Oh, it’s truly humbling! I’m just a bear who loves paginated reports, and the fact that I can bring a smile to people’s faces while they’re working on their reports is simply heartwarming. I’m grateful for the opportunity to connect with the community and share my passion for paginated reports with everyone.

Me: Before we wrap up, do you have any tips or advice for Power BI users who are just starting to explore paginated reports?

Paginated Report Bear: Absolutely! First and foremost, don’t be afraid to experiment and try out different features – that’s how you’ll discover the true potential of paginated reports. Also, make use of the wealth of resources available online, such as tutorials, webinars, and blog posts, to enhance your skills. And remember, the Power BI community is always there to help, so don’t hesitate to ask questions and learn from fellow users. Most importantly, have fun with it!

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this lighthearted, exclusive interview with Paginated Report Bear! His passion for paginated reports and Power BI serves as a reminder that reporting and data analysis can be fun, engaging, and enjoyable. Keep experimenting, learning, and embracing the power of paginated reports – and don’t forget to have some fun along the way!

This blogpost was created with help from ChatGPT Pro.

Mastering Paginated Reports in Power BI: Tips and Tricks for Success

Power BI is a powerful tool that enables users to create interactive reports and visualizations to facilitate data-driven decision making. One of the key features of Power BI is the ability to create paginated reports. These reports, also known as ‘pixel-perfect’ or ‘SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) reports,’ provide a high level of control over report layout and formatting, making them perfect for generating invoices, official documents, or detailed data tables that need to span multiple pages.

In this blog post, we’ll explore several tips and tricks that will help you create professional and efficient paginated reports in Power BI.

Plan your report layout

Before diving into Power BI, take a moment to plan your report layout. Consider the information you need to display and how it should be presented. This will ensure a more efficient design process and will help you avoid making unnecessary changes later on.

Use Power BI Report Builder

To create paginated reports, you’ll need to use Power BI Report Builder. This standalone desktop application is specifically designed for creating paginated reports and provides a familiar SSRS environment. You can download the Power BI Report Builder from the Power BI website.

Set up data sources and datasets

Once you’ve opened Power BI Report Builder, you’ll need to set up data sources and datasets. To do this, go to the “Report Data” window, right-click “Data Sources,” and click “Add Data Source.” After connecting to your data source, create a dataset by right-clicking “Datasets” and selecting “Add Dataset.” This process will allow you to access the data in your report.

Use tables, matrices, and lists wisely

Paginated reports offer a variety of data regions, including tables, matrices, and lists. Each data region has its own unique capabilities:

Tables: Use tables for displaying data in a simple row and column format.
Matrices: Use matrices to show aggregate data, especially when you need to display row and column groupings.
Lists: Use lists to create free-form reports with varying data layouts.

Choose the appropriate data region based on your report’s requirements to ensure an efficient and organized layout.

Leverage expressions for dynamic content

Expressions are a powerful way to create dynamic content in your paginated reports. You can use expressions to:

Concatenate fields
Format dates and numbers
Calculate totals and averages
Implement conditional formatting

Learn the basics of expression syntax and familiarize yourself with the available functions to unlock the full potential of your paginated reports.

Utilize headers and footers

Headers and footers are essential for adding context and professionalism to your reports. Use them to display important information such as page numbers, report titles, and company logos. Headers and footers can also contain dynamic content using expressions, making them even more versatile.

Manage page breaks and pagination

Controlling page breaks and pagination is crucial for ensuring a clean and well-organized report. Use the “Page Break” property in the properties window to control the placement of page breaks within your report. Additionally, you can use the “PrintOnFirstPage” and “PrintOnLastPage” properties to control the visibility of report items on the first and last pages.

Preview and test your report

Always preview and test your report to ensure that it meets your requirements and displays correctly. This will help you identify any issues or discrepancies early in the design process, saving you time and effort in the long run.

