Creating Reports Overview

03/12/2014
7 minutes to read

Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack,
Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012

This section explains how to create reports using the Microsoft Visual Studio tools
for Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Considerations for Creating a Report

Report Programming Guide

How to: Add or Delete a Report

How to: Create an Auto Design for a Report

How to: Create a Precision Design for a Report

How to: Preview a Report Design

How to: Change the Default Number of Records that Display in the Report Preview

Microsoft Dynamics AX provides a model-based approach to create reports by

providing project templates and modeling tools that are incorporated into the
Microsoft Visual Studio development environment. The reporting features provided by
Microsoft Dynamics AX are based on a tight integration with SQL Server Reporting
Services.

Using the Microsoft Visual Studio tools provided by Microsoft Dynamics AX has the
following benefits:

You can create reports quickly using the auto design reporting feature. This
feature automatically creates a report design based on the report data.

You can use SQL Report Designer for reports that require a very precise design. SQL
Report Designer can be started directly from your reporting project.

You can create a consistent appearance and behavior for your reports using style
templates. One style template can be applied to many reports. Style templates let
you separate the style settings from the actual report definition.

You can preview reports at design time from the Microsoft Visual Studio development
environment.

Reports created by using the Microsoft Visual Studio tools for Microsoft Dynamics
AX can be integrated into Microsoft Dynamics AX. They can be displayed as menu
items on menus and forms in the Microsoft Dynamics AX client and in Enterprise
Portal Web parts. For more information, see Report Integration and Customization
Overview.

Creating Reports
The first step in creating your reports is to create a reporting project in
Microsoft Visual Studio by selecting the Report Model project template. After you
have created a reporting project, you can define a report in the model that is
provided. You can add, remove, and modify report items using the context menus that
appear when you right-click the nodes in the model. For example, you can right-
click the Images node for a report, and then click Add Image to add an embedded
image to a report. You can also move or create new elements in a model by using
drag-and-drop functionality. For example, when you drag a report dataset onto the
Designs node, an auto design is created for the report. For more information about
the elements in a model, see Model Editor Overview. The following illustration
shows an example of a report in a model.

Model file

Microsoft Dynamics AX provides two tools, Model Editor and Application Explorer, to
edit and view models. If you double-click a report in Solution Explorer, the report
opens in Model Editor. For more information about the modeling tools, see Model
Editor Overview and Application Explorer.

Defining Report Data

When you create a report, you must define the data that will display in the report.
To do this, you must first identify the data sources that will be used. A data
source represents a source of data for one or more reports. A report can display
data from more than one data source. You can use an AOS data source called Dynamics
AX, which connects to the Microsoft Dynamics AX application database. When you use
this data source, you can use queries or report data provider classes that have
been defined in the Application Object Tree (AOT) within Microsoft Dynamics AX or
you can write data methods in the reporting project to retrieve data for your
reports. If you have want to use an enum field as a parameter on the report, you
will create a second dataset and define the parameter using the AX Enum Provider
data source type. To connect to Microsoft Dynamics AX OLAP data, use the data
source called DynamicsAXOLAP. If you want to connect to a legacy system or an
external database, you must define a new data source and specify connection
information. There are two provider types that can be used when you define a new
data source: SQL and OLAP.

After you define data sources, you must define one or more datasets. A dataset
identifies data that is displayed in a report. When you define a dataset, you must
specify the data source and the means used to retrieve the data, such as a query,
data method, or stored procedure. Data sources and datasets are defined in the
model alongside your reports. For more information about data sources and datasets,
see Report Data Overview.

Report Layout and Design

A report design represents a particular layout of a report. A report can have
multiple designs. The following table provides a description of the types of report
designs that you can create.

Type

Description

Auto design

An auto design is a report design that is automatically generated based on the

report data. It is created by using Model Editor. The auto design functionality
provides an efficient way to create the most common types of reports, such as a
customer list or a list of inventory items.

Precision design

A precision design is a report design that is created by using SQL Report Designer.
Precision designs are typically used when a report requires a very precise layout,
such as invoices or bank checks. SQL Report Designer lets you manually drag-and-
drop fields onto a report and put them exactly where they should be.
Auto Design Layout
An auto design follows a particular layout. It has a header, a body that contains
one or more data regions, and a footer, as shown in the following illustration.

Auto design report layout

You control the content that is displayed in each area in an auto design. For
example, you can include a report title and the date in the header and display the
page number in the footer. Or, you may not want to display anything in the header
and footer.

The data regions that display in an auto design depend on the datasets that you
created when you defined the data for the report. When you define a dataset, you
can specify the type of data region that will be used to render the data whenever
the dataset is used in an auto design. Data can be displayed in table, list,
matrix, or chart formats. For more information about data regions, see Report Data
Region Overview. One way to create an auto design is to drag a dataset onto the
node for the auto design in the model.

Precision Design Layout

A precision design is free-form where you define the layout using SQL Report
Designer. Therefore, the format of a precision design can vary depending on the
layout that is required.

Adding Interactive Report Features

There are several features that you can add to your reports to let users interact
with and control the data that they see in a report. For example, you can expand
and collapse data on the report using the drill down and drill up features. You can
display a document map in a report that lets users easily move to different areas
in the report by clicking an item in the document map. A document map is useful
when a report displays lots of data. You can add data groupings and drill-down
features that let users expand or collapse areas in a report. You can create
drillthrough reports and add URL drill through actions. You can also create
parameters and filters that let users select or filter the data that they see in a
report. For more information, see Adding Interactive Features to Reports.

Localizing Reports
Use AX labels in your reports that can be dynamically resolved at runtime. Only one
report definition per report is needed. For more information, see Localizing
Reports.

Modifying the Appearance of a Report

Style templates are used to modify the appearance of a report. Style templates
contain properties that control the visual elements of a report, such as the size
of the text or the background color of a data region. There are several predefined
style templates that you can use to keep your reports consistent with existing
reports in Microsoft Dynamics AX. You can also create your own style templates and
apply them to a set of reports. Style templates ensure consistency and uniformity
throughout your reports. For more information, see Using Report Layout and Style
Templates.

You can display images in reports. Images can be embedded directly in a report, or
they can be referenced from a database table. Embedded images are typically used
when the set of images to display is constant, as in key performance indicator
(KPI) reports. Images from a database table are typically used when you want to
provide images for a set of items listed in a report, which is common in product
listings. For more information, see Report Images Overview.