AX 2012 BI Basics - Dual Datasets for single Report Data Provider

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I must say for me, it was great being with family and friends, however I was terribly sick and still fighting this cold. With that I'm finally getting back into the swing of things and ready to get some great value added content back on the blog.

With this I wanted to focus back on some BI Basics with Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The focus for today's post is around delivering two Datasets via a ReportDataProvider class. The idea, is that we have a need for a header and details section of a report, in which the data will be delivered via a single Report Data Provider.



One of the best examples of this, that really is easy to understand and explain this concept via is the WMSPickingListReportDP class. This class has two methods that have the decoration of SRSReportDataSetAttribute as part of it's make up. One if for the header, as seen in the image above. The next is for it's details, as seen in the image below.



Both are very similar in deed, and both return variables that are declared and filled within the calling of the processReport() method of this Report Data Provider class. This in turn allows the report design, to have a linked set of Temporary tables, one for header data that is returned and used for rendering, and the other is for the details beyond the scope of the given header data that is filled for a specific WMSPicingListReport.

What this shows, is the power and flexibility of the AX-SSRS framework when used and designed correctly. I would, also in this post like to take a step back, and lets review then the following when considering the design of such reporting artifacts for an instance of AX 2012.



Above we see a diagram that shows the concepts of the reporting framework for Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. The idea, is that you always start with the data, this includes inside or outside of AX 2012. Further moving from there, going to the report design, the report elements, and finally the execution of the report, and security to govern it.

The following is a list of the task needed, in order when you start to design and creating AX-SSRS BI Artifacts.:

• Define Data Source (Query / Code, OLAP, Other DS)
• Define Ranges (Query or Code)
• Create a Reporting Project
• Create a Dataset bound to Data Source
• Create Report design
• Publish report
• Create Menu item for launching
• Define Security Elements

It's important to keep this focus in front of you when designing and working within the AX-SSRS framework. If you do then you can be assured you will get the most out of your reporting investment.

That's all for this post, but check back soon as I will have more to come. Till Next Time!

Update: I wanted to make sure and back reference a post I did, that covers the core concepts of the AX-SSRS reporting process. You can find that post here.: AX 2012 - AX-SSRS Report Design Concepts. As the name suggests, this post covers well the core concepts, and will help refresh anyone that needs it on the process of reporting for AX 2012.
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