Pro VS 2005 Reporting Using SQL Server and Crystal Reports offers a proven methodology for building reporting solutions. The authors focus on SQL Server 2005 and Crystal Reports, but also cover other popular technologies like Oracle and ActiveReports, to give you a thorough grounding in the reporting field. The book presents the requirements for a real-world reporting application in a distributed environment, and covers all the phases of development. You'll learn to

* Define report content, format, definitions, and rules.
* Establish data requirements.
* Build and test stored procedures.
* Construct a data access layer in .NET.
* Account for different architectures using XML web services and .NET Remoting.
* Design the reports using Crystal Reports.
* Develop a Windows Forms client application to allow users to launch reports and set report options.
* Export report output to other sources such as PowerPoint.

In many business applications, reports play a critical role. The stakeholders of a software system expect reports to summarize data and efficiently present it to business users and decision markers. They expect reports to present data in ways they can easily interpret, and in ways that help them evaluate and analyze business performance. Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005, and Crystal Reports contain powerful capabilities to help you build and deliver sophisticated presentation output. This is the only book available that shows you how to use all these disparate technologies together to create a cohesive solution.