Conclusion

Creating paginated reports in Power BI can be a rewarding experience when armed with the right knowledge and tools. By following the tips and tricks outlined in this blog post, you’ll be well on your way to mastering paginated reports and creating professional, efficient, and visually appealing documents. Remember to plan your layout, use the appropriate data regions, leverage expressions, and test your report thoroughly. By doing so, you’ll not only impress your colleagues and clients with your Power BI skills but also make data-driven decision-making more accessible and efficient for your organization. So, go ahead and unlock the full potential of Power BI paginated reports, and take your reporting capabilities to the next level!

This blogpost was generated by ChatGPT Pro as an experiment to see the level of quality it would generate.

Be sure to check out my YouTube channel!

I know it’s been quite some time since I’ve posted on here, and while I hope to start to post more regularly here, you can always find me posting regularly on my YouTube channel. And by regularly I mean “More than once a year” :).

It’s focused on Power BI and paginated reports, along with some other neat items I’ll sometimes focus on (like Premium per user!).

Make sure you check it out if you haven’t had the chance to do so – Chris Finlan’s YouTube channel

Thanks for reading everyone!

Happy birthday, Paginated Report Bear!

Paginated Report Bear turns 1 year old today. He wasn’t expected to last more than a few weeks.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Paginated Report Bear, my friend Chris Webb described him as follows – “Well, he’s the breakout social media star of 2019, a furry YouTube sensation whose incisive interviews of members of the Power BI development team have become renowned for their deep technical content and insights into the Power BI roadmap. If you’re not watching his videos on YouTube, you’re missing out.”

If you watch the very first video that “Padgie” did 1 year ago today, Chris’s description seems EXTREMELY generous. The production quality was very low, and Mr. Matthew (my son) couldn’t even say “Paginated Reports”. Why even do videos with a bear in the first place? You see, my son had for some time wanted to do a YouTube video series with me where his stuffed animals would be included. They had been granted various personalities and voices throughout the years by yours truly, and these characteristics have carried over to the videos. I decided to rename “Mickey” to “Paginated Report Bear” because he was the lovable but dumb one, and I thought the name sounded ridiculous. And since my (naïve) assumption was we’d do a few of these videos during my vacation, and my son would get tired of doing them, that would be that. And that almost happened – there wasn’t any videos for a month from December to January, and I figured that was the end of it.

Then something strange happened – not only did my son want to do more, but some members of the Power BI community seemed to actually ENJOY the videos. He was featured on Guy in a Cube, he was mentioned on the BiFocal podcast, and he was a hit at the MVP Conference in March (he even got an MVP pin!). It was then that we decided to have him start interviewing members of the product team, starting with Lukasz back in April, and the rest is history.

But the biggest achievement of Paginated Report Bear is the one he’s taught my kids as they’ve watched their dad carry a cheap stuffed bear purchased from EBay to conferences across the country just so people can take a selfie with him – you can do something different, or be different, and be successful in your career and in life. That means a lot, and shows the broad Power BI community can have an impact outside of the day to day product details.

So thank you, and I look forward to what the future has in store for Paginated Report Bear in the year ahead!

Free sample Power BI paginated report – Ultimate Export Report available for download

I recently came across an interesting article on MSSQLTips for SQL Server Reporting Services that showed how you could use a T-SQL query as the parameter value, and have it return a table of data as the result set from that query. (The original article is here, and I will fully admit that all I did was take this author’s idea (and that of one of the commenters) and stick it into this sample report – https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/5757/create-dynamic-ssrs-reports-using-a-query-as-an-input-parameter/ ). I wanted to see if this worked for Paginated Reports in Power BI, and of course it does! So once I put in my connection string information for my Azure SQL database (the original article was against a traditional SQL Server database), I can write just about any select query against that database as a parameter at runtime and get back results in a nice table that can be exported out to Microsoft Excel. I created a short video to show you how it works in practice –

Now there’s little chance I’d use this report as is in production – it’s really just a way for me to test some things, dump out data quickly, and it demos nicely. But there are some ways you could potentially change this to make it more production friendly – have a list of dropdown values that represent the queries that you update on an ongoing basis, or even allow users to submit queries through a workflow you approve that updates the parameter list.

