Comparing Interactive Functionality for Different Report Rendering Extensions
New: 5 December 2005
Reporting Services provides interactive reporting features that allow you to work with a report at run time. Not all of the report output formats support the full range of interactive features. You can use the following table to understand how each interactive feature works in specific output formats.
Interactive Features in Different Output Formats
Reports that are rendered to XML, CSV, or TIFF output formats do not support interactive features.
Ad hoc reports that you create in Report Builder and default reports that you view in Report Manager, SharePoint Web parts, or in a browser are rendered in HTML. HTML is the only report output format that fully supports all interactive features. Alternate HTML formats (such as MHTML) support many interactive features. If exceptions for MHTML exist, they are noted in the following table.
| Feature | HTML | Excel | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Document maps |
Interactive document map provides a navigation pane of hierarchical links that can be used to navigate to different sections of a report. |
PDF renders a document map as the Bookmarks pane. All items in the document map are listed one after the other down the pane. There is no hierarchy to the list of links. |
Excel renders a document map as a named worksheet that includes a hierarchy of links. Report sections are rendered in separate worksheets that are included with the document map in the same workbook. |
Not available in MHTML, XML, CSV, or TIFF. |
Drillthrough links to additional reports |
Users click on data values in the report to view related data in another report. |
Drillthrough links are not recommended for PDF output. Consider using hyperlinks for PDF reports that link to other pages. |
Drillthrough links are rendered in Excel. The link becomes a hyperlink pointing to the report referenced by the drillthrough link. Clicking the link opens a report in a browser window. |
Not available in XML, CSV, or TIFF. |
Drilldown links that show or hide sections of a report |
Users click expand and collapse icons to view sections of a report. |
The report server exports the current view of the report to PDF. If drilldown links are displayed in HTML, the PDF file will show the links as static text in the rendered report. |
Drilldown links are fully functional in Excel. You can expand and collapse sections of the report in Excel. |
Not available in MHTML, XML, CSV, or TIFF. |
Interactive sorting |
For tabular repots, users click sort arrows on column to change how the data is sorted. |
Not available in PDF. |
Not available in Excel. |
Not available in MHTML, XML, CSV, or TIFF. |
Hyperlinks to external Web content or images |
Users click links to open external Web pages in a new browser window. External images are rendered in the report. |
Hyperlinks are rendered by the PDF rendering extension. When a user clicks on a hyperlink, the linked pages are opened in the browser. External images are rendered as a static picture. |
Hyperlinks are rendered in Excel. External images are rendered as a static picture. |
Hyperlinks are not available in MHTML, XML, CSV, or TIFF. For MHTML, and TIFF, external images are rendered as a static picture. |
Bookmark or anchor |
Users click links to navigate to another section of the same report. |
The PDF rendering extension renders the document map as PDF bookmarks. Only bookmarks for items in the rendered pages are included. Bookmarks are not included if the report is a single page. |
Bookmarks are rendered in Excel. The bookmark becomes a hyperlink pointing to the name of the report item. |
Not available in XML, CSV, or TIFF. |
Parameters obtained at run time, user provides data values that are passed to a query during data processing |
A parameter input area appears at the top of the report. This area is part of the HTML Viewer used to display reports in a browser. |
The report server exports the report to PDF using the parameter values currently in effect for the report. |
The report server exports the report to Excel using the parameter values currently in effect for the report. |
The report server exports the report to other formats using the parameter values currently in effect for the report. |
Filters applied at run time, user identity or other filter criteria selects a subset of the available data for the current user |
The filtered data is displayed to the user at run time. |
The report server exports the report to PDF using filtered data in the current report. |
The report server exports the report to Excel using filtered data in the current report. |
The report server exports the report to other formats using filtered data in the current report. |
Matrix |
Users can expand and collapse columns and rows to alternately view summarized and detailed data. |
The report server exports the current view of the report to PDF. If the matrix is partially expanded in HTML, the PDF file will show the same data as static values in the rendered report. |
Matrix data regions are fully functional in Excel. You can expand rows and columns to view detail rows. |
Not available in XML, CSV, or TIFF. MHTML reports show the rows and columns that were visible when the report was exported. |
External Resources
See Also
Concepts
Providing User Interaction in Reports
Adding Interactive Features
Report Server
Design Considerations for Report Rendering
Working with Matrix Data Regions