By: Ray Barley
Overview
The Getting Started dialog (covered earlier in this section) is only displayed when you launch Report Builder (and only if specified in Report Options). After you make a selection from the Getting Started dialog or close it, you cannot get back to it. This topic covers the New Report or Dataset dialog which is available from the Report Builder menu.
Explanation
To display the New Report or Dataset dialog open the Report Builder menu and select New:
The dialog provides the following options:
- New Report
- New Dataset
New Report
The New Report option allows you to choose a wizard or a blank report as your starting point. The wizards walk you through creating a report in a sequence of steps. The blank report allows you to handle all aspects of creating the report. For beginners the wizards are a great choice; experienced users may prefer the blank report.
New Dataset
A dataset defines the data that you want to render on your report. The New Dataset option allows you to create a shared dataset; i.e. a dataset that can be used in one or more reports. Shared datasets is a new feature in SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services. Alternatively you can define a dataset within a report (an embedded dataset) but it is a best practice to use shared datasets.