If you’d like to try it out yourself, feel free to download the sample report –

Ultimate Export Report

Once downloaded, you’ll need to update the data source with your connection string to whatever database you’ll use this against in Power BI Report Builder before you can use it in the service, but once you do that, you should be good to go.

Thanks for reading!

Use Outlook, Microsoft Flow and Paginated Reports to create Power BI Report and Dashboard E-Mail Subscriptions with PDF attachments

I hear this ask quite a bit these days – I want to be able to create e-mail subscriptions with PDF (or other file format) attachments of my full Power BI report or dashboard. Well, you can actually do this already, thanks to Microsoft Flow and Paginated Reports in Power BI Premium or SQL Server Reporting Services/Power BI Report Server if you chose to do so.

If you read my blog post last week, I showed you how to use Flow to take your e-mail attachments and save them to a OneDrive for Business folder. While I did it for PDF’s in that example, you can do it for any attachment type, including images, which is what you get today as an attachment when you subscribe to a Power BI Report or Dashboard. The challenge is if you want an attachment of a full Power BI report, you only get one report page image per subscription. However, you can stitch those items together into a paginated report that’s hosted either in Power BI Premium or SSRS and set that up as a subscription with a full report attachment. Here’s how –

Let’s say I have four report pages total in my Power BI report. I’ll create four subscriptions, 1 for each page.

Next, I’m going to create a paginated report where I show each of those images on a different page. Since they are optimized for landscape, I am going to change my report properties to landscape in Power BI Report Builder.

With paginated reports, you can surface images one of three ways in your report. You can do it either as an embedded image, an external image, or from a Database.

Embedded images are what I used for the Paginated Report Bear sample report – I literally just saved the image files in the rdl you could download. That doesn’t help in this use case.

If I want to use an external images for each of the files, which is a URL image I point to, than I can create a Flow where I save the e-mail attachments from my Power BI subscriptions to a folder in OneDrive (personal), and then use the embed URL from each of those images as external sources for my report. Each time I save a new image with the same name, my embed URL doesn’t change, so I can update the images as often as I like using Flow and my report will always show the latest. I just need to add four images to my paginated report, each with a link to one of the report page URLs, and I’m done!

Anyone who cares about security is going bonkers right now, since sticking them in my personal OneDrive means they’re publicly available to anyone in the world. A better (and safer) solution I’m using is saving them to an Azure SQL database, and then surfacing them as “Database” images in my paginated report. My flow looks like this for that scenario –

What I did here was create a table in an Azure SQL database with three fields, and the Attachment field is an Image field. (This is an admittedly sloppy table written for a blog post vs. production use.) I also narrowed down the scope of the attachments by limiting the flow to those e-mails from the following address (I could be even more precise, but dinner is waiting in the other room) –

Now when my Flow is triggered (it checks my inbox every minute), if it finds a new item matching that rule, I see a new entry in my SQL table like so.

With them saved to a SQL database, I have a few different options how to surface them in my report. Either I do them as standalone items with a page break in between (Check out these two pages when I export out the report out to Word) –

With this method, I’m setting my SQL query to always show the most recent image for each page of my report.

Or perhaps in a table as a collection showing different report states over time if I want to show all the report images

Now, with my images saved in a paginated report, I can load it to either the Power BI service OR SQL Server Reporting Services, setup my subscription, choose the output format (PDF, Word, etc.) and there you have it – full report attachments of my Power BI reports sent as e-mail subscriptions!

Thanks for reading!

Introduction

Step-by-Step Guide to Create an RDL File with ChatGPT Assistance

Conclusion

